WITH UICLE SM'S NATURALISTS Friday, April 21, I933. 



( FOR BROADCAST USE ONLY ) 



Spealcing Time ; 10 Minutes. 



OPEI'III^'G AM'JOUI^CELIEI'?! ; And now for our visit with Uncle Sam's Naturalists. Todaj^ 

 we're going into the woods to look in on the work of that "big army of unemployed 

 men we sent out to improve our forest land. We go v/ith the United States Forest 

 Service as our guide, 



— ooOOoo — 



Our "big conservation aririy isn't having trouhle finding work. 



The foresters already have enough work mapped out on our some 16I million 

 acres of national forest land alone to keep those men busy indefinitely. So, the 

 problem isn't to find or make jobs in the woods but simply to decide what 

 particular work they will do first. 



I learn from the men in the United States Forest Service that one of the 

 most pressing forestry problems is to protect our woods from fire. 



By fire protection, the foresters mean a great deal more than just patrol 

 work and actual fire-fighting during the fire season. They mean building fire 

 breaks, and telephone lines, and lookout stations, and fire protection roads and 

 trails, and emergency landing fields. 



Now, of course, a great many of our forest areas are pretty well supplied 

 with natural fire breaks. They have roads, and streams, and rocky ridges to help 

 to keep the fire from spreading. But, in certain other sections, where fire can 

 sweep along for miles and miles with nothing to check or stop it, the foresters 

 have to clear out strips through the forest to make art if icial breaks. Sometimes 

 the foresters build those fire brealcs along a ridge or along the base of a hill. 

 The width of the cleared strip usually ranges from about 10 to 100 feet, depending 

 on the kind of trees and underbrush, and the "lay" of the land. If a fire isn't 

 burning too hard, that little gap of 10 to a hundred feet v/ill often stop the 

 fire entirely. But the foresters don't count on those fire breaks for complete 

 protection. They depend on the fire breaks more as a line of defense and as a 

 place to start back-firing during a big fire. Sometimes, too, the fire breaks as 

 a kind of safety zone for telephone lines. 



Clearing av/ay the trees and brush for one of those fire breaks is a big 

 job in itself and gives work to a lot of men, ^ And after you once clean out a 

 strip, you have to burn it off during the winter, or perhaps plow it every year 

 or so, to keep it clean. 



