ROLE OF FIRE IN CALIFORNIA PINE FORESTS 67 
Although the effectiveness of these ea burns in stopping 
large fires has not been ous established, experience so far shows 
that they are of some value in preventing fires originating in the 
chaparral from reaching the timber belt. The money cost of the 
burns is not excessive, but even with the best possible control some 
fires escape either into the adjoining brush fields that are restocking 
to timber or into the timber itself, so that this secondary cost or 
damage is therefore not to be overlooked entirely. By far the most 
important secondary loss, even if the protective burns are confined 
solely to the chaparral type, is from erosion, which in the section on 
watershed protection has been shown to be a corollary of heavy burns 
in this type. 
The use of fire for cleaning barriers must in the final analysis be 
lecarded merely as a temporary and undesirable expedient justified 
rolely because effective protection of the chaparral belt, which is 
sargely outside the national forests, has not yet been attained. 
DISPOSAL OF SNAGS AND DOWN LOGS 
Standing snags in the coniferous forest are recognized as an extra 
fire hazard (23), not only because they are often struck by lightning, 
but also because going fires are spread by sparks flying from them. 
Their danger is recognized by the universal practice of requiring that 
they be cut on Government timber-sale areas. That fire can be used 
advantageously in felling and disposing of them has recently been 
demonstrated on a large scale in the western yellow pine forests of 
northeastern California (25). Details of this work, in which both 
standing snags and down logs as well were successfully burned, will 
be found in the following figures: 
Observations made on the Modoc National Forest in 1920 
WRCACOVEVCUite ete a SOAR PS) oe TA ye oe acres __ 2, 000 
eC ene b, Gl tince pment penises ee ee ee 4, 600 
“Prees burned peranam per day) 6s 220% TO Sawa See IRAE 115 
Aversee HiuMber DUNNE PEPIACTC 4224 oo Se oY oa he te aL Dales 
Pitta Maron EEECS EON CO os cee ee ft. .b.m-_.. 5,530; 000 
Average volume per acre burned___________________-_-__-_ Cio 2, 765 
Ee veraee same uo dives trees. wet ee Ee minutes__ 4.1 
Cost of the operation: 
SanaR eR mt arty f 2 ke oe oe Se See Cie $218. 78 
OSS Re Ro ET Ca Se © a en 30. 75 
Automobile travel (416 miles at 7 cents a mile)______________ 29. 12 
Peet Seie ar Galata tenes ot er Rt nr ne be en eo 2. 30 
CPN U8 a Fae 9D Een a ee ee eee ee eee ane cee ee eee 280. 95 
Not only was the cost of this work, averaging 6 cents a tree or 14 
cents an acre, far less than if the trees had been cut with the saw in 
the usual manner at an average figure of 60 cents a tree, but in addi- 
tion, because the burning was done in winter, the fires did not spread 
on the ground and there was practically no damage to reproduction. 
Considerable additional work hes been done with species other than 
western yellow pine, notably white fir, Douglas fir, and incense cedar, 
all of which are proverbially difficult to burn after the wood has 
become at all moist. The success attained with these species is 
evidenced by the fact that out of 319 snags ignited, 82 per cent 
burned down and ceased to be a special danger. 
These experiments indicate conclusively that this method of ridding 
the forest of standing snags and down trees is feasible, economical, and 
