of fire, vqu nil, no doubt, ^-cnov/ lightning is the cause 

 of a large nvunber of forest fires in the vTest. In the northern Rocly 

 Mountains "ore than 15,000 re-oorts of lightning storms have been -nade 

 in the -ast five years. Kany of those storms have never been recorded 

 by the regular leather Ikxreau stations injthe farming valleys. T.iey ve 

 been recorded by the h^jndreds of ?orost Service lookouts. 



Lightning is a swift subject. T'-.erc's a flash, and the damage 

 is done, even before you hc^r the crash of thunder. So what's the 

 good of -r.owing about these lightning storms after they are all over. 

 Tliat^s the \7ay we generally think of it. 



Hell, it seems from \7hat the foresters tell mc that even if 

 V70 Cc-iH -mt any chains on the lif^htning itself, we may. be able to 

 chain down the firo-dcmon the lightning let's loose in the woods. 

 The c.rDcrts ot the ITorthern Roclcy llo-jjn.tain Eroeriment Stj-.tion have 

 analyzed large numbers of fiose thunder storm re-ports. As a result, 

 they :iavc found that certain t^^cs of storms are more dangerous 

 than others. 



•Turnings of the awoach of thrt tyvc of storm can be given. Firc- 

 fiVnting forces can be made ready to meet the special danger, and r^ashed 

 to^ strategic points vrherc they will be ready to move on any fire that 

 st art s • 



It is not only for timber and for shelter for wild life that wo 

 need woods. More and more we are coning to find the value of woods in 

 holding soil in -olaco pnd ^^rovcnting the washing away of the cream of 

 our soil- 



Plrces have been fo-and in this country where in twenty years the 

 land 1-uas made a cov.iplotc cycle from forest thro^xgh cultivation to abandon- 

 ment • 



Ile.-suremcnts made in southwestern Wisconsin, my Forest Service 

 friends tell me, indicate that forests are the form of cover best for 

 holdin.%' t!:c soil from v/ashing. 



Dut XX: st-rtod on talking roor\t grov.-ing trues. In our Northeastern 

 <'x>r^co re.-ion, cut-over s-Dn.icc lands arc invaded by fast-growing but 

 undesirable hardwoods, which -orcvmt or hold back the further develop- 

 ment of -^oung spruce alread;^ on the ground. 



ric foresters : ave found, hov/cver, that by cutting back some of 

 thj undesirable harfwood trc^s at the proper time during the first few 

 years, the young sprace can be encouraged without the work costing too 

 nrjLCh to he -oractical. 



