The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1910-11-08
LOSS
IN FOREST FIRES
Placed at About Fifteen MIL
lion Dollars.
OVER MILLION ACRES BURNED

Hurricane Blew Small Fires Into One
Big confIagration-May BE Portion
of Trees Not KiIled-Steps Being
Taken to Sell Off Injured Timber.
Loss Equal to Twelve Years Supply.
A rough estimate of the fire loss
upon the national forests in Montana
and northern Idaho, upon which the
forest officers of the United States de-
partment of agriculture have been en-
gagged since the fires were put out, puts
the total amount of timber killed or
destroyed in this one district at over
6,O0O,O00,000 board feet, worth approx
imately $15,000,000 The area burned
over is put at over 1,250,000 acres.
The heaviest losses were In two Ida
no forests. the Occur d'Alene, where
over 5000, 100000 board feet of timber
are reported killed or destroyed and
over 100000 acres burned over, and
the Clearwater, where 1000, 100000
feet of timber were killed or destroy
ed and 100000 acres burned over. On
the Helena national forest, In Mon
tana, the loss In timber is believed to
have been 500, 600, 600 feet, on the Cab
met forest 100000, 900 and on the Lolo
forest 300,000,0Oo.
Practically One Fire.
A large part of the losses on the
Occur d'Alene, Clearwater and Lolo
was due to what became practically
one great fire. The burned district is
shown on the forest service maps as
extending in a northwesterly and
southeasterly direction from north of
Wallace, Ida, to a point some thirty
miles southwest of Missoula, Mont, or
nearly 100 miles. At its widest point
this area has a width of about forty
miles, but its shape is very irregular.
It was really a union of a number
Of separate fires driven to fury by the
fierce hurricane of Aug. 20. To the
west of the Idaho Montana boundary
In the region of this fire lies very in
accessible mountainous country into
which, on account of the absence of
trails and of forage, it was almost i'm
possible for forces of fire fighters to
penetrate When the hurricane arose
it drove the fires upon the parties
who were hewing a way toward
them, forced these parties to seek ref
uge wherever it could be found and
swept down upon the forests where
the fires were up to that time general
IL well in hand
Loss May BE Reduced.
Forester Graves believes that, as
usually happens in the case of big
fires, there will be found TO be con-
siderable areas of living timber with
in the regions now mapped as entire
II burned over OF necessity the 6g-
ures given are tentative, for it mas
been impossible to examine an the |
burned areas thoroughly. AS fast as
possible, however, the forest officers
are locating and estimating the bodies |
Of timber killed, but capable OF being
numbered If taken In time. There will /
be an enormous quantity Of ere killed
timber, both on the national forests /
and on private lands, TO be disposed
of as soon as possible.
It is believed that last summers
fires either burned mp or killed me
tween / and per cent Of the total
stand Of national forest timber. At
The present rate of cutting from the
forests 6O0O.OO00OO feet us
equal to twelve years supply. but DIT t
IS less than one-slxth OF a s1ngaeyearis
ut in the entire country, or enough itO
Keep all our humber mills busy Gor
under two months.