Bulletin (Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters), no. 33-35 (1923) (20474764926)

Title: Bulletin (Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters), no. 33-35
Identifier: bulletinpennsylv3335penn (find matches)
Year: 1923 (1920s)
Authors: Pennsylvania. Dept. of Forests and Waters
Subjects: Forests and forestry
Publisher: Harrisburg, Pa. : The Department
Contributing Library: Penn State University
Digitizing Sponsor: Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation

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1 18 scarred bases and at other points where the bark is broken either by expansion or by breaking branches. Modification of past stands. As noted before there is a modifica- tion of growth conditions even after one moderate fire. Less resist- ant species are killed and the number of species is reduced. Sprouts take the place of seedlings. Whatever seed happens to be exposed or finds lodgment on the area is likely to germinate and become es- tablished. Winged seed species especially are likely to come in. The crop after fires varies in different localities. There may be birch, aspen, bird cherry, scrub oak, or by chance some valuable species. Species requiring protection from sun, drought, or frost in their early stages cannot regenerate until some nurse crop is established. Extra expense and difficulty of reforesting burned areas. The ex- posure of soil results in a dry condition which limits the success of artificial regeneration. The exposure is severe upon the young trans- planted seedlings. The grass and weeds which develop compete with the young seedlings for moisture and food. The lack of humus in the soil delays the growth of the seedlings which do become established.
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A Forest Fire Swept Over two Million Feet of Tim- ber IN This Logging Operation. Besides the Loss in Logs, Many Cords op Peeled Tanbark Were Des- troyed On other sites the debris may handicap the planting operation to such an extent that the number of trees planted per man may be re- duced over 50%. And last but not least, the debris is likely to be 19 fuel for the next fire and furnish the heat with which to kill the whole plantation. Miscellaneous. We have already mentioned the indirect results on stream flow, erosion, and health. There are still such effects as the decrease of labor by reason of the lack of a natural resource, decrease of taxes upon land which ought to be producing a revenue and the consequent rise in taxes on that land which is producing, the scatter- ing of the population of a township or county, the general decrease in land value in such cases; the local inconvenience of wood scarcity, the increased cost of wood products, the bearing on such questions as the housing of city dwellers and other economic and welfare prob- lems. To sum the whole matter up briefly, FOREST FIRES ARE CA- LAMITIES. They destroy great values without the least compensat- ing benefit, and the trail of loss in wages, industry, taxes, revenue, prosperity, sport, health, comfort, and even life, leads to every home in the land. LESSON NINE A FOREST FIRE* ((' Long before I reached the fire I could feel the heat in the air, could see the rolling smoke waves on high, and could hear the crackle and the crashing and the crunching of falling tree-trunks. Birds in alarmed flight winged ahead of the danger. Small game, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, and groundhogs, were getting out of the way and were heedless of man. There was an even increased activity and excite- ment among the bugs. I never saw such swarms of Camberwell beau- ties, banded purples, angle-wings, swallow-tails, tortoise-shells, and dog-faced sulphurs. Deer clung to the shores, ready to take to the water. Bradshaw reported a big bull moose hanging out with his cattle, as if sensing comparative safety near to man. The fire caught a lot of pestiferous army worms and destroyed no end of vermin in its course. **The fighters had brains and willingness and courage and resource, but we had nothing to fight the fire with. There wasn't a drop of water nearer than the shore. The main fire front was over two miles long. It would take an ocean to conquer it. The trail was rocky. We had shovels, picks, hoes, rakes, and axes. We could not get a shovelful of non-cdmbustible soil. All we could do was to whip at the fire with bundles of green withes. Bradshaw said that it would not run through a certain big green alder swamp, which would help check it. When the fire reached those alders, there was a hissing of a million serpents' tongues, and then a frying, sizzling sound as of the broiling of countless earth demons, and the alder swamp became blackish *B7 Ohai. S. Oiborn. With permission of "The Outlook".

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