from fire since the early thirties resulted in the com- 
plete destruction of even merchantable stands over 
a large part of the 9,000 acres burned. 
For a long time, public fire protection agencies, 
drawing on experience in other sections of the coun- 
try, have been reluctant to regard fire in the southern 
woods as anything but bad. However, recent experi- 
ence and the results of carefully conducted studies 
have made it increasingly clear that fire, when prop- 
erly used, can be a valuable tool in the management 
of many southern pine forests. Fire is effective in 
killing titi, gallberry, myrtle, and other commercially 
worthless species which encroach and occupy good 
pine sites in thickets so dense as to exclude pine 
reproduction (/0). Fire effectively controls brown 
spot disease which in some instances prevents the 
establishment of longleaf pine (28). Where the rough 
is thick, seeds which germinate fail to reach mineral 
soil and die. Burning the rough prior to seedfall 
often results in excellent pine regeneration (10). 
These studies further show that slash pine stands 
will tolerate moderate burns after saplings reach a 
height of 12 to 15 feet (J8). Longleaf pine is a good 
deal more fire resistant. In the Coastal Plain, at 
least, there is little evidence that even repeated fires 
at frequent intervals cause site deterioration (J/). 
As a result of these studies, the.techniques for the 
use of prescribed burning as a silvicultural tool in 
the longleaf-slash pine region have been worked out 
and published (18), (23), (2). 
These findings in no way minimize the urgent 
need to reduce the area burned over by wildfires. 
Every year wildfires take a heavy toll of timber, es- 
pecially the seedlings and saplings which are so vital 
to the future supply (fig. 34). Also, there is a need 
to improve prescribed-burning practices. Areas are 
sometimes fired without adequate consideration of 
burning conditions and without taking the necessary 
steps to protect blocks of young growth within the 
burned area. Thus, in spite of the progress made in 
FIGURE 34.— The effect of fire. on 1 slash pine regeneration. The area on the right has been protected from Te while the area 
on the left has been burned over annually since 1940. (Photo courtesy Florida Forest Service.) 
38 Forest Resource Report No. 6, U. S. Department of Agriculture 
a se te ae Nee re nee 
