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<br />--' ....:,..- <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />ERECTING A SOUND <br /> <br />PLATFORM FOR AMERICAN CONSERVATION <br /> <br />By <br /> <br />JOSEPH F. ARNOLD <br />Director, Watershed Management Division <br />Arizona State Land Department <br /> <br />The Platform for American Conservation, as is presently being <br />shaped and fashioned by the American Forestry Association includes <br />many objectives embraced by our Arizona Watershed Program. For ex- <br />ample, our Watershed Program is aimed at such multiple objectives <br />as: l. increasing the yield and efficient use of water; 2, in- <br />creasing the production of high quality timber products; 3. in- <br />creasing forage and browse for livestock and game; 4. reducing <br />erosion; 5. reducing destructive wildfires; and 6. improving <br />conditions for hunting, fishing and other forms of recreation. <br /> <br />Through the Arizona Water Resources committee and the Water- <br />shed Management Division of the State Land Department our water- <br />shed program is supported by leaders of many interest groups rep- <br />resenting municipalities, industries, agriculture, lumber and <br />paper companies, livestock producers, mining companies, banks, <br />educational institutions, and sportsmen organizations. Besides <br />the participation of individual ranchers living on the watersheds, <br />the program is being carried forward by at least fifteen Federal. <br />State and Municipal agencies. <br /> <br />This abbreviated introduction explains why many of us in <br />Arizona are keenly interested in Erecting A sound Platform For <br />American Conservation. The following suggestions are submitted <br />for the purpose of strengthening, fort~fying and activating a <br />fine "Platform." <br /> <br />I FOREST LAND PROTECTION. B. Protection from Fire. <br /> <br />Like everyone else, we are first of all interested in pro- <br />tecting our ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forests against <br />destruction from wildfires. Under past management practices, our <br />forests have become "littered" with logging slash and natural for- <br />est debris, and have become over-grown with thickets of sapling <br />stands. Under these explosive conditions, a June wildfire, whether <br />caused by man or lightning, can mean total destruction. <br /> <br />The most effective weapon against wildfires, is the reduction <br />of forest fuels by controlled burning. Controlled burning of pine <br />forests in -November on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation has re- <br />duced the size and destructiveness of June wildfires (Knorr, 1963), <br />Since controlled burning was initiated some lO years ago, there <br />