Richard H. D. Boerker

“ If the problem of fire protection is the most important task confronting a Forest officer on the National Forests, then certainly fire prevention is next in importance. Obviously it is easier to prevent fires than to fight them. All large conflagrations have their origin in small fires which if they could be reached in time could probably be put out by one man. But in regions remote from water and supplies fires may start and reach vast proportions before a party of fire fighters can get to the scene, no matter how promptly the start is made. ”

“ Forest conservation had no place in the household economy of nations that had forests in superabundance. Their forests were used with prodigality. It seems to be a great human failing to use natural resources lavishly when the supply is apparently unlimited, and to practice frugality only when the end of a resource is in sight. Thus we find in the pages of forestry history that all nations have begun to husband their forest resources only after having felt the pinch of want. ”

“ It is, indeed, a great task to distribute the money that is each year appropriated by Congress for the Forest Service so that the Washington Office, the District Offices, and the 147 National Forests each get their just share and so that each dollar buys the greatest amount of good for the whole people without extravagance or waste. To do this a large organization has been built up composed of business men who have absolutely no selfish interest at heart and among whom graft or favoritism is unknown and unheard of. ”

“ Individuals, as we well know, are governed by different natural laws than communities. Just so with trees and forests. In order, therefore, to grow a never-failing supply of timber intelligently and economically we must understand these complex organisms and communities, we must study their behavior under different soil and climatic conditions and ascertain the conditions under which they grow best. Only by doing this can the forester achieve all the objects of forestry, namely, to help Nature to produce more and better timber, in a shorter length of time and at the smallest possible cost. ”

“ In our prodigal use of our forest resources we have become the most lavish users of wood in the world. While the annual consumption per capita for France is about 25 cubic feet, and that of Germany about 40 cubic feet, our per capita consumption is in the neighborhood of 250 cubic feet. And the most terrible thing about our reckless methods has been that we have wasted by crude lumbering methods and we have let great forest fires consume many times as much lumber as we have used. ”

“ My connection with the United States Forest Service in various parts of the West has given me ample opportunity to study every phase of the problem. I am attempting to chronicle a wonderful accomplishment by a wonderful organization of altruistic Americans,—an accomplishment of which every American has reason to feel proud.
Few people realize that the bringing under administration and protection of these vast forests is one of the greatest achievements in the history of forest conservation. ”

“ The individual becomes easily discouraged and is especially affected by financial conditions. The Government, on the other hand, having unlimited resources at its command can more readily afford to wait for results. In fact every consideration of national welfare urges the Government to carry it on; it is a sure source of revenue, there is none less fluctuating, and it is closely connected with the manifold industries of life. Its chief product is wood, without which the human race, so far, has not succeeded in managing its affairs, and which will therefore always have a sale value. ”

“ Forest problem has meant to the millions of people who live near them; what it has meant to bring civilization to the great forested empire of Uncle Sam; what it has meant to change from a condition of unrestricted, unregulated misuse with respect to the public domain, to a policy of wise, regulated use, based upon the principle of the greatest good to the greatest number in the long run. ”

“ Aside from the great economic reasons why a nation should possess National Forests, there are local reasons which pertain to the welfare of the home builder and home industries which are often of paramount importance. The timber, the water, the pasture, the minerals, and all other resources on the government lands in the West are for the use of all the people. And only by a well-regulated policy of sale or rental can these resources be disposed [xxviii] so as to give all individuals an equal opportunity to enjoy them. ”

“ It has to do with farm and forest, soil and climate, man and beast. It affects hill and valley, mountain and plain. It influences the life of cities, states, and nations. It deals not only with the manifold problems of growing timber and forest by-products, such as forage, naval stores, tanbark, and maple sugar, but it is intimately related to the navigability of rivers and harbors, the flow of streams, the erosion of hillsides, the destruction of fertile farm lands, the devastation wrought by floods, the game and birds of the forest, the public health, and national prosperity. ”

“ An essential part of good forest protection is the work of locating and reporting evidences of insect depredations. There are scores of insects which are constantly working in the forests, either injuring or killing live trees or attacking the wood of trees after they have been killed. Weevils kill young shoots on trees and destroy tree seeds; bark beetles and timber beetles infest the bark, girdle the tree and destroy the wood; and various borers and timber worms attack seasoned and unseasoned forest products and destroy the wood in the forest after it has been cut down and sawed into lumber. ”

