The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1914-08-25
ReforestatIon and Nursery Cost
Reduced by Business
Methods to a
Science.
Paper Read by State Forester Mar
Gus Sehaaf at the Annual Meeting OF
the Northern Forest Protective
Association.

III ~hNNo Vi lfNV lllt GUS
tody and control of the then existin
State Forests, which numbered onl,
TWO or combined area OF 81 900 acres
was transferred to and vested in I'll,
Public Domain Commission. Tn,
same annual appropriation formerl,
granted for the Improvement anC
maintenance OF these two forests wa.
provided In the act creating the Public
Domain Commission as the amount tC
be used by the Commission in carry,
ing on It's work. A further provision
OF this act required that additional
lands be set aside for forestry pur.
poses TO increase the total acreage e
at least 100000 acres, which provision
was complied with by reserving 49,
600 acres in March, 1910, bringing the
total area to something over 231, 0OO
acres. No provision, however, in the
way of increased appropriation was
made by the legislature for taking
care of this additional acreage re-
quired by law, amounting to more
than three times as much as that origi-
nally set aside.
Since the funds available were alto
gether inadequate for properly admin
| istering all of the State Forest lands,
| and inasmuch as the Public Domain
Commission is charged with duties
other than that of lire protection, it
was thought best to limit its activities
on the State Forests to such tracts
only as could be properly cared for
until such time as more ample finan-
cial provision should be made. In
other words, it seemed the part OF
wisdom to develop and insure protec-
ton on a few of the State Forests
rather than spread the limited appro-
priation thinly over all and thereby
invite partial, or perhaps complete,
failure. For time, therefore, active
work was confined to the older forests
in Crawford and Roscommon counties,
and even so the allowance was hardly
sufficient to cover the cost of the nee
essary improvement and current ex-
penses.
substantial increase in the appro-
priation given by the last legislature
made 1t possible to extend the work
OF protection and administration to
other of the State Forests. Immedi-
ately this became available, steps were
taken to bring under management an
additional $4,000 acres embraced
within the Lake Superior Forest in
Luce county and the Fife Lake Forest
In Grand Traverse county. The work
at these two places is now we'll under
way, and many improvements OF a
protective and permanent nature have
been made. Other forests will be
taken in hand this coming season, and
1t Is hoped that within another year
all Of the larger tracts will be af-
forded thorough protection.
Naturally the first and most impor-
tant function in carrying out any for
est policy is to provide for reasonable
protection OF the property against fire.
This, at all times, is absolutely essen
tial to success. Without immunity
from fires. II would be not only useless
but a waste of money to reforest by
the work of reforesta-
ton is, on the State Forest at least,
oVSohu why w tlidt vi hlt
1t is with this object in view that the
of the State Forests
has been carried on since their incep-
ton, and it is this particular feature
OF the work of the Public Domain
that will. be here consid-
cred.
We have always considered the for
est patrol to be the mainstay of our
protective system, which is intended to |
be one OF prevention rather than sup
preston. Rangers are kept on duty |
the summer months when |
ever conditions are at all favorable |
for the starting and spreading of fires. |
The number of patrolmen required |
for each forest is small, since even the |
largest forest is comparatively limit |
ed In area. In some cases one man |
ordinarily covers the ground; in 9TH
ers four or five men at most are need |
ed In times of extreme danger. On |
all the forests various lines of work |
are In progress to which the patrol
men can be shifted when conditions
are such that patrol is unnecessary.
In addition to strictly patrol duties the
rangers avail themselves of every op-
portunity to gain the good will and CO.
operation of settlers and the forest
using public in general and in the pre-
vention and control of forest fires.
The value OF this feature of the work
cannot be overestimated.
The experiment of using lookout
towers from which to detect fires was
tried out last season and proved so
successful that 1t is our intention to
equip all of the forests with such tow
ers as soon as possible. In some in
stances one tower only will be needed,
which, IL centrally located, will con-
troll the entire district. Here, at least,
we expect to be able to dispense with
patrolmen altogether, except during
occasional intervals when the atmos-
phere is heavy with smoke. On eac<
Of the larger forests system Of two
or three towers will be erected and
connected with each other by tele-
phone, and in all cases there will be
telephone communication between thel
towers andIorest headquarters. When-l
ever conditions warrant, 'look-outs will
be stationed In the towers continu-l