CHAPTER 1 



INTRODUCTION 



PURPOSE OF THIS PUBLICATION 



Alaska has long been thought of as an area 

 to be exploited rather than developed. Only 

 recently have the advantages of managing a 

 continuous resource gained much support. Even 

 as late as the end of World War II the official 

 feeling towards the timber supply in Interior 

 Alaska was pretty clearly indicated in the follow- 

 ing quotation from a United States Department 

 of Interior report, (USDI 1945): "It seems reason- 

 able to suppose that little of the interior timber 

 will ever come into the general timber-products 

 markets though birch trees of the best quality 

 are suitable for cabinet making 



The term, "Interior Alaska," describes that 

 portion of the State which lies west of the 141st 

 meridian except for the rugged south coast east 

 of the Kenai Range on the Kenai peninsula. Most 

 land south and east of this line is managed by 

 the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Serv- 

 ice in the form of three National Forests. All the 

 rest of the State, some 360,000 square miles, is 

 protected by the U.S. Department of Interior's 

 Bureau of Land Management; 225 million acres 

 require active fire protection. The 1950-1958 

 average annual loss from fire is 1.1 million 

 acres,- however, this varies from 37,000 to more 

 than 5 million acres in individual years. Some 

 administrators hope that knowledge gained 

 through research and development will increase 

 our effectiveness in combating fire and lead to a 

 reduction of the annual loss to one-tenth of this 

 tremendous amount. 



This publication was written to serve two 

 audiences: The first consists of those who are 

 interested in the fire protection problems but 

 who do not already have knowledge of the over- 

 all geography, climate, economic values, and 

 the fire control "picture"; the second audience 

 is made up of practicing foresters who wish to 

 gain specific information based on fire weather, 

 behavior, statistics, and control data for fire re- 

 search, fire control planning, and fire suppres- 

 sion purposes. Interior Alaska has a great many 

 resources that deserve a much higher level of 



protection than they have been receiving. In 

 order to protect a land adequately, much knowl- 

 edge must be had about the enemy — in this 

 case, fire. The geography and climate of the area 

 are described here in terms of their significance 

 to fire control. Analysis of climate, fire behavior, 

 and fire statistics over the past several years 

 should help establish normals against which 

 future fire seasons and fire control actions can be 

 measured; also, it may help shape the type and 

 size of fire detection and control organization 

 deemed necessary to protect the resources to an 

 extent commensurate with their values. For those 

 who wish to delve into statistics, the appendix 

 contains the basic information from which most 

 of the charts and tables in this report were de- 

 rived. 



The authors wish to point out that it is not 

 their intent to draw major conclusions from the 

 information presented nor to set forth a compre- 

 hensive research program, but to put under one 

 cover the major facets of wild fires in Interior 

 Alaska. Researchers can utilize the information 

 in this publication for formulating research pro- 

 grams; resource managers should find this ma- 

 terial beneficial in fulfilling their fire control 

 planning and suppression responsibilities. 



The bulk of the statistical information is for 

 the period 1950 through 1958; however, a few 

 references as late as 1961 do occur. Some items 

 of information were gleaned from conversations 

 and general listening and reading; such informa- 

 tion cannot easily be referenced nor substantiat- 

 ed, and can even be erroneous. The authors have 

 attempted to minimize these sources and they 

 do apologize if misleading information still re- 

 mains in the text. 



LITERATURE REVIEW 



Literature pertinent to forest fire control in 

 Interior Alaska is scarce. Most of the available 

 references that bear on some facet of fire re- 

 search and control are specifically referred to in 

 appropriate chapters. However, some publica- 

 tions that may have only general application 

 to the problems at hand are mentioned here. 



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