“ Closely bound up with the protection of watersheds is the erosion problem. Without a forest cover, rain runs off mountain slopes very rapidly, often carrying with it silt and sand, and, in severe floods, even rocks and bowlders. A well known physical law states that the carrying capacity of a stream increases as the sixth power of its velocity. In other words, double the velocity of a stream and you have multiplied its carrying power by 64; increase its velocity ten times, and you multiply its carrying power by a million. ”

“ In many cases roads and trails are built to facilitate the protection of large remote areas from fire. Such areas may have large bodies of valuable timber which if destroyed by forest fires would involve a heavy loss. Even aside from valuable timber on an area, it is absolutely necessary when a forest fire breaks out to get to it with men and fire-fighting equipment in the shortest possible time before it spreads. If the fire gets to be a large one, many men with provisions, tents, fire-fighting tools, and other equipment must be transported to the scene of the fire. ”

“ In our country history repeats itself and our federal policy of forest conservation properly begins at the time that the national conscience was awakened to the realization that if we did not practice economy with our forest resources we would some day be without an adequate supply of timber and forage, and be confronted with other dangers and calamities that follow the destruction of forests. ”

“ During 140 years civilization has spread from coast to coast and of that vast wilderness of forest there is left only a remnant here and there. The giant pines that sheltered De Soto and his thousand followers on their ill-fated expedition in 1541 to the Mississippi River have long since disappeared. Along the Allegheny and Appalachian ranges the vast forests that once harbored the hostile Narragansetts and Iroquois are now but a memory. The giant oak, ash, and cypress forests of the Mississippi Valley are rapidly being decimated by the big sawmills that work night and day to outdo each other. ”

“ Just as the farmer each year sets aside a certain amount of his seed for next year's planting, just so the stockman saves his calves and cows and lambs for greater growth and each year sees a part of his herd maturing for market, and just so the forester, under the new system, cuts only the mature trees and allows the young timber to remain for greater growth and greater value in the future, or, in the absence of young trees, plants small trees to replace those removed. ”

“ There have been vast public and private losses through unnecessary forest fires which not only consumed millions of dollars' worth of timber every year, but which also cost the lives of thousands of settlers. Then, as every one knows, by being grossly negligent with our forests, our rivers have visited their wrath upon the unfortunate people in the valleys. Many streams have become raging torrents in the spring and only chains of stagnant pools in the summer, thus destroying their value for water [6] power and irrigation. ”

“ On a small scale we have endured the same devastating floods. Forest fires in the United States have caused an average annual loss of seventy human lives and from $25,000,000 to $50,000,000 worth of timber. The indirect losses run close to a half a billion a year. Like other nations, we have come to the conclusion that forest conservation can be assured only through the public ownership of forest resources. Other nations have bought or otherwise acquired national, state, and municipal forests, to assure the people a never-failing supply of timber. ”

“ Diseases of flowers and seeds destroy the faculty of reproduction.
Certain parasites are able to enter the youngest parts of trees, twigs and leaves directly, but the majority of the fungi causing decay of the wood can get into the interior of the living tree only by way of a pin knot or wound. For this reason, every wound caused by lightning, by fire, by man, or by animals, constitutes a menace to infection. Many coniferous trees cover their wounds by an aseptic coat of pitch, which is very effective in preventing the germination and growth of fungus spores. ”

“ If a fire starts on the lower slope of a mountain and the wind carries it up the mountain toward the fire line, the only hope of stopping the fire at the top of the ridge at the fire line is to start fires on the top of the ridge, which will burn down the slope and meet the original fire coming up. In rare cases, as, for instance, in the Idaho fires of 1910, the fires get to be so large and swift that all methods of attack prove futile and the only salvation is in natural barriers, such as rivers, or a change of the wind, or rain, to extinguish them. ”

“ If the protection of these private timber lands is a public and not a private problem, then certainly their management for continuity is a public problem. A timber owner should not be allowed to cut his timber without the consent of the Government, and the Government should see to it that he leaves the young growth as a basis for a future crop or provides a new growth of timber by planting young trees. ”

“ Forest fires when uncontrolled mean the loss of human lives, the destruction of homes, live stock, forage, timber and watershed cover. Besides the direct damage to the National Forest resources it defeats all attempts to practice forestry; it nullifies all efforts of forest management, such as regulation of cutting to insure a second crop of timber, the planting of denuded areas, and the restriction of grazing to assist reproduction. Fire destroys the very improvements which are constructed annually at great expense. ”

