Omaha daily bee., 1911-08-20
SAYING UNCLE SANS TREES
Task Of Fighting Forest Fires One Of
Governments Greatest.
FORESTER GRAVES TELLS HOW
To Get Control of the sources Of Fire
VIII Cost the Government No
Less Than Eight million
Dollars.

on the seventh Iloot Oh a N"iIN'''S - 4
Washington these days waiting for news
fror, the fire lines. Great maps Of the |
national forests adorn the walls about him !
covered with patches Of red and blue ana |
with pins and legends telling eloquent
stories.
The weather map has for many weeks
shown frequent rains over the tores'
states. Mr. Graves follows the rain area
from day 20 day as It travels back ana
forth over the northwest and his rear OF
the telegraph messenger grows less as each
day passes. SO long as the weather man
can attend to that section OF the country
Mr. Graves and his forest patrolmen ana
fire briRades may rest easy. for rain Is
Iho. ono host ally OF the forest guardian.
But throughout all OF the states from
North Dakota 20 California. where the
national forests sweep over the valleys ana
tnountains. the forest fire brigade Is stand
ing at attention. More men than ever De
fore. more and better supplies and IRE
fighting apparatus, new trails into the
dense parts OF the forests hundreds Oh
miles of new telephone lines, and new out
look stations where men are constantly
eearching the horizon for signs OF smoke
or blaze represent the work that has been
done since the disastrous fires OF last year
40 bring the forest protection force up to
Year Of Supreme Effort.
7, .os beer a wear of supreme effort on
the part OF the forest service and OF the
states. private owners and railroads that
have been cooperating with Forester
Graves and his men. The fire fighters are
better equipped this year than ever before
They have been trained since last August
nj A fire game" that rivals any OF the
war games ever played on the maneuVer
fields or along the Atlantic coast
Profiting by the terrible fires OF last
year fires unprecedented In the history OF
national forest control. the force has been
trained TO a new realization OF the heeu
of preparation and OF a definite campaign
against anv fire that may originate. Just
as the War department has the detaiis
Of anv campaign for the protection of the
Ifnited states all prepared and locked up
IN IFS secret drawers, so the forest ranger
has the details in his mind and In his rec
ords for instant attack upon any IRE that
may develop.
II IL not hard TO control the fires that
start along we'll patrolled railroad tracks
or on Travelled trails and roads through
the forests. Hundreds OF these are put
out each month, with little damage to the
woods The forest service has been 30 wen
organized that none OF these Tires gets
beyond the infant stage. But the iire
starting in a remote part Of an unbroken
forest perhaps from a shaft OF lightning,
represents the problem with which the
forest ranger is now trying to cope.
great part OF the damage last year
,vas done In the Occur d'Alene forests in
Idaho, the most inaccessible OF all. In the
eastern forests OF Montana, where the
woods had been broken with trails and
means OF communication had been estap-
ilahed the fires did little damage although
the woods were as dry there as in Idaho.
Campaign Against Fire.
The forest service has been campaigning
.h,s year against the inaccessible fire. The
forest rangers have been gathering during
the winter and spring months at various
headquarters In the six districts into which
the forests are divided. Before great maps
giving in detail every portion OF the Forest
area over which these rangers have con-
troll. fire game" has'been played some
thing like this:
The fire IL regarded as the invading
army. Plans are made to meet II at any
point. and 20 arrange supplies, firemen
and TRANSPORTATION that there may be nc
aurprisea and no districts left unprotected
A man unfamiliar with the forest per-
hans a visiting forestry official or q
stranger not connected with the service
approaches the map and sticks tack upor
IL A Black tack means a night fire;
white tack a day fire. One OF the rangers
who is responsible for the district in which
the tack appears must then answer II
rapid succession such questions as:
Where is it?'
Where is It goingY'
How could you get to it7'
He must tell how many men he could
ret; where he would get them; how HI
would get them to the fire; where he would
ret food and tools for the force. wher'
he would establish, camp: where he woul'
start work.
suppose II gets away. where and how
will achievements be secured?" asks thu
ouestioner What protective measures
could have been taken In advance tina
would have made this fire easier to han
dle?"
This is the form OF drin through whicl
the rangers and the district foresters haV
have been going for months. They haV
been doing more than stringing new tele
phone lines, opening up new trails build
ing bridges and roads and providing 70
quick transportation.
searching Inquiry.
Every sawmill or railroad force. ever,
permanent COW camp. every logging opera
ZION OF ONneF pubihre5 gums oh ~ III
woods has been carefully inquired int
and catalogued- In the forest ranger
cabin, which is the real fire department
headquarters OF the forest. is recon
showing how many men he can get a
Smiths camp. how soon he can get them
how far they viii go and how much the
will be paid per day.
He knows how much provision Is KEEP
ON hand az this COW camp. how much a
shat; how many pack horses can be 50
cured at one point or another. Today IN
forests are as carefully studied as any fiel
OF battle When the report comes of
fire In a certain distant region. there is N
time lost m getting supplies or men, 4
figuring out the way TO approach It. o
In going over lost ground 10 gather up
fighting force.
This Is the work toward which the flores
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