COVER TYPE AND FIRE CONTROL 35) 
The organization of forest-fire control on the national forests has 
reached a high level of effectiveness, considering the resources avail- 
able for the task. But just as this particular analysis shows unmis- 
takably that the needed minimum burned area was not attained, so 
a similar analysis of even the most recent years would lead to a 
similar conclusion. During the decade here reviewed, and thereafter, 
the conception of protection needs has expanded to include large 
systems of roads, trails, and ways in addition to lookouts, fire guards, 
patrolmen, and communication systems. The most economical and 
results-producing use of all these measures can be made only if the 
question ‘‘ What hour control is needed in each area?” can be answered 
explicitly. This question can not be answered now. 
In the current extension of the road and trail building programs to 
improve hour control where fire danger is greatest, existing knowledge 
of type differences is indispensable, but more exact measures of the 
magnitude of differences in terms of hour control are urgently needed. 
In the same way, the replacement of foot travel by horse travel, and 
of horse travel by motor, will be most economically effected when a 
full understanding of the actual hour control needs for various areas 
and types is available. 
That this information can not be obtained easily and simply is 
shown by the results of this preliminary study. It is equally clear 
that the correct hour-control needs can not be set by judgment alone. 
A major conclusion of the investigation is that similar analyses should 
be prosecuted actively in the future. As more complete information 
on fires is obtained and analyzed, far broader and more specific rec- 
ommendations for effective fire-control measures can be made than 
this initial study justifies. Future research should aim to relate 
cover type, not only to silvicultural systems:and range use, but also 
to forest-protection needs, as a logical basis for allotment of funds, 
for regulating the intensity of protection, and for correct timing and 
location of special prevention and suppression measures, 
