Boh BULLETIN 1494, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
In these three particulars, then—the duration of patrol and _pro- 
tective effort, the intensity of protection, and the need of law enforce- 
ment and education—the requirements of the cut-over areas are 
much more exacting than the reasonably simple requirements of the 
green timber. 
- This applies, of course, primarily to the cut-over lands of to- -day, 
those which have been broadcast burned and left in a half-devastated 
condition. Whenever after a considerable period of adequate pro- 
tection forest conditions are restored, and when in new cuttings 
slash-disposal methods have been so adjusted as to leave a cover of 
green timber on the ground, conditions will be much less critical and 
the difference between cut-over and green timber will be less pro- 
nounced, 
CAUSES OF FIRS 
The causes of fires, as is indicated in Table 3, vary considerably in 
different parts of the region. Man-caused fires are a big problem in 
all of the association * districts. 
TABLE 3.—Average nunvber of fires annually from various causes, by association 
districts, 1919-1923 
: Cami | : Miscel-|  Per- 
Light- | Lum- |. 2 te Brush-| Rail- | Incen- | laneous| centage 
Association districts Ling | bering ae ae burning| road diary and un-jof man- 
fires | fires |S™°*%-| fires | fires | fires | known| caused 
ers’ fires ei cea Hires 
Number| Number| Number| Number| Number|Number|Number| P. ct. 
42 0 3 4 0 
Gleam atbeteus 2 2 cbt ees eeet sit 2 19 40 
OLlauCh ae nal. See ea hee ee 53 i) 13 3 0 4 12 Al 
Woeurd’ Aleneeay fF 2a irre eats 33 22 8 2 5 1 16 62 
PendtOreiles: | ee ee gee 8 12 11 11 18 4 31 92 
Priestwake = 2 tieie ee Se 10 1 6 1 0 0 1 47 
Motatiand-averaees=— eae 146 40 41 21 23 il 79 60 
PROTECTION REQUIRED 
The standards of effective fire control are arbitrary and must be 
so because of scarcity of data on the subject. To meet the demands 
of continuous timber production, the following standard is set up, 
namely, that the area burned over each year shall not exceed 0.25 per 
cent of the area protected. This standard recognizes that a 25 per 
cent loss during a hundred-year rotation may ‘be unavoidable and 
will not too ser iously impair the timber crop but that a greater loss 
is inimical to timber production. 
It is not the purpose of this bulletin to attempt to outline standard 
control methods, nor to advance specific plans. Whatever system 
of protection will hold the burned area to 0.25 per cent yearly for 
an indefinite period will be reasonably satisfactory. Such a system 
will, doubtless, be a matter of evolution and will constantly undergo 
changes with changing conditions. At the same time it may help in 
arriving at an understanding of objectives to describe the steps which 
1 Practically the entire area of State-owned and privately owned forest land within the 
white pine region a certain amount of Federal land is included within forest- 
protective districts which are patrolled and managed by timber-protective associations, 
Private, State, and Federal resources are thus pooled under one management to provide 
protection for these units, 
«é 
