Petersham High School - Hilltop Yearbook (Petersham, MA)

Page 19 text:

TH .E HILLTOP FIRE PI4..EVE.N 'HON IN THE. FOIQES What would the town, the state, the country, or even the world do without trees? Why, life would be practically impossible without them, for they furnish the lumber for the thousands of homes. The wood from these trees provides many of these homes with heat, as even coal is formed from trees. Trees are the home for the wild animals and serve as a colorful background for all the universe. Life would be desolate without trees. A new bill has been brought up before the state legislature for radio equipment to be used in combating forest fires. This, undoubtedly, is a good plan, because it will make the fighting of forest fires easier. Already fire towers, air- planes, and numerous other aids have been added to the fighting of this deadly menace to the forests. All these aids have been bought at great expense to the town, county, and federal governments. Forest rangers, some on foot and some on horse- back, scout through the forests frequently to look for smoldering leaves or fires which have been carelessly left by campers. There are hundreds of forest fires annually which destroy acres of heavily wooded areas. Just the sight of a charred woodlot is a grim reminder of the loss, which runs into thousands of dollars. Sometimes nfirebugsn set disastrous fires for no reason at all. It seems that people would realize all the benefits of and the actual necessity for trees, but no. They say, Wwe don't start fires. Why, e and inconsiderately drop matches or cigarette ' wherever they may be, in the forest or on the e 'r ll Z 'I 'A f' are not careless.n Yet these people unconscio slyg t's 1.1 I5 VF if . I t w E illa D .?, li g. ' .,'x ' -- 5 . 'T' '. f - L ax 'ii Q --2 wit? 41, gn. 1 QA F N ,its-,ZQQK 2155.12-Z! 1 W Wil w nl N f im-.. A., . Iraq' A xiii' x Q 25331: :I-151 X Lf 1 ,,. ', ht W -J I ..l'f f.. , ,L ..1 It would take very little more effort to snuf , X-l.ff'! the match than to let it lie threateningly. CX 2 ,Q

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THE HILLTOP All the improvements that have been made in the prevention and fighting of forest fires cost hundreds of dollars. Those hundreds of dollars spent for protection of the forests could be spent for a better cause if people would be more thought- ful, for seventy-five per cent of all the forest fires is caused by carelessness. This fact proves that all the expense and destruction are not neces sary. Carelessness is like a glowing emberg it is fanned into flame by the thoughtless, but could easily be stamped out if the thoughtless would join the thoughtful nlblidge B tes, 5 ON KFFNJKGFJ-Xfl l ' The gre test step in reforestation for many years, and perhaps the greatest since the found ing of this continent, is being taken by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It is a government organization which was started in 1955 by yresi dent Roosevelt to aid the unemployed men of the United States. When the first camps were organ ized many people were still skeptical of the out a great success. More camps were built in all parts of the United States, and thousands of men, especially young men between the ages of twenty and thirty years, were put to work These boys have done a great deal for refer estation in the following ways: making fire roads, cleaning up forests to prevent fires, dig ging water holes, making parks, and experimenting with and studying trees and insects which has been done by the C. C. C. is the wer along the scientific line. Every year since C. C. C. has been in existence, the boys h covered thousands of acres of forest lan. un ing such insects as t 1 ,'-- m .rown W 5 is 1 A is A JE ' f M -4 0 ti! 'T 'U X 'a Y Q M FN 'N.' I ' X. 1 I - ,, JJ ffl , . . l 3 ' ' C. L X ' ' 0 1 c.. 5.5: - M., 3? L Q, -' 'faii come of the Eresidcnt's plan, but it proved to be jyj gvfij A -'QQ 1 if C A . X133- - x .. Mr' D H51- 0 Nu J ' 'I N Q' Perhaps the greatest step in reforestatio .5 5' t- O J tail moth, the tent caterpillar, and the elm wee vil. The habits of these insects, their harm to F9