CHAPTER IV AERIAL FOREST PATROL EXTENDED; TIMBER CRUISER TAKES TO THE AIR; FOREST OBSERVERS FIGHT PESTS AS WELL AS FIRES; AIRCRAFT IN MINE RESCUE WORK. HROUGH the operation in 1920 of a few aircraft lent to the Forest Service by the Army, there was saved from destruction by fire standing timber valued at more than the total Army Air Service appropriation for the fiscal year 1920-1921, or approximately $35,000,000. Between 900 and 1,000 fires were reported, most of which were extinguished by ground forces directed from the air. Out of the aerial forest patrol there have developed new and distinctly profitable uses for aircraft in the various operations connected with the timber industry. Difficulties of transportation, limitations of time and other obstacles peculiar to the nature of the work have been solved, through experimental aircraft services established by certain great lumbering companies in Canada. AERIAL FOREST PATROL The operation of the experimental aerial forest patrol service which the U. S. Army Air Service maintained during the summer of 1919 in conjunction with the Forest Service proved sufficiently successful to warrant its development. Plans for the work to be carried out in 1920 were formulated at a conference at March Field, Riverside, Cal., between representatives of the Air Service and the Forest Service. As a result the organization of the Aerial Forest Patrol was so modified as to make it an integral part of Forest Service activities, though still operating under the direction of the Army Air Service. The importance of adequately protecting our timberland against fire can be appreciated from statistics compiled by the Department of Agriculture, which show that some 10,000,000 acres of standing forests are burned each year. As the entire forest area of the United States is 463,000,000 acres, and reforestation takes about twenty years, it follows that, at an average of 10,000,000 acres destroyed annually, our timber resources will not last long. The problem is further complicated by the ever increasing use of lumber and of pulp in the manufacture of paper and also by the fact that we have always used more timber than we have permitted to grow. The Department of Agriculture estimates that 100 airplanes in daily service would keep the Pacific Coast forests safe from fire, an area which contains 52 per cent of all the timber in the United States. As fires destroy approximately $20,000,000 worth of lumber each year, not counting the damage done to private property, the eagerness of the Forest Service to be permitted to use airplanes is readily appreciated. Although Forest Service reports have for some time urged immediate action, Congress appropriated in 1919 only $50,000 for aerial forest patrols, which sum was not even sufficient for providing hangars, repair shops, or personnel. All these were lent to the Forest Service by the Army Air Service and the Army pilots and observers were paid out of the Army appropriation for their work in behalf of forest conservation, although this appropriation in itself was inadequate for our national defense. If the Department of Agriculture secures favorable action from Congress regarding the recommendations made in the summer of 1920, the aerial forest patrol will be extended to include all national and private timber lands in the United States. The Air Service desires to give further aid and the Operations Group has recommended that five squadrons be made available for duty with the Forest Service. OPERATION OF AERIAL FOREST PATROLS IN 1920 During the summer of 1920 the airplanes of the Army Air Service principally patrolled the national forests of Oregon and California. Near the end of June a main base was established at Eugene, Ore. During suitable weather one plane, leaving the field at 8:30 A. M. flew north over the Cascade Mountain range to a point opposite Portland, where it changed course to the west and landed at the Portland municipal airport. At 2 P. M. the return journey was begun, the course being laid over the western part of the Willamette Valley and the Coast range, the airplane arriving at Eugene about 4 o'clock. Also, one ship flew south to Medford, skirting the Coast range of mountains and returning to Eugene on the easterly side of the Willamette Valley and skirting the Cascade Range. Another patrol flew from the sub-base at Medford by way of Sumner Lake, to Alturas, Cal., and returned to Medford. The entire Army personnel was in charge of Captain Lowell Smith stationed at Eugene. A Forest Service representative was also stationed at Eugene, who acted as a liaison officer between the Air Service, the Forest Service, the State Forester, and the private owners. Each plane was nearly always in communication by wireless with the main or sub-base. The northern patrol covered daily a route of 360 miles and the western patrol from Eugene covered 326 miles, each with one landing for fuel and oil. A total of 719 fires were discovered and reported during the summer by the Oregon aerial patrols. Two forced landings were made, resulting in serious damage to the planes, but causing no injury to the occupants. NATIONAL PARKS PROTECTED The California airplane patrol of the national forests started about June 1st, 1920. Headquarters were located at Mather Field, near Sacramento. Practically all of this work was carried on by the 9th Aero Squadron, Army Air Service. It was divided into detachments and these detachments were located as follows: One at Red Bluff with eight planes; one at Fresno and one at Mather Field. Each detachment consisted of about 25 officers and men. Three patrols were operated out of Red Bluff: one went to Alturas and return, covering Mt. Lassen, the east half of Mt. Shasta and the Modoc region; the second to Montague and return, by way of the Coast slope, covering the west half of Shasta, the Klamath and the Trinity regions; while the third covered the California Forest, by way of Vovelo and Lakeport. Two patrols operated daily out of Mather Field. One flew to Red Bluff, covering the north half of the Eldorado, Tahoe, Plumas and part of the Lassen forests; the second to Cooperstown, covering the south half of the Eldorado and the Stanislaus. Two planes were operated out of Fresno each day, one flying north to Cooperstown, covering the Sahara, Yosemite National Park and the Stanislaus forests; and the second south to Bakersfield, covering the south half of the Sahara and the Sequoia forests. The March Field detachment protected the entire southern part of the state. One patrol covered the Angeles and Cleveland Forests, landing at San Diego, and the second flew north to Santa Barbara. At each base a liaison officer was located. This officer in each case was an experienced forester, detailed for this special work. All matters in connection with airplane patrol out of each base in question were taken up with and through this officer, who also acted as a clearing house for all fire reports. At each base the |