PAPPIES BURNED THE And Set a Pattern of Human Behavior in Southern Forests That Calls for New Methods of Fire Prevention By JOHN P. SHEA United States Forest Service (Photographs by the Forest Service} burnin? ?s right. allus done it. Our pappies burned th? woods an? their pappies afore ?em. It war right for them an? it?s right fer us.? So spoke a lean resident of the piney woods?one of hundreds I interviewed in the course of a six months? study last year during which as a I was sup? posed to ?nd the ?inner-most? reason why inhabitants of the forest lands of the South cling persis? tently to the custom of burning the woods. ?Fires do a heap of good,? continued my ?patient.? "Kill th? boll weevil, snakes, ticks an? bean beetles. Greens up the grass. Keeps us healthy by killin? fever germs.? When I asked if more timber growing on unused lands might make living better for the local people he allowed not. ?Might hol? the ?oods a mite and make a few more squirrels,? he conceded, ?but it 11d make living harder and We?d see more rattlesnakes.? These homely words sum up a long accepted explana? tion of the annual ?res that for more than a century have characterized the land and social economy of our south? ern states. The extent of the annual burnings, the harm they do and the barrier they raise to sucessful forest cul- ture throughout the South are well known to federal, state and private forest agencies. On their walls hang maps and records showng that approximately one-half of the forest ?res occurring yearly in the United States are recorded in the eleven southern states. And what is more challenging is the fact that over ninety per cent of these southern ?res are. caused by the hand of man. The average southerner is inclined to accept the record and the practice as a sort of birthmark upon the land about which little can be done. Outsiders visiting or motoring in the South during burning seasons, however, are APRIL. I9'4o shocked and appalled by the miles of ?re running free in the woodlands and the palls of smoke that dull the sun and often make motoring hazardous. ?Why,? they demand, ?cannot these ?res be stopped or controlled?? The question is one with which all forest agencies have been at grips for the past twenty years. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of public and private funds are spent annually in efforts to prevent the ?res and to ex? tinguish or control them after they have been set by un- seen hands. Progress has been made but all too slowly, as evidenced by the fact that each year the number of man?caused ?res remains at an appalling height. Pre- vention efforts have been predicated largely upon educa- tional activities but results indicate that these educational scrums either have been too dilute or have not reached the blood?stream of the ?re?minded population. Seeking a new educational approach, the federal For? est Service last summer decided to delve deeper into the human or social roots of the woods?burning problem. It was hoped that here might be found a point of vaccina? tion that with an improved educational serum would reach the germs of the woods-burning desires. Accord? ingly, a unit of a National Forest in the Deep South was selected for study by a This par- ticular area lies along the southernmost spur of the and sons?residents ot a national torest in the South. "Their strongest law is the custom of their forefathers." says the author ?1"ve Blue Ridge l?lountains and embraces some acres within which liVe 1,800 ru'al families, or some 10,000 people. They constitute the primary lire problem of the region. Surrounding it are additional farms, towns and a few small cities whose inhabitants use the, forest for recreational or industrial pursuits. They constitute the secondary lire problem. The selection of this forest unit was made much as one would plug a watermelon. \Ve believed it would be typical of and apply quite. generally to most other woods? Hunting?long one of the chief pleasures burning sections of the South. The people we had to deal with are of English, Irish, Scotch stock, whose an? cestors have lived on the land from three to ?ve generaa tions. Emigrating by wagon from the Carolinas during the decades l820?1850, these early settlers were cotton? corn farmers seeking new homes in new lands. Many of them were too late for the rich valley land that already had been pre?empted and they were forced to take the ?leavings? on the less desirable hillsides and in the forests. To get at the human impulses which dominate these people we followed methods similar in part to those of the Gallup poll. The population was grouped on the lbO of southern woods Jfolk?has all but gone with the increasing scarcity ot game. adding to the frustration at the group basis of ?ace, social status, education, location, occupa- tion, and levels of income. Families were then selected as typical of the different groups and studied by a tech- nique known as the controlled interview which brought us a great mass of interesting and pointed information. For example, we found that on the basis of 1,800 fami? lies these people are reproducing themselves at a rate ?fty per cent higher than that of the nation as a whole. \Vhile urban reproduction is declining, they are doubling their numbers every twenty-eight years. Most of them live in three?room, un? painted frame cabins with families ranging from two to eleven in number. They are get- ting poorer and admit it~due to 10W cotton prices, lack of markets for other farm prod? ucts, exhaustion of game and ?sh and im- poverishment of the soil. Taking the informa- tion gathered by inter? views and ?rst?hand ob? servations and inter- preting it under the three general heads of. anthropology, sociology and we found that these people are living at or near the level of frustration. Family income ranges from $125 to $200 a year as against $480 for the State and $750 for the nation as a whole. Ninety?nine per cent of them are ill fed, ill housed and ill clothed. Their political structure is a rugged family indi- vidualism. National and state politics interest them little. Their strong- est law is the custom of their forefathers and their blood kin rela- tionships have hardened into rigid codes. Their education is equivalent to that of the third or fourth grade. They value tradition more than book learning. ?That their fathers and grandfath? ers did was ?right.? Their religion is the fundamental Protestantism of their forefathers intermixed with a fair number of superstitions. Their pleasures or recreations are few and individualistic. The exhaustion of game and ?sh has about extinguished their two main pleasures, with the result that whittling and talking have become their major forms of recreation. 