OCR Text |
Show UTAH FOREST FIRES J923 Ogden, January 29 The general forest fire situation in the inter-mountain inter-mountain region was remarkably good last year, according to District Forester R. H. Ruthledge of the U. S. forest1 service. It was marked by the smallest area ever burned over in the history of the U. S. forest service ser-vice in this region ,a total of only "in 2 acres. The average over the past 15 years has been approximately 40,-their 40,-their homes and tell their listeners ed only 19 forest fires out of a total of 260 in the entire inlermountain region, one of the most peculiar circumstances cir-cumstances in last year's fire season was the large area burned over on the Fish Lake forest in Utah. On this forest a total of 350 acres of Nation, ar forest land, nearly half the total burned over in the entire intermoun-tain intermoun-tain region is recorded. This goes far to show that Utah forests are not without fire hazard as is sometimes claimed, owing to the fact that large forest fires are infrequent in this region. re-gion. Such vegetation as grass and sagebrush-Jjecomes very dry and In-flamable In-flamable at certain times of the year and! fires in such material run with great speed an dare difficult to eon-jtrol. eon-jtrol. and may threaten large timber .bodies very quickly. The experiences j of last year go far to show that great er care is necessary in Utah forests on the part of the public in dealing with fire. The less hazardous conditions condi-tions in this region an dthe small amount of timber at stake often lead to a feeling of false security and result re-sult in great carelessness on the part j of those visiting the National forest j areas. Few people understand" how : quickly a forest fire may become de-! de-! structive in this region. In general. Jlhere was a very good reduction in : man-made fires throughout the inter-mountain inter-mountain region as a whole last year ; although the state of Utah shows about the same per cent of fires j caused by human agencies as has ! been the average in the past -5 years 75 per cent the' remainder being j due to lightning, which is a further J indication of the failure of the gen-t gen-t eral public In Utah to understand the gTeat importance of human care in eliminating forest fires. A |