The Daily Missoulian. [volume], November 20, 1910, Morning, Page 5, Image 15

About The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961

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FOESTRY"LESSONS TAUGHT BY IEORiAT .
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EFFECT OF WIND AND FIRE IN HEAVY TIMBER OF UPPER ST. REGIS RIVER NEAR BORAX-LOLO
'FOREST-WHITE PINE AND SPRUCE TIMBER.
A- cigarette butt, a careless camper,
a spark or a bolt of lightning-one is
about ag dangetmls as the other and
as great a menace to the national for
ests during the summer months when
the vegetation and timber are dry and
so easily ignited. Forest fires 'origi
natfign from all of these sources, and
possibly a few purposely set by mall
clous-minded persons, caused a terri
ble loss of life dad propertyduring
the dry season of 1910. A conflagra
tion bearing such disastrous results
has ,never occUitred and its visitation
has btikeri the indifference of the gen
eral public as well as the special in
terests and by illustrating so vividly
the vital necessity of -a better system
of fire protection it may work out the
salvation of the remaining forests.
"No*. great loss without some small
gain" may be applicable- to the case
It the disaster of the season shall
bring fortnh a system of adequate fire
protection. However great the gain
.nay be in the system it must be con
sidered small when compared with the
lives of 80 or more men who perished
in the flames. . Forests may be re-,
planted and: grown again but those
men can never be recalled.
With the headquarters or.field dis
triet NO. 1 do :the foept'-.t t er\locqt-.
ed in .asioulanll.~,d the adnrinistration
of 27- national : forests. centering. at
these hieadquarters,, ,a splendid ' oppor
tunity has been given here for a study
of this$fire situtation. Naturally the
matter was of much interest to the
forestry, "offliialss and the various
plhasesof it lmatse been the- subjects
of mluclrYdiscussion and 'a great imany
of the:suggestions about to be offered
haver cme -fron. men itiithitthe forest,
service, Some of the. features of ther
plan outlined are i1s)rady ipioperation
and miuch' 6f th.dath hereli contalsedb
has beery gleaned tfromi-ai InVestiga
tion of top rectords o' exitperjmeatal
work- -con~ucted' by, the' service glotii.
these lines. . -.
The great necessity, however, Is to
perfect a ' eperal plan large enough to
cover the whole situation and then to
secuie an', approprittiin "froni - the na
tional. coji'ess whiehlwl!ll be. ample to
put- it into. execution in ;the im~medi
ate future ,.
- -ild stQiat No1. -.
In order to appreciate the serious
fires which occurred in western j(on
tana and northern Idaho It is neces
sary t, understand the conditions; and
extent aind type of country in Which
they occurred. - Field -district No. 1
of the forest service includes all the
national forests -ri the* panhandle of
Idaho north of the Salmon river, all
in Montana, North Dakota, Michigan
and Minnesota. The type of country
offers . two areas In distinct contrast,
ote .iingif east and -one- west. qf the,
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great Continental divide. That to the
east is open with the timber mostly
confined to the.north slopes and Inter
spersed with large open ,parks, and
grapsy areas- The yellow :pine, red
fir and .lodgepole pine, which are the
predominating species in these forests,
occur in stands, fairly free from under
brush and through which travel is
comparatively easy. In strinking con
trast is the area west of the `divide.
Here the timber occurs in dense stands
of white pine, cedar, larch, fir and
hemlock, whiclr carry a large, amount
of underbrush, so thick as some times
to be impassible. This timber is not
confined entirely' to the north slope.e
and with the exception of a very few
widely scattered' mountain meadows
there are no open areas.
To make thp contrast more striking
the maximum' stand of timber to .the
acre east of the divide will not ex
ceed 12,000 feet,. 'while the west slope
~runs as high as 100,000 feet to the
acre. and in some cases 125,000. . The
height of the timber' also differs. East
ernn slope timber runs 60'and 75 feet
high'while western slope trees average
100 and 125 feet. It is estimated that
there is in the forests of district 'No.
