PROTECTING OUR NATIONAL FORESTS FROM FIRE 99 



A MOUNTAIN TRAIL BUILT FOR FIRL PATROL 



The first object of the trail is to open up a forest and make it accessible for patrol and 

 for fighting fires. The trails in the national forests are permanently constructed and are 

 designed for saddle and pack horse travel. While their first purpose is to facilitate patrol and 

 access to a fire, they may be used as starting points for back firing, and will often check or 

 actually stop a small surface fire. Photo from Henry S. Graves, Chief U. S. Forest Service. 



tending from the ocean to western Wyo- 

 ming and Montana. 



The effect of the drought was to 

 render the forests very inflammable. 

 Not only did the surface litter of leaves, 

 branches, fallen logs, and other material 

 become very dry, but the thick layer of 

 vegetable mold in the deep, usually moist 

 forests became like tinder. 



In addition to the drought, the past 

 season was characterized in many places 

 by constant high winds, which rendered 

 fire protection exceptionally difficult. 

 The smallest escaping spark from a 

 camp-fire or burning slash-pile was often 

 enough to start a blaze, which, under the 

 high winds, developed into a dangerous 

 conflagration in an incredibly short time. 



The worst fires occurred in northwest- 

 ern Montana and Idaho and in eastern 

 Oregon and Washington. Severe fires 

 also occurred in California and the cen- 

 tral Rocky Mountain region, but the 

 conditions were not as difficult as in the 

 North Pacific region and the fires were 

 more easily controlled. 



The entire forests of the northern 

 Rocky Mountains were at one time 

 threatened with destruction. Unless the 

 fires had been checked, scores of towns 

 and communities would have been wiped 

 out and the lives and homes of thou- 

 sands of people imperiled. I was con- 

 fronted with the problem of either 

 putting out the fires or being directly 

 responsible for what would have been 

 one of the worst disasters in the history 

 of the country. Without hesitation I 

 called upon the forest officers to stop the 

 fires and to make such expenditures as 

 seemed absolutely necessary to accom- 

 plish this result. Every source of help 

 was called in. Temporary labor was 

 employed where it could be secured. 

 The War Department aided by sending 

 troops. The railroad companies, lumber 

 companies, and private individuals co- 

 operated in the endeavor to avert a great 

 disaster. 



Early in September the flames wer^ 

 finally subdued. The fires which could 

 be reached by roads and trails were 



