The Greeley tribune., 1908-09-16
YEAR 1908 A RECORD BREAKER
IN DESTRUCTION
LAKE STATES Big LOSERS
Loss Will Reach Many Millions Ac-
cording to Report Of U. 8.
Forest Service.-Timber
Destroyed Would
Build Fleet

Washington, Sept. 15.-The forest
fires which have just laid waste
whole counties in Minnesota, Mich
igan, and extended into Wisconsin,
destroying many towns and making
thousands of persons homeless, have
ernment and state forest officers on
the enormous losses of forest wealth
which will be checked up to the
year 1908.
In the whole northern half of the
United States throughout the vast
territory extending from coast to
coast, the reported destruction by
forest fires has been terrific and 1t
is likely that the year will go down
as one of the worst in the last
| quarter century. 1t seems that no
part of the country has escaped the
work of the devastating flames. The
latest disasters in Minnesota, Mich
igan. and Wisconsin are the worst
OF the many that have visited the
Lake States this year. Other sec
tions have also suffered from forest
fires during the spring and summer
months, and the people of the Pacific
Coast. the Rocky Mountain and the
New England states. and Canada
have had a thorough, and in some
cases, continuous experience in fire
fighting.
Officers in the United States
: Forest Service here say that 1t IL
a doubtful il this years actual losses
r from forest fires in all parts of the
g country will ever be known. but it il
r certain that they will run up so high
in the millions that the country will
o be startled when compilation OF
: statistics at the end of the season
2 makes it possible to give even the
! most conservative figures. Suffice
5 it to say. were all the timber burned
i up this year in all parts of the
country converted into cash. it could
provide for good sized navy of first
, class battleships.
, The fires have done good in one
way: they have focused the peoples
attention on the seriousness of the
forest fire problem. practical forest
ers say. and have started a wide
spread movement in many states to
check them by adopting rational sys-
tens of fire protection. Among
thinking people there has been
awakened an intense interest in
throwing a better protection around
the forests. which grow more impor-
tant as a natural resource as the
timber supply dwindles.
The government has had lot of
work in the fire fighting line on the
National Forests, but serious as the
fires have been careful patrol and
the organization OF force to battle
with the flames as soon as discovered
has held the losses down to point
where they are utterly insignificant
when one considers the fearful de-
struction which would have come
about had there been no protection.
! Although the fire menace has been
serious in all sections, officers of
the Forest Service estimate that the
| total cost of the forest fires on the
| National Forests for the season, ex-
elusive of the salaries of forest Of
ficers. will not be more than $4,000.
This sum is small when it is REM
| embered that it means fire protection
| for approximately 16S. 100000 acres
of National Forests, less than two
tenths of mill per acre. Progress
sive state fire wardens and forest
officers individuals and private cor
porations having large timber hold
| ings have organized fire fighting
| forces along much the same line as
the government in many cases, and
in this way they have given protect
tion to millions of acers of timber
which might have been destroyed had
it been left unprotected.