1 approximately 90,000,000,000 feet of
sajw tiniber o.dr which practlcalljr 80
"fr deit,'lies ebst of .tie libclr#'mbsn'
tains. Thebe two 'slbrps"o't' ti'"dls
trldt include apdproxiniately 29,000,000
acres located' "in 28, national forests.
The 12 forests which 'lie west of' the
divide, contain: approximately 15,000,000
and' the: 16 forests' on the east slope
about' 14000,000 acres. These figures
further present a contrast by reason
of the f~et' that although -the areas
are.aboutequial, east and west of. the
t~ltvidentatthe area west holds 75. per
'cent of~ he timber. , .. -
Typ of Country a factor.
'AePssibility. is one of the prime
fadtors in. limiting fire control, the
main ..thing being to get' td the fires
wihen they are small. This can only
be done where it is 'possible to travel
over the country with ordinary speed,
In the open type of country it is pos
aible to travel' with horses by taking
advantage of the open parks and bald
ridges. I -is possible, too, to travel in
a great-' many" instances tl roughl the
timber itself' since it is' easy to find
areas of little'windfall and with small
amount' of underbrush. Fires occuri
ring in .such .territory can be easily
seen and, gotten to with little delay,
which'means they can be &ujkht whet
so "small 'that they can be trenched or
.completely extinguished by the patrol
man .without it being. necessary for
him to call for outslde assistance,
However, if' outside kssistance is need
.ed the character of the country makea
rapid travel possible for crews 'and
equipment and the fir' can be fought
.before it reaches any considerable size
or does a great amount of damage.
This is not theory but actual, facts as
shown. by the recent, bad fire season.
Many fires occurred on the forests of
the eastern slope of the Rockies but
practically did no damage. It is true
.that the opery character of the timber
had a great: dealo do .with this but
the main point to be emphasized is
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that the fires could be reached shortly
after they were discovered. In the.
eastern district the weather conditions
-were as dry And as favorable to for
est ignition as on the west slope -but
the fact that a larger, territory could
;be covered; by one man and the - fire
moreeasily seen and gotten to, made
it `ossible to prevent the spread of
the numerous small fires into a great
conflagration such as aoccurred ti the
western district.
Death and Destruction.
As accessibility was the main factor
:in coftrollin the fires east of the dil
vide inaccessibility was the main
cause of the spread of the small fires
throughout the forests of the western
slopes and of -their assuming propor
tlons which made conditions ripe, un
der a high wind, 1or the great general
conflagration and terrible loss of life
and property. The result of that high
wind is noiv too vivid, ih the minds of
people not only living in the immedi
ate-vicinity of the forests but of the
whole country to .in~ke the results ap
pear as the exaggeratlons of an alarm
ist. Instead of it being an exaggera
(ion, only part has been told and in
fact only part is known and will only
be known until the. men now in the
field have been allgwed .time to more
thoroughly examine the extent and
dkmage of the burned terietory. It is
known, however, that as a result of the
general conflagration 80 men within
the national fo)ests lost their lives
and whole w'atersheds of timber were
so svept by the 'flames that ndt a
living green thing is left. That where
once stood white' pine and its acco
cdated spedles, runhing from 20,000 to
75,000 feet to the' acre, worth from $3
to $5' 'per 1.000'. eet, board measure,
on the* stump, there now stands a
ghastly array of charred stumps and
snags around whose roots are beds of
ashes,' in 'some caids ~iev8tal feet deep.
On two small watersheds, that of
Rainy creek, a tributary of thq St.
Regis river, and Big, creek. tributary
to the St. Joe, comprising an area not
bxceeding 15,000 acres, there was a
total loss. off' a. ossible $600,000 in
stumpage 'and sales actually contract
ed and a loss to the community of $10
in tirages for 'eachi ',000'feet of the
timber burned or'het'bbpught to mar
ket, . This at a conservative estimate
'would mean a q9mmnunity loss of
$800,000. ' This 18i sot estimated but
actual figures dertved° from the chm
petitive bids':for tei sale of this tim
ber, contracts havigg been executed
just before the fire for practically all
of the time, - of- .this particular dis
trlct at 44.00 and $4.50 per thousand.
