The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1932-10-21
FOREST Will
EMPLOY geo
Cleaning Up Storm Damage
Will Require Over 200
Men This Winter.

Two to three hundred men, it is
estimated, win be employed in the
Superior National Forest the coming
winter to establish fire lines and in
other ways provide protection from the
hazards created by the windstorm of
July 90
Much of the wreckage on important
highways, trails and portages has been
removed. The plans of E. w. Tinker,
regional forester at Milwaukee, and R.
A. Zeller, supervisor of the Superior
Forest include looping and burning the
branches of the downtown trees to
distance of 100 to 200 feet from roads,
trails and portages and frequented lake
down area of the forest.
Arrangements have been made with
the national forest service for about
200 to be used on federal owned
lands A somewhat smaller amount
probably will be provided from stata
lands within the forest, and it is hoped
to secure a few thousand dollars from
the federal unemployment relief fund
to be used in doing the work on pri-
vately owned lands within the blown
dow narea of the forest.
The forest service here has issued up
wards of 200 special permits to residents
of Ely, who are cutting the down tim
Der within short distances of the high
ways leading out of town.
The permits give the stumpage free
to those who plan to use the wood for
themselves and at so cents a cord to
those who plan to sell it.
1t is estimated that upwards of two
thousand cords of wood will be taken
into Ely this fan as result of the
arrangement.
The storm covered an area of about
1000 square miles in the Superior
forest, extending from southwest to
northeast about so miles in a strip ap-
proximately 20 miles wide
Not ali of the trees of course, were
blown down. There are large areas in
which the damage is not noticeable
In others the loss will be as high as
30 per cent. The average for the 1000
square miles win be about Is per cent
by volume, according to F. H. Eyre,
Silviculturist at the Lake States ex-
pertinent subStation at Halfway, on the
Ely-Finland trail
The spruce suffered the most, being
shallow rooted, usually in peat soil
Large swamps have been laid flat
Large Norway and white pine trees
came next in order of numbers shat
tered, the poplar suffering least.
Most of the injury has been found
to have occurred in that great area of
the forest north and east of Ely where
there are no roads or other means of
transportation. and where millions of
feet of fine logs will have to lie and
rot, as there is at present no market
for the timber that would justify build
ing roads or railroads to salvage it.
Agitation of wild life enthusiasts has
prevented the building of roads which
had been projected by the forest SER
vice into some of this area.
The present condition in these areas
is highly hazardous But most of them
are so far removed from routes of
travel that it is considered unlikely that
fires will be started by human agencies.
1t is recognized that lightning in a
dry time may start fires that will be
uncomfortable, but the clearing of road
sides, trails and portages will help to
reduce the hazard, making lines along
which firefighters might have some
chance of stopping advancing flames.
There is good understory of young
trees in most Of the downtown area,
according to Frank Grove, ranger at
Halfway station and if fires can be
kept out for a number of years, new
growth will replace the shattered tim
Der in years to come.
An effort is also being put forth by
the Minnesota Arrowhead Association
and its president, G. A Hoel, to secure
funds from the governors emergency
fund to aid private owners to clean
up the mess left by the storm and use
the timber for security. The saw,
mining timber and pulpwood to be
cached in lakes until the market i'm
proves and the timber can be sold.