WESTERN WHITE PINE AND LARCH-FIR FORESTS 35 
SLASH DISPOSAL 
Larch-fir slash, while not as great a fire danger as white pine or 
cedar slash, is, nevertheless, difficult to protect from fire, and a fire 
once started in it is very hard to control. Inflammability varies with 
the amount of Douglas fir, white fir, or spruce in the stand. The slash 
from a nearly pure larch stand is not a serious fire danger. 
BROADCAST BURNING 
Uncontrolled burning of slash in the larch-fir type is an inde- 
fensible measure. It not only often destroys large amounts of prom- 
ising reproduction and young timber but is an inadequate fire-preven- 
tion measure, since it leaves the burned area in condition to burn 
again almost as readily as the original slash. In general, no slash 
disposal at all is preferable to broadcast burning. There are many 
large areas of old cuttings in Montana in the neighborhood of 
Eureka, Kalispell, and St. Regis which have never burned and which 
are now, after a lapse of 15 to 20 years, comparatively safe from fire 
and well stocked with second growth. Burned areas are a continual 
menace, and many of them get worse each year rather than better. 
PILING AND BURNING 
The standard practice in effect on national forest cuttings in the 
larch-fir type is piling and burning of all slash except in very light 
cuttings of pure larch away from roads and other travel routes, 
where the limbs may be merely lopped and left on the ground. 
Under all other circumstances piling and burning is the rule. 
A large quantity of young growth is often present in larch-fir 
stands, and brush piles must therefore be located in openings or on 
skid roads and away from live trees. Further, they must be burned 
carefully at a time when fire will not run. | 
Cost—The cost of piling and burning varies, increasing with any 
increase of Douglas fir, white fir, or spruce in the stand. The usual 
cost is from 60 to 90 cents a thousand feet; 75 cents would probably 
be a fair average for most conditions. 
These costs are based on piling and burning after the operation of 
logging is completed. It is believed that a considerable reduction 
- can be made by carefully studying the operation and coordinating 
disposal with swamping. In cutting roads or rights of way for 
chutes during the period when it is safe te burn, slash can often be 
piled in the middle of the road and burned at the time instead of 
being piled at the sides of the road to be rehandled later. There 
are also possibilities in progressive burning of slash by the swampers 
before skidding. 
Partial slash piling—The primary object of slash disposal is re- 
duction of infammability. Piling and burning all the slash accom- 
plishes this as far as it can reasonably be done. A lesser measure 
than complete piling and burning will still greatly reduce the inflam- 
mability and afford at least a reasonable assurance that the area can 
be protected. Such modified measures consist of piling and burning 
a portion of the slash and leaving the rest of it as it lies. The places 
on which the slash is to be piled and burned would have to be planned 
