The Coconino sun., 1922-04-21
FOREST FIRES - THE
 COST OF CARELESSNESS

ALBUQUERQUE, N. M., April 19, 199. = Although the entire personnel of the Forest Service in the South west will be on the lookout for Forest fires during the coming season, there are going to be lot of fires that could have been prevented if lit tie thought had been given by parties using the National Forest. In sum- ming up the Forest fife situation for the Southwest, District Forester F. C.. w. Pooler stated that "there were 434 fires in Arizona and New Mexico last year of which more than 609o were due to avoidable carelessness by Forest users." He also stated that annually 25,000 acres of forest land are burned over in spite of all the care and preparation taken by the Forest Service to avoid such fires" Such waste and loss can only be pre- vented by more care and thoughtful ness on the part of campers, smokers, and others using the forest in putting out their camp fires and extinguishing matches, cigarettes and cigar stubs. Furthermore, great deal of this waste could be avoided if when a fire is started the public would put out the small fires by covering them with dirt or by the use of water and by reporting the larger fires to the near est forest officer. Usually it will take only very few minutes to do this.
 So nationwide is the loss and de- struction due to forest fires become that the President of the United States has issued a proclamation de- signating April 1922 as Forest Pro- tection Week. The President urges:
 "Officers of public instruction, of counties, cities and towns, and of civic and commercial organizations to unite in thought and action for the preservation of our common heritage by planning such educational and in- structive exercises as shall bring be- fore the people the disastrous effects of the present waste by forest fires, and the need of individual and collect i've effort to conserve the forests and increase our tree growth for orna- ment and use."
 The people of the Southwest have a great forest heritage to protect. There are over 25 billion feet of saw timber on the National Forests and there are 479,000 head of cattle and horses and 733,000 head of sheep and goats grazed on these forests. Fur thermore, the headwaters of a large number of the important irrigation streams of the Southwest have their sources and watersheds within the National Forests. Then too, there are the vast opportunities for camping, hunting and fishing and other forms of outdoor recreation which the For ests afford. Thousands of people an- nually spend their vacations and en- gage in their favorite pastime and recreation camping within it's cool con fines.
 So that the enjoyment of these great resources may be had and re- tained for the future, let everyone help to keep America green and avoid the fate of treeless China. Further more, not only do we need the fuel, posts and lumber in the upbuilding of our industries, but also need the Forests as a great store house of water for irrigation and domestic use. Floods are a rare occurrence in well forested regions as the flow of streams within them are gradual and of long duration instead of torrential in char acter carrying death and destruction in their wake. The destruction of forest means disastrous erosion which annually destroys hundreds of farms, fills important reservoirs and river beds with silt and gravel which later costs thousands of dollars to remove.
 Arizona and New Mexico have mill lions of dollars invested in their great irrigation projects. A proper protec- tion of the headwaters of these streams will not only insure a con- tinued and permanent water supply, but will greatly cheapen the mainten- ance cost of irrigation systems.
 Forest fires help no one and damage many. Put them out,
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