OCR Text |
Show America IVages Constant Battle to Keep Forests Green -A. e . , -'w.,;-ftijwi,v'H R . y. . . .. , " " " ' ' . , .a J f . . ... J. ,..,.. -....-.., ...j Amricn Forttt Producti lndu1rlt Florida Fortit Srvic IxMikoum trr key men in the vaot army that MamU ffunrtl over thin country's forrtl during fire seanon. You ran help them Lr being careful ami bv reporting foreM fire. All across America man is waging all-out war against timlcr-destroying timlcr-destroying forest fires that each year rob this country of wood resources worth a billion dollars. I Front line soldiers in this war make tip an army of 50,000 I trained forest fire fighters deployed de-ployed over 581,210,000 acres of stale, private and federal forest-lands. forest-lands. For the most part this is a mechanized army equipped with the most modern weapons. Its scouts man four thousand watch posts and lookout towers, most of them equipped with telephone tele-phone or two-way radio. When fire strikes, trained lookouts spot the telltale smoke, pinpoint the danger area and send out a crew. Weathermen, equipped with delicate instruments that can weigh the water content of twigs on the forest floor and measure humidity, wind velocity and temperature, stand by ready to alert fire crews. Bulldozers Are FITertive Teapona This army that protects America's Amer-ica's forests from flame has heavy artillery, too. It consists of trucks equipped with heavy water tanks, half tracks for carrying car-rying men and equipment and bulldozers that can die wide lanes in a hurry to serve as fire defense lines. The bulldozer is acknowledged to he the most powerful tool ever invented for forest defense. Lighter johs are performed hy jeeps, small tractors, pickup trucks loaded with water and power pumps. Even air power is used in the battle against forest for-est fires. Pilots locate fires, give dispatchers a bird's eye view of the situation and direct the battle bat-tle operations from the air. Men and supplies are moved by plane. Most Woodland Protected About nine percent of United States forestlands still are without with-out protection. This land is located lo-cated in 15 states, and constitutes consti-tutes about nine percent of the country's forest area. Losses on unprotected woodland are from 10 to 20 times higher. One of the goals of the Keep America Green fire prevention campaign is to bring all woodlands wood-lands in the United States under organized nrolcction. |