The herald., 1896-11-06
AN ECONOMIC DANGER

The fires that waged such a destruc-
| tive warfare upon the forests of South
ern California a few weeks ago were
not, in the heat of the political discus
sion which occupied the minds of men,
regarded with the attention that their
dangerous urgency demanded. The
| damage that was done is incalculable,
and the pity of it is that small measure
of proper prevention would have rem
dered such devastation impossible Mr..
| Abbot Kinney through the medium OF
| The Herald, was the first to point out
to the public the gravity of the danger
and to suggest a system of patrols TO
prevent it.
This same student Of and authority
on forestry contributes a timely and
valuable paper to the November Land
of Sunshine, from which the following
are extracts:
A forest fire creates a feeling of re-
sentiment in the lover of nature. Inc
destruction of beauty. the deterioration
of scenery and the long enduring ugly
scars are all source of pain to a decent
man. The sportsman is hurt by the
forest fire. Such fires destroy animal
food, kill the young, and reduce the
game. Fires kill fish in three ways
by actual boiling (as recently in the
North Fork of the San GabrieD, by re-
duced or dried up streams inefficient to
hold them, and by floods from burned
watersheds full of mud, which SURROGATE
the fish.
These things are quite enough to war;
rant reasonable system to prevent
such injuries Every year our noun
tains and their forests. fish, game and
tonic climate, are more and more sought.
q
tourist and a valuable asset to the COM
munity But this is by no means all.
We do not have to appeal to the lover
of nature or the lover of sport, or to
the hotel keeper, real estate man or eli
mate seeker on this forest fire question.
The forest fire is of the first Importance
as an economic danger to Southern Cali
fornia. The destruction of wood and
timber is in some sections important,
as standing forests of dead, white skel-
eton trees testify on Grayback and San
Bernardino. But this is not the great
danger of damage of our forest fires
The danger is to the water sheds. A
forest fire burns brush, trees, and what
is more important to the water shed, the
humus or forest soil. The water holding
capacity of the steep mountain sides
is reduced. The rainfall cannot be so
well retained and absorbed on devas-
tated, fire-Swept mountain as on the
same area forest-covered.
l visited the mountains this summer
Immediately after the great fire on the
south side of the Santa Ana water shed.
The south side alone was burned. A
heavy summer rain had put the fire
out. Every gully and canyon from the
burned district showed marked flood
action. The Santa Ana had been so
filled with mud that many of the trout
had been smothered. Sand, roots, Gin
ders and rubbish were in strong evil
dence. l saw no marks of flood action
on the north or unburned side. The
streams on that side were clear. while
those on the south were muddy drib-
lets.
Forest fires on the steep mountains
of Southern California are menace to
the productive capacity of the country.
The resulting floods will destroy much
of our good lands. The resulting drouths
will deprive us of necessary water and
the denuded mountains will deteriorate
our climate. These fires are wasteful
and wholly unnecessary. They can be
stopped. and we ought to see that they
are stopped.