On the great interior areas of the
Clearwater national forest where large
bodies of tinmber lie refnote from rail
ways and wagon roads and are only
acoaesible by trails, areas variously es
tUmated from three to five townships
have been swept by the flames. In
hase manner the great bodies of mag
nificst" timber on the headwaters of
the ,,,t. Joe river, estimated. at
2,000.000,000 feet; at the head of the
'St. Regis. river, estimated at
1,000,000,000 feet 'auid the 'areas along
the Clark's. Fork.. Kootenal, Pend
d'Orellle and Coeur d:Alene rivers, the
-estimates of which are not available
Utilt a further ekamination,'werb de
vastated.
Homes Destroyed.
Ndt only was there 'timber loss on
these areas but the homes of many
scttlers were wiped completely out of
existence. Barns, houses .and fenc
ing, representing many years of pa
tient toil and hardship, now only
blackened ruins, effecting . class of
people least able to bear the burden
represent another phase of the dam
age of the great conflagration. In
the nature of improvements there
were also destroyed on the forests
numerous ranger' stations. Bridges,
trestles, station houses and damaged
track aggregating $1,000,000 damage
was the estimate made after the fire
by the Chlcs o, M4ilwaukee & 'Puget
Sound Railway company.. The North
erq Pacific lSt .nearly as much prop
erty on its Coeur d'Alene branch be
tween Missoul aldd Wa;lace and trhf
flc on both of these lines was badly
delayed for a month, with only a make
shift service its operation. The dam
aged sections of both of these railways
lay within the' holo and Coeur d'Alene
national forests" and have not yet
been entirely repaired. Telegraph
and telephone lines suffered a curre
spondingly heav-y damiage; the Bell
colnpany-alone lost 800 poles and all
of, the wire over the space, they cov
ered,
Besides all of these known losses
and the 'big unkltown quantity yet to
be estimated and listed there is a fire
fighting bill of ($10,000-all for the
work done in disttlct No. i.
The irst Problem.
With all these facts before us, with
'the thousands of 'acres or valuable
timber land laia ' waste, imossible 'to'
reproduce by any smethod known to
science for a Cycle of another 100
years, the question of forest conser
vation by' the ppl.cation of scientific
methods ofa , planting and
tluaaow ai - U oly usels-w"ith
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m IN THE COEUR D'ALENE FOREST NEAR WALLACE FOLLOWING HURRICANE AND FIRE OF AUGUS 72
out there first being worked.out a
practical and effective system of fire
protection. With the experience of
this season vividtl in our minds it ap
pears that to prevent and' proteot
against forest fires is the keystone to
the whole structure of forest con
servation.
This unquestionably is the first
problem in the forest conservation
book. It must be worked out and ap
plied before the first lesson can be
considered learned. Through it the
rest is made 'worth while and-the ap
plications of. the.later lessons become
productive of results. The problem
is simple but to inake practicable over
so large an area will,.requiretlme, un
ceasing effort and heavy initial in
surance--to prevent loss rather than
repay loss. It is analogous to the
making of a City safe by an effectivd
fire department.
M. L. GULDEN
FURRIER
I have added many new sets of fashionable furs,
made up in the most up-to-date styles. Remember, my
guarantee goes with every piece. Is it worth anything
to you to know that you have a good, prime piece of
fur and that the price you paid for your garment was
according to quality? Don't buy unprlme mink and
pay for prime--there is a vast difference in the ap
pearance if worn for a while. It is t positive fact
that in order to sell right you must buy right. Can a
person buy right unfets die b.a thorongl} kowledge
of what he is buying? -No, certainly not. And I hardly
need tell you that the fur business is one that requires
study from the living animAl to the finished article or
garment. Get the best-get my guarantee. See niy
Alaska black fox; they are deep in fur. My ponies
are imported, not domestic. Furs stored duriag
summer.
