Forestry Notes 



331 



There were about 400 fires on the three national forests of southern Califor- 

 nia. A bad situation prevailed on the Santa Barbara Forest during the greater 

 part of the season, and a very large area of brush w^as burned at a fire-fighting 

 cost to the Forest Service of over $55,000, The record on the Angeles and 

 Cleveland forests was one of the best in years. The worst fires in southern 

 California occurred coincident with and immediately after the opening of the 

 hunting season. 



The Airplane Patrol. — Of the six hundred forest fires in California reported 

 by the airplane patrol during the past season, probably 150 were reported by 

 that patrol before they were discovered by any other agency. The reports were 

 by radio in 480 cases, and of this number 420 were reported from the planes 

 to the forest rangers within ten minutes after they were discovered by the ob- 

 servers. This establishes a record for quick communication and demonstrates 

 the efficiency of the radio in such work. The observers also did good work in 

 locating the fires, three hundred fires having been located from the planes 

 within one quarter of a mile. 



The forest air patrol is handled as a co-operative project between the Air 

 Service and the Forest Service. Under the terms of the co-operation the Air 

 Service furnishes the planes (DeHaviland 4-B, equipped with twelve-cylinder 

 Liberty motors), with pilots, observers, and mechanics. The Forest Service 

 handles the reports after they are received from the observers, and has charge 

 of the fire-fighting forces. 



The radio was tried on a more extensive scale than in previous seasons and 

 proved to be a decided success. Fifteen radio receiving stations were estab- 

 lished at Forest Service headquarters throughout California, and were manned 

 with amateur radio operators employed by the Forest Service. 



The usual schedule was for the patrols to leave their main bases, at Corn- 

 ing, Mather Field, Visalia, and March Field, about eight or nine o'clock in the 

 morning, stop at the sub-base at noon for lunch and for taking on gasoline and 

 oil, and return to their bases in the afternoon. To allow for overhauling and 

 repairs, it is estimated that two or three planes are required for each patrol 

 route. The total number engaged in flying the California patrols this season 

 was therefore between twenty-five and thirty. 



The Forest Service prepared emergency landing-fields along the patrol routes 

 on the forests, for use in case of engine or other trouble. These are of great 

 importance, because fields where a safe landing might be made are scarce in 

 the mountains. 



Timber and Pulpwood. — Timber sales in California national forests from 

 January to October, 192 1, inclusive, reached a total of 726,029,000 board-feet. 

 This includes a sale of 597,000,000 board-feet on the Sierra Forest, the second 

 largest sale ever made in the California District of the Forest Service. The 

 timber actually cut during the same period was 101,511,000 board-feet. 



The increasing scarcity of woods suitable for the manufacture of paper 

 pulp and the constantly growing consumption of that product made it desirable 

 that the Forest Service take a careful inventory of the pulp resources of Cali- 

 fornia. The report is now ready. It presents a general view of the pulpwood 

 situation in the state, together with a detailed description of a few particular 