'There is a paucity of social gatherings and these are con?ned mostly to coun? try storcs or ?lling stations. While a few of them do chair canng and basket weaving, there is almost a com? plete lack of technology among them. Now and then a fiddler is found but music and musical instruments are AMERICAN FORESTS . conspicuous by their absence. Books and periodicals are almost totally ab? sent. saw no evidence of paint ing?, draftsmanship or sculpture, prac? tically no pictures on the wallsenot even calendars. A sociological picture of the group as a. whole shows it occupying an un? comfortable place in the class and caste system of the South. They are ?poor whites? looked down upon by the upper and middle class whites and failing to have the respect even of the negroes. Eco? nomically and so? cially they are a frustrated group. The family struc- ture, as has been said, is patriarchal. The elder male? ?pappy? is ac- cepted as ?nal au? thority by all blood kin and by the in? laws who live under APRIL, I940 Most of them live in three-room. unpainted cabins. with tamilies An exception?for only rarely were music and musical instruments tound among these people ranging from two to eleven s3 A puppy and his daughter splitting shakes for their cabin his roof. To them schools are some- thing merely for children to go to For a few years. Church is an insti? tution ot' fundau mentalist religion, mostly of Meth? odist, Baptist and Holy Roller per- suasion. It is both a means of salva? tion and emotional stimulation. It is still reserved for God and God?s work rm not for so? cial purposes. By number occupation these people are predonu inantly still cotton? eorn farmers and approximately eighty~?ve per cent make their living by farmintr. The re- mainder are divided among occupations in saw-milling, cot? ton?milling in near- by towns, and moonshining. Appraising then: they are of average and above average intelligence with a am.- ah- :m in . ?our Wax .s-m-r lowered educational level. In point of need for income, for social belongingness, and for prestige, and craving for excitement, they are at the bottom of the ladder. Only their needs for security and their craving for religion appear moderately or adequately served. Summing up, we found we were dealing with an agra- rian group whose culture pattern favors woodsnburning because of long standing customs and an agrarian culture pattern that is in con?ict with an unfavorable forest en- vironment. Like all human cultures, this agrarian group is exploiting its environment in ways peculiar to its culture. Their particular culture employs outmoded ag- ricultural practices based upon the tradition of their forefathers who believed in woods?burning. The roots of the ?re problem obviously go deep into the culture, the traditions and the customs of these peo- ple and their frustrated lives. It is well established in that groups and individuals when frustrated express themselves by harmful acts, called aggression, either against other humans or against their environment. Many ?res are set to get back at outsiders, particularly officials and boys placed among them to ?ght woods tires. These intentional tires of the malicious type, how? ever, are in the minority. Non?malicious woods?burning constitutes the major cause growing out of a survival of the pioneer agrarian culture originally based on economic grounds. With the closing in of the agrarian environ ment, it has become predominantly a recreational and emotional impulse. ?mods?burning in the South is a sur? vival of an old culture. In the course of time??a little more than a century?the values of woods?burning have changed. They were once predominantly economic. Now they are predominantly recreational and emotional to these southern ruralists. The change in values is illus? trated in the accompanying graph, which covers 140 years from 1800 to 1940. Diagram Showing Southern Woods Burning as a Cultural Survival ?a "1 RECREATIONAL AND Error/01ml. VALUES 3 a 3? ?cozvor?c wan/?5 1 I I800 I900 1946 The sight and sound and odor of burning woods pro- vide excitement for a people who dwell in an environ? ment of low stimulation and who quite naturally crave excitement. Fire gives them distinct emotional satisfac- tions which they strive to explain away by pseudo-eco? nomie reasons that spring from defensive beliefs. Their explanations that woods ?res kill off snakes, boll Weevil and serve other economic ends are something more than mere ignorance. They are the defensive beliefs of a dis- advantaged culture group. This being the problem, what can be done about it?? Here propaganda and prohibitions are about as effective as a pop?gun against an elephant. The southern agra- rians will continue in their beliefs until actual tions convince them of a better way. The care would seem to lie in well established methods of habit breaking and human learning applied to forest groups by blocking off the old undesirable habit, and by encouraging and re? warding the new, more desirable habit. The Federal For? I62 est Service has two tools for dealing with this problem in the national forests and the same may be said for state agencies. By law enforcement it can block off the old habit of weods?burning,??provided it can catch its men. And through the Department of Agriculture it has abundant facilities for education and the promotion of social betterment, improved agriculture and soil conser? vation. Unfortunately they are not being suf?ciently brought together and implemented at focal points within the forest boundary. Until this is done the Department will fail to reach the main source of the southern ?re problem??the forest resident. 