Bul. 1294, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture PLATE VII 
F-156404 
Fic. |.—FROM FOREST TO WASTE LAND AT ONE STRIDE 
Only a single severe summer fire in the slash left from logging was needed to reduce this high- 
grade forest land to an unproductive waste but one step removed from the desert. Cen- 
turies would perhaps be required to reestablish by natural means a complete forest cover 
F-16476-A 
FIG. 2.—THE SLOWER PROCESS OF REDUCING FOREST TO BRUSH LAND 
‘On the steeper slopes the timber has first been killed and then consumed by repeated fires, 
which have at the same time impoverished the soil and left it in many places bare and sub- 
ject to erosion. The forest has been largely replaced by dense brush fields, which, with 
their high fire hazard, are a standing menace to the remaining forest as well as to the young 
trees that get a foothold in the brush. Reclaiming a site like this is slow, difficult, and 
expensive 
