River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1910-09-29

49,
the nation, have again swept
I'LL their way through millions Of
feet of valuable timber and
sacrificed the lives of those who went
put to fight them and protect their
homes and towns from destruction.
The recurrence of these great fires
has been so regular as to prepare the
country for like disasters almost
every year In 1903 they reached
the forests of northern Minnesota,
Wisconsin and Michigan, and south
ern Ontario, wiping out entire towns
and killing many settlers. Within a
few years great confagrations have
run through the Adirondacks and the
forests of the south and southwest.
Is there no way to stop this waste
of property, or to protect settlers
and small towns in the midst of the
woods? The question is asked on
every hand; is hurled at the forest
service in Washington, and Is the
subject Of general comment in sec
lions where true forest conditions
cannot be appreciated.
The forest service experts declare
that there are ways to prevent these
annual fires; but these methods can
not be employed with any certainty
of success with the existing forces
of wardens and rangers, or the
amount of money now provided by
the federal and state governments for
forest supervision.
Three things must be accomplished,
declare the foresters: The causes Of
fire must be eliminated; the condi-
lions in the woods which help it's
spread must be done away with, and
the people who use and frequent the
forests must be educated or forced to
give up careless practises In the
handling of fire.
Protection the Only Way.
"The first measure necessary for
the successful practise of forestry is
protection from forest fires" says
Henry S. Graves, chief forester of the
United States.
To this end the forest service has
bent every activity of recent years;
yet the fires that have wiped ont
timber worth hundreds of thousands
Of dollars in the far northwestern
states recently, hardly paused in their
course to look at the puny protec-
tive efforts of the forest rangers and
fire wardens. To stamp out fire, or
to prevent Il, a force four tines cs
large as that now evisting is imme-
diately necessary. This is admitted
Tn oH
ton, there is needed money enough
to permit the thorough equipment of
the forests with well-built roads and
trails. over which the f1remen can
quickly reach a blaze; apparatus
near at hand to fight the fires; patrol
men along all railroads to put out
sparks; a complete telephone system
so that fighters may be hurried to
the scene of an fire, and stations
at every strategic point In the woods,
inhabited by rangers and fire wardens
equipped for immediate duty.
Since 1906 the forest service has
built 1850 miles of telephone line
through the woods. Yet in many
sections of the big forests of the
for more than 100000 acres Of tim
Der and often without the aid of tele-
phone communication. In Germany
there is a fire warden for practically
every 1000 acres of forest.
If thorough communication can be
established and fire wardens sta
toned at frequent intervals, aid may
hn ole RI
incipient fires to prevent the outbreak
of CONGREGATIONS such as have re-
Gently devastated the northwestern
states. Similar conditions must at
the same time be developed in the
private forest areas, to insure safety
from forest fires.
Protection is the slogan Of the for
est experts today. They declare it is
not surprising that great fires &C.
cur, when more than Is per cent. of
the private timber lands of the coun-
try have no protection whatever;
less than one-fourth enough men and
equipment is provided for the nation
al forests. and the user Of the for
ests are only partly educated to the
elimination Of fire causes.
The Fire Watchers Work.
1.-THE risk from fires can never be
entirely eliminated" say Chief For
ester Graves. "for in the forest there
IS always inflammable material which
is very easily ignited. They may.
however, be largely prevented, and
under efficient organization their dam
age may be kept down to a very
small amount"
1t is a picturesque business. that
of fire watching. as practised in some
of the larger national forests today.
Two or three men in one OF the
rangers cabins which have become
such an important adjunct OF forest
guardianship, are near the summit Of
some peak. from which a view can be
had over many miles of woodland
In the early part OF the year, be-
fore the rains cease and the ground
dries out, these rangers and wardens
are employed at ordinary duties
through the forest. repairing trails,
establishing telephone lines, watching
for careless campers and lumbermen,
cleaning up dangerous underbrush
and the like. AS the dry season ad-
lvances and the conditions develop