0n the basis of our study, there appears little doubt that the ?rst point of attack in solving the woods-burning practice must be with the forest residents who believe in woods?burning. ?Tithout their cooperation little can be done to gain effective ?re prevention either on their part or on the part of non-resident visitors. If the needs of the national forests or of forest culture generally in the South are to be served, the needs of the people who live in the woods and are new setting them a?rc must be con- sidered. In brief, these two sets of needs must be brought closer together in a plan of mutual service. Forest agen- cies must make themselves insiders with the people with whom they have to deal. They must serve their social needs while waiting for the return of better living condi? tions under a slow?growing forest economy. How can this be done A ten point program of edua cation through social action is suggested: (1.) In selected forests throughout the South set apart six to eight small tracts of from 100 to 500 acres each to be used in demonstrating to local residents methods and results of improved land use. It must be borne in mind that these people know practically nothing of forest values or of what improved agricultural, forest and soil practices may do for them. The small demonstration ?islands? are intended to serve in the same way as does grafted skin on a large burned area of the human bodyF? form new growth and gradually spread over surround- ing areas. (2) In each demonstration area the local residents should be encouraged and if necessary engaged at. wage rates to construct a simple, inexpensive building with a seating capacity of from 200 to 250 persons to form a sort of forest People?s Center for community gatherings and social intercourse. These buildings should be suit? able for motion picture shows and dances. There should be an ample supply of benches and other simple equip? ment, not forgetting cuspidors and a supply of soft pine sticks for whittling, for it must be remembered that these people are spitters no less than whittlers. The error of having these buildings constructed by outsiders should - be avoided because their success will depend upon mak- ing the local residents feel that they have a personal part in them. (3) If necessary suitable roads should be constructed to these People?s Centers so that they may be reached without too great dif?culty. While labor might be employed if discretion is used, it would be preferable to have the road work done by the local residents. (4) The Center completed, it then falls upon a desig- nated forest of?cer, who always acts as host, to take lead- ership in getting the local residents interested in using it as a community center. This could be done by various programs and meetings in which entertainment would have the major part with discussion of local community questions secondary, at least at the start. These people would turn out for a motion picture show or a dance and the more the forest officer can make them feel that the Center is their meeting place, (Continuing on page 174) AMERICAN FORESTS .. .. . of the Department of the Interior in work- ing out a joint plan of Operation when the necessity arises. The Forest Service, although owning a very small percentage of the stumpage, has encouraged the plans for selective logging in every way pos- sible. The Paci?c Northwest Forest Ex? periment Station assisted by marking a sample plot to be cut and lent its techni- cians for planning and carrying out the mill studies. Western Pine Association for- esters also aided with advice and the Soil Conservation Service also is doing its bit. Quietly it has started a co-operative proj? ect for improving forage and restocking to trees the company?s older cut?over lands. For this it has sought no publicity, apparently well satis?ed to contribute what it can within its own sphere of work. To any one close to the developments in ?Our the better. (5) As local interest in the Center in creases the forest of?cer should then by democratic procedure get the local resi? dents to elect one of their number to act as caretaker of the Center. It would be his responsibility to emphasize the many uses of the Center to the people and make clear that its continued use depends upon protection of the property by the people themselves. With this principle established and accepted, he could then lead them to ideas and advantages of forest protection and gradually get them to feel that re- sponsibility. In this as in all other ac? tivities, the forest of?cer must be guided by the patriarchal character of these fam- ilies. His programs should be planned to interest and serve entire families but he should point up all his plans for coopera- tion so that they gain the consent of ?pappy??the male head of the family. Once he wins the cooperation of half a dozen ?pappies? in one of these rural communities, he will have won the co? operation of their numerous progeny and blood kin. (6) rl?his step in the program calls for the development of outside social activi? ties at the People?s Centers. These may take the form of providing for simple games or contests, such as horseshoe pitch- ing and a shooting