“ Fire as a cause of wounds is responsible for more cases of heartrot than all other injuries taken together. For this reason the protection of forests from fire is the most important preventive measure that can be taken to eradicate tree diseases. In fact, the best way of controlling diseases is by preventing them, and the Forest officers are endeavoring to eliminate any danger to the health of the forest, to prevent the injury of the trees, and to establish healthy conditions for their growth. ”

“ The free use timber policy enables Rangers to give away much dead timber, both standing and down. Timber operators cutting on the National Forests are required by the Forest Service contract to remove dead snags, which are a fire menace, from the timber sale area. Where there is fire danger, all slashing resulting from such sales must be burned or otherwise disposed of. While grazing is usually not considered a measure to prevent fires, still grass lands that have not been grazed over [130] become very dry in the fall and are a dangerous fire menace. ”

“ Mineral deposits within National Forests are open to development exactly as on unreserved public land. A prospector can go anywhere he chooses and stake a claim wherever he finds any evidences of valuable minerals. The only restriction is that mining claims must be bona fide ones and not taken up for the purpose of acquiring valuable timber or a town or a water power site, or to monopolize the water supply of a stock range. Prospectors may obtain a certain amount of National Forest timber free of charge to be used in developing their claims. ”

“ Probably the greatest obstacle encountered in reforestation by direct seeding is the destruction of the seeds by rodents. The failure of many direct seeding projects has been due primarily to loss from this cause. Failure has occurred on areas of practically every character regardless of the time of the year the seed was sown. Success has been encountered only where recent burns had largely eliminated the animals either by outright destruction or by the loss of food supply. The rodents which are most destructive to tree seeds are the ground squirrels, the chipmunks, the mice, and the gophers. ”

“ But their value to the local communities can hardly be overestimated. The welfare of every community is dependent upon a cheap and plentiful supply of timber. If lumber, fence posts, mine props, telephone poles, firewood, etc., must be brought in from distant markets, the prices are usually very much higher. The regulation of the cut on each National Forest assures a never-failing supply of timber to the home builder and to home industries. Then also the permanence of the great live stock industry is dependent upon a conservative use of vast areas of government range. ”

“ In order that the reader may fully appreciate the gigantic task that has been accomplished in bringing the National Forest administration and organization to its present state of development, it is necessary to briefly sketch the conditions that led up to the inauguration of the Federal Forest Policy before we stop to consider that policy and the establishment and organization of National Forests.
Prodigality Leads Finally to Conservation. Every great movement, which has for its object the betterment of the lot of mankind, lags far behind the times. ”

“ The vital importance of forest reserves to the great industries of the Western States will be largely increased in the near future by the continued steady advance in settlement and development. The permanence of the resources of the reserves is therefore indispensable to continued prosperity, and the policy of this Department for their protection and use will invariably be guided by this fact, bearing in mind that the conservative use of these resources in no way conflicts with their permanent value. ”

“ The Engineer connected with each District Office usually has charge of laying out big road projects. A few miles of permanent, good, dirt road with good grade is always preferred to many miles of poor road with heavy grade and improper drainage. A road and trail system is planned for each National Forest which will eventually place every portion of the Forest within a distance of at least 7-1/2 miles of a wagon road. A pack-train can then transport supplies from the point to which they are delivered on the wagon road to any field camp and return in a single day. ”

“ Comprehensive studies are undertaken to secure the basis for a more scientific method of distributing National Forest fire-protecting funds. The aim has been to find the degree of intensiveness in fire protection warranted by timber, forage, and watershed values, as modified by their susceptibility to damage by fire. Under the ideal system of allotting fire-protecting funds, the most valuable resources, which at the same time are most in danger of destruction by fire, should receive the largest [95] amount of funds and therefore the greatest amount of protection. ”

“ To place 155,000,000 acres of inaccessible, mountainous, forest land, scattered through our great western mountain ranges and in eighteen Western States, under administration, to manage these forests according to scientific forestry principles, to make them yield a revenue of almost $3,500,000 annually, and to protect them from the ravages of forest fires and reducing the huge annual loss to but a small fraction of what it was before—these are some of the things that have been accomplished by the United States Forest Service within the last twenty years. ”

“ On some Forests, the entire annual yield is used by local industries and no timber can be sent to the general market; on others a very small part of the annual yield is used by local needs and most of the cut can be sent to the general market. On the Cascade National Forest, in Oregon, for instance, the annual production is estimated at about 200,000,000 feet, while the present local needs can be supplied by approximately 1,000,000 feet. From such a Forest a large annual cut can be made for the general market. ”