Albuquerque morning journal., 1913-11-28


under administration fifteen years
and under the forest service for eighi
years The aim Of the present admin
istration rs not TO overturn but 20 take
every possible step TO Increase eff
cheney OF the organization, 70 adjust
difficulties, ana advance as fast a.
possible the purposes for which the
national forests were established.
4 Secretary Houston recently said 20 me
regarding the national forests;
Establish permanent boundaries
Classify your lands; segregate the
agricultural land ana fix right limits
+ for what is needed as protective and
productive forests Develop permanent
policies based on fun recognition OF
lasting public interests and settled
/ foresty practice fitted 20 the indiv-
dual needs of each forest and locality
study efficiency make any changes
necessary for this purpose. but make
/ no changes that are not clearly called
for in the public interest. Carry out
your plans for the development and
/ increasing use of the forests; but
above an. make each forest work for
community upbuilding and local as
well as general welfare. We must al
ways have in mind the men and wom-
en- who are building up a new coun-
try and laying the foundations for
prosperous. thriving commonwealths.
We must try 10 study their needs ana
see where and how the forests can
help them. But we must not cease
10 guard effectively against the evils
.of private privilege and m0nopolistic
control Of resources now the prop
erty Of the public"
The first important result of ma
tional forestry is demonstration
that the forests can be protected from
fire. 1t was only a few years ago that
many asserted that this would be Inn
possible In the northwest the smoke
season was as inevitable as the rainy
season Of winter, and this was no,
merely the result Of clearing land,
but from forest fires. II was only
recently that our own forest Officers
have regarded lookout stations as
feasible in certain places. for lookout
stations are useless If smoke hides the
view. This year has been the worst
In many respects of all years in Cali
fornia. because Of the frequency Of
lightning fires. Yet the lookout sta
tions on only two forests and then
only for a short time, were out of
commission because of smoke: and
the smoke came from fires on private
lands. This year in California there
were over 1,100 fires on the timbered
areas. These were kept down To an
average of a little over twenty acres
per fire. This was done by an eff
feetive fire organization and through
the means OF the trails telephones
and lookout system. In one Storm
lightning set over twenty fires In one
forest * takes swift and efficient
work 10 handle such situation. The
results so far attained show that
fires can be mastered. But II Is neccs-
sarv first to put the forest In a com
diti0n to enable the force to prevent
fires, to detect those which start
promptly, ana to reach them quickly
The forest service is developing a
system of lookout stations. fire lines,
trails and telephone lines that ulti-
mately will make the forests secure.
Already the force Is able to save
every year property valued at many
million dollars through the improve
ments SO far built, although as yet
only "a beginning has been made. This
work is carried on according to a
definite plan, already projected in
detail Each years work adds 2,5O)
miles of trails $500 miles Of tele-
phones, and many lookouts and other
progressing toward
the final scheme Until that is COM
pleted tho forests cannot be made en-
urely secure. with that Development \
the forest fires can be handled even i'm
that exceptionally dry wear that oc-
comes to every region
This protection not only saves the
trees from destruction or injury, but
already the effect is shown in the re-
stocking of many areas whore the old
fires had prevented reproduction Per
sonally. ] had hardly expected that
there would be so quick a response.
But the results are now apparent to
even,a casual observer More specific
ally while previously the forests were
going backward because of fires,
there is now an annual gain through
growth. This increase translated into
dollars and cents is much greater than
the total cost Of production and all
other expenses Of the forests
The necessity to take immediate
steps to prevent the public forests
from being destroyed by fire has plac-
ed a large emphasis on the protective
feature Of the administration. The
wise use Of the forest resources IN
the development Of industries and mi
building up the country Is essentially
the real aim Of maintaining the for
ests. Protection from destruction is q
first essential; otherwise there would
be no resources TO use. But the pur-
pose Of the administration rs NOT
merely protective, but constructive. IL
is a favorite theme Of the opponents
of the national forest system TO rep
resent the forests as a separate ,fed-
eral domain, held for the use of fu-
Lure generations or for persons other
than those now living in the region
IN which the forests are situated. such
statements are not only contrary to
the spirit Of the administration of the
forests, but are disproyed by tho re-
suits already beinug secured. The aim
is to make the forests count in the
highest possible measure in the in
dustrial upbuilding Of the local COM
nunitics, at the same time that they
serve their broader public functions.
In classifying the agricultural lands