135 East Main .St
How foolish it is to plan today for
even the Iresent forest or its repro
duction without first being reasona
bly sure that the foundation upon
whigh all this is biuilt is firmly and.
strongly established--that the forests
will be with us tomorrow: that all the
work, planned and perhaps partly
executed will not be wiped out in a
twinkling of an eye. Any other line
of action vwould be like putting the
cart before the horse of building a
house from the top downward.
With the good work of the forest
service along this line as far as it has
been conducted as a guide and, again,
with the lesson of this season's terri
ble fire immediately before us, the
right,line of action seems to be clearly
indicated. But one practical plan of
fire protection seems to be presented.
This must include: First, accessibili
'ty; second, rapid communication;
third, adequate patrol; fourth, equip
ment.
Accessibility.
Accessibility means a system of ridge
and stream trails which tap each dis
trict; it means being able to travel
through the forest at a reasonably
rapid rate; it means making possible
the transportation of men and equip
ment at the time tlAýy are needed and
can be used with telling effect'; it
medrnshtking atiVahtdtie-'f the elimielt
of time-the most important factors
in fire control; it means, practically,
everything which has been denied hie
fire fighters this season in the more
remote territory of those forests as.
yet undeveloped.
The plans being advanced for the
development of the national forests by
the forest servele are admirable. They
will serve all purposes of forest man
agement when completed but the trou
ble with the present condition is that
these plans are too slow in being
worked out. These plans are beihng
developed year by year as funds will
allow, everything being completely
worked out from the start. They are
excellent bit' not adequate under con
ditions 'as they exist. What is first
necessary is- the immediate preserva
tion of the forests from fire. Develop
the forest, most surely, but base such
development on a fire protective plan.
Costly it may be, at least for the ini
tial outlay, but already proven a good
business proposition in the long run.
A Developed Forest.
What 'is :a developed forest on a
fire iprotective basis? Accessibility is
one of its main features. Such a for
est will have trunk trails constructed
up main streams and divides; laterals
up tributary streams and spurs of the
mountains. For a forest unit' of a
million acres, which would be an area
of a tract 50 to 60 miles long and 40
to 60 miles wide, between 400 and 500
miles of trails are necessary before a
reasonably heavy timbered area can
be considered accessible on a fire pro
tection basis. Through heavy tim
bered regions the construction of these
trails will average $75 per mile, al
though where some rock work is neces
sary it has reached a cost of 12,000
per mile in short stretches. The trail
should nowhere have a grade to ex
coed 20 per cent. In making such
trails the ordinary crew, a number of
men who could work together to the
best advantage, will build about a mile
a day, clearing out a right of way
eight feet wide and grading a tread
from 18 inches to, two feet wide on the
side hills. This work can all be done
by temporary laborers under the sUper-',i.
vision of the rangers. The work '
should first all be laid out by'the dif
ferent supervisors so that the trails
will connect one district or forest with -
another as closely, as possible. In ad-..c
dition all trails and improvements for
fire protection should be carefully 'l
platted on maps and kept up to datea'
in case a change in forest men should .
be required at 'a time when quick
access to the country is necessary.
*Besides the regular trails thereb'
shpukld be a system of connecting pas-.
sakes through the timber usually"
termed "shotgun" .trails" in which
only enough of the heaviest brush 1
cut to make a short trip through the
timber possible. This sort of trail
can be constructed for $25 to $40 pet
mile. Some forests also contain large
bodies of water and here boats should'.
be utilized as a means of accessibility..
Goverpment launches should be main
tained at regular stations and trails
should radiate from the various land
Ings.
To maintain this. network of trails
would require some work every year.
In the spring they should all be over
looked, the trees which may have
fallen across cut out of the way. and
the 'trail put in shape for suw mers-,
use. This work could all be done by.
the present permanent force main
talned.
Expenses Repaid.
This work itf all done at once would
be very expensive but when 'oompare4d
with the damage. that it would -pr
vent, such, expenditure should be. wil
lingly made. The fire bill in district
No. 1 'for 1909 was $30,0010. The fire
bill for the same district so far in 1910
has been fully $750,000 for the goyern
ment and caused several millions loss
to cities, towns and companies withbl.
(Continued un Page Eight.)