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Reprint from PROCEEMDNGS, NORTH AMERICAN WILDLIFE CONFERENCE, Feb. 3-7, 1936.
Senate Corn-h,/ 
mittee Print, 74th Congress, 2d Session, Washington, D. C., 1936 (pp. 399-403).

RELATION OF BURNING To TImBER AND WILDLIFE 
By H. L. STODDARD, Thomasville, Ga. 
A great deal of publicity has been given to the destructiveness of 
fire to game and other wildlife. Apparently the great "crown" fires

of the North and the West are tremendously destructive to the forests 
themselves, and at least for the time being fatal to wildlife within 
them. I can find little in the literature however, as to any possible 
favorable results to wildlife in succeeding years. Wherever small 
openings are created in great stretches of dense forest, their bene- 
ficial effect on animal life for a period of years is likely to be very 
great, as are openings or clearings of any kind in unbroken forest. 
If the fire is largely a surface one, with no great destruction of hu- 
mus and top soil, herbaceous vegetation, which came in as a first step 
in the plant succession followed by patches of deciduous brush for 
browse, must be of marked benefit to certain animal life. Where 
fires burn to underlying rock over huge areas, as happens in some 
regions, there can be no question as to its disastrous effect for gen- 
erations, both on the forest, and to some at least of its animal life. 
But not all fires of the North and West are "crown" fires, and

studies comparable to those underway in the Southeast are greatly 
needed as to the effect of light surface fires where such can be used 
both on certain forest reproductions and to animal environment. 
Only a few years ago conservationists of the country assumed that 
the grass fires of the Southeast were invariably destructive of both 
forest reproduction and animal life, in spite of the fact that an in- 
telligent local population, who had lived in the country for genera- 
tions, stoutly maintained to the contrary, and pointed out many bene- 
fits frcm their custom of general late winter burning. Now we find 
as the result of careful and open-minded studies, by Government 
agencies and others, that fire may be used at times with marked 
benefit both to certain valuable forest growth and to valuable ani- 
mal life as well. In fact properly used fire may be considered the 
most importait tool of the game manager in the Southeast, often 
an indispensable one if quail management be his field.   But I want 
to emphasize the word properly, for improperly used fire is some- 
thing very different and must not be confused with fully controlled 
fire used for a specific purpose, which is what I am discussing here. 
In addition, my discussion today refers only to the coniferous forest 
region of the Southeastern Coastal Plain, often referred to as the 
Southeastern Pine Belt. While this is a very large region, it is 
after all, but a small portion of these United States, so I hope my 
remarks and generalities will not be misunderstood by those from 
distant and very different regions. If they will be but stimulated to 
start open-minded studies and experiments on a small scale in their 
regions my purpose will have been accomplished. 
While we have learned considerable regarding both the use and 
abuse of fire in the Southeast, the subject is still a hot one for dis- 
cussion, and in the time at my disposal I can only touch on a few 
of the high lights in a very general way. For those seriously in- 
terested in the subject, there are a good many detailed papers avail- 
able dealing with the relation of grass fires to soil fertility and 
structure, to the grazing of livestock, to the reproduction and growth 
 
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