Evening star., 1914-11-27
WINTER WORK IS BEGUN
BY THE FOREST RANGERS
Burning Of Brush Heaps Amid the
Shows Is First Job Of
the Season.

Out in the snow-piled reaches OF 160
federal forest reserves a small army
Of forest rangers. Uncle Sans most
picturesque employees, are burning
| brush. making trails and building
| bridges, In order that timber for the
multifarious uses of posterity may not
| perish from the face of the earth.
| Mounted on snowshoes or skis and
clothed in corduroys and nackinaw, the
forest ranger has settled down to his
winters owrk. far back in the wooded
hills. miles from human companionship,
with no line of communication but the
attenuated strand Of telephone wire.
| which he himself has strung behind
him. For the forest ranger is a kind
of "hibernating'' animal that works
while he hibernates.
With the last danger OF destructive
| forest fires gone with the arrival OF the
| heavy SHOWS. he deserts his lookout
| station and devotes his attention to the
| work OF the winter. the cleaning UP of
his range, and the maintenance Of the
! trails he has wrought through the
forest.
The first SHOWS start tho ranger out
to burn the brush piles left by the
logging crews that cut over sale areas
and free-use timber on his range. The
| brush is left in piles until a wet
| blanket of snow insures against the
starting of forest fires from the blazing
| refuse. Then it is burned with the
| snow on hand as natures own fire ex-
tingutSher.
Ready for the Winter.
| Tho ranger furnishes up his snow
| shoes or skis, and patches up his hand
or dog sled. Away over on the other
ls,fI III.
| bridge that spans a mountain torrent.
| which needs considerable strength
ening to stand the weight which
| and the spring freshets will put upon
| it. So he loads quarter of a ton of
| bridge iron on his sled. bitches up his
| dogs. shoulders provision pack and
| headquarters. He may have to nego-
tiate snow-choked pass. seven or
eight thousand feet in altitude. where
the wet, heavy snow clofs his snow
| three OF four trips to haul his pack
over the crest.
When he arrives at his destination he
| may find his bridge buried under a
| ten-foot drift of heavy snow. which
he will spend day penetrating.
Through delays and heavy travelling,
| he may find his supplies giving out,
| and by the time he has fought his
| way through snowstorm back to
| headquarters he may have been lunch
| ing for days on frozen raw bacon, and
| sleeping in sodden blankets under a
sheltering tree.
Throughout the long winter the
ranger is kept busy with just such
| jobs as these. Ten feet Of snow may
| come down from the mountains and
| bury his cabin, and he must dig him
| self out and take the trail And he
must keep everlastingly at it until the
| spring breakup sends him scurrying
| to the high points to watch for the
| curl of smoke that foretells the COM
| ing of the forest fire.
Not Political Snap.
Development of the winter work on
the ranges has removed the forest
ranger from the patronage" classiflca-
tion in government jobs. Formerly
congressman were inclined to look on
| the forest ranger place as a desirable
| position for some constituent looking
| for light outdoor work" That time
| has passed. however. for the forest
ranger must submit medical certificate
| showing that he Is able-bodied before
he is appointed. As tho forest service
| puts it:
He must be able-bodied and capable
| of enduring hardships and of perform
| ing severe labor under trying condi-
| tions: able to take care of himself
| and his horses in regions remote from
| settlement and supplies, and must be
| able to build trails and cabins and
| pack in provisions without assistance
He must know something Of surveying,
estimating and scaling lumber and the
| livestock business, and, in addition to
| this, he should have a general knowl-
| edge OF farming and mining"