The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-03-18
NATIONAL FOREST
FIRES IN THE STATE.
FIRE LOSS ON THE SUPERIOR
AND MINNESOTA NATIONAL
FORESTS SMALLEST IN HIS
TORY LAST YEAR, SAYS FIRE
CHIEF McLAREN.
(By John McLaren, Fire Chief,
District No. p

DlSuNI NV. 81
For the first time in the history
of the forest service, the season OF
1926 was passed without a class Z
THAT is, one that covers 10 acres OF
mOre) fire. on the Superior Natpona!
Forest. Six fires occurred. three Oh
which were class A and three class
B. with a total of only seven acres
burned over. A class A fire IS one
that covers not more chan onerfour1n
of an acre, and a class B one thai
covers more than one-fourth OF an
acre but less than 10 acres. Inc
1926 record gives risG to hope NJ
disastrous fires which have annually
been the rule rather than the excep-
ton, may be relegated to past MS
tory.
There are two national forests IN
the state, one with headquarters at
Ely. the other headquarters being at
Cass Lake. Mention of various points
following has to do with the COM
bined record for the two forests, ex-
cept where otherwise indicated.
There was a total of % fires on
these areas during 1926 and a fewer
number never' has been recorded for
any previous year. There was a TO-
tai area of 1,136 burned over,
about half of which was timbered,
and the cost of s~uppressing these fires
was slightly over 81, 500. Thus new
records have been hung up and the
organizations will necessarily be
taxed to the utmost in striving to
maintain them in future seasons
A change in policy was initiated IN
the spring of 1926 in the region near
Cass Lake and an analysis of the
record for the past year seems to
indicate its soundneSs. There are
numerous so-called ''hayI meadows"
along the Mississippi river and ex-
tending inland, which have been
formed as water levels have receded.
For many years forest officers n
others p~racticed burning these while
snow still remained in the timber.
II resulted in a measure of safety
from forest fires when the fire sea-
son opened, since these burned grass
areas formed blackened fire lines
and helped materially in checking
fires started in dry periods. With
theS utmost care in doing this burn
ing, there was always at least slight
damage done to the forest because
invariably a tree here and there on
the edge of the grass was damaged
and allseedlings that had a start in
the meadows were consumed. The
land in most of these hay meadows
is suitable for the growth of valu-
able timber, and given a chance, the
timber extends itself not only along
the edges but far out towards the
center of these areas 1t was de-
cided that, beginning last spring,
forest officers would discontinue the
practice of burning and would not
permit burning to be done on public
lands by others. As a result, large
acreages of grass remained unburned
throughout the year and the timber
Is thus given a chance to extend
itself, and it Is planned to expediate
the changes to timber by planting
young stock.
All but one of the fires that oc-
Cured during the season were man
caused. Campers, careless smokers,
and persons burning brush were the
chief offenders. To be sure, the
number who were careless was very
small compared to the thousands
that come to the forests, but since
one small fire may develop rapidly