range. ?To found no ~l?H clubs among these people. Organiza- tion of these clubs might well emanate from the People?s Center. There is also opportunity to interest the boys and girls in archery and in wood craftsmanship. (7) Having established the Centers on a social basis, the groundwork has been laid for educational service in better land use and related economic questions. These people want to make a better living. They want to see hunting and ?shing brought back. They want some social and emo? tional outlets and they want a feeling of prestige in their circumscribed lives. Hav? ing served them in this direction, their Klickitat Pines Forever (Continued from page 168) both public and private forestry during the past few years, this particular opera? tion holds much interest. It illustrates the fact that better national forestry can result only from the co?operation of all individuals and agencies having an inter- est in the outcome. And what may We expect as the outcome";2 I, for one, fully expect the forest management to be suc- cessful and to prove an admirable example of commercial forestry under existing handicaps because it has been inaugurated on a sound basis of facts developed from four years of ?eld work; it is not a paper plan, prepared in the of?ce from insuf?? cient data and based on wishful thinking; it will be ef?ciently carried out as a mat- ter of good business, rather than a useful bit of publicity and because this com- paratively small company now employs four young foresters who are proving their value in dollars and cents as the}r go along. And what should it prove? That a suc- cessful lumbering operation, giving its men an average income of over $1,500 a year, attractive living conditions, and steady work, can get along without strikes and other unnecessary labor dif?culties. That western pine lands, even under di- verse public and private ownership, can be operated on a co?operative forestry basis, without subsidies and without fed- eral or state agencies seeking to control its operations. And that with real co- operation and intelligent management, a stable and permanent lumber industry supporting prosperous and permanent communities can be assured. In short. that Klickitat Pine need never be a van- ishing resource. Pappies Burned the Woods? (Continued from. page 162) minds, it seems certain, will be more and more opened to educational ideas that could be woven into the recreational pro? grams and activities. The opportunities are numerous. County and home demon~ stration agents could be called in to dem? onstrate by word and picture improved agricultural and home practices. Forest? ers and soil conservationists could do the same in their fields, bearing in mind that the demonstration area in the meantime has been handled to show results of good and bad soil and forest management. While these people resent direct preach? ments and commands, our study revealed they would take such forms of aid and education gladly. (8) As plank eight in the program, or- ganization of local ?sh, game and forest protective associations is suggested as a highly valuable cooperative activity be tween the Forest Service and community leaders. These associations should begin probably as ?sh and game organizations because that is a ?rst interest and then gradually spread to the protection of for- ests against ?re, stressing its in?uence to- wards better ?shing and hunting. Work- ing through the ?pappies? of the commu- nity, the organization of these associations should not be dif?cult. Once these people give their word they generally keep it. Under this set?up, if individuals in the communities break their word, set ?res or become game hogs, it would be well to let the local ?pappies? deal with them. They usually know them and can get to them quicker than the law. (9) Exhibits of local forest resources which, intelligently used, might improve the living of these people, should be in- stalled in display cases in the People?s Center. Forest of?cers should point out the various resources and how they might be handled to improve local living condi- tions. These exhibits should stress the raw material, a product partly ?nished by man and ?nally the ?nished product ready for use. Handicrafts and market ing possibilities should not be overlooked. (10) The purpose of the demonstra- tion area being to demonstrate the value of building up a forest economy will, of course, take years to accomplish, but the bene?ts of the People?s Centers will he felt within a few months. The two, how- ever, must work together so that the peo? ple coming to the Center will mark the gradual change in forest and land condi- tions. As these changes become noticeable they may be taken advantage of and made features of community meetings in the form of outdoor lectures and demonstrat tions. These people are not particularly interested in the growth and condition of young trees but we found that mention of loss of soil brought about by burning the woods caught their attention. One of the surprises of our study was that practically all of the farmers in the forest complained of erosion and diminished fertility of their soil, but not one of them ever cen- nected it up with woods-burning. The demonstration areas will provide graphic ways and means of getting information accepted that apparently today ?ows off the backs of these people like water off the back of a duck. The foregoing plan, it will be seen, is based on our study and conclusion that the best way to prevent man-caused ?res in southern forests is to begin at the source. That source is human beings and their motives. This means diverting the motives of woods-burning into more con- structive channels. It proposes doing so by improving the lot of the impoverished forest resident by working hand in hand with him. Remedial measures are all de? signed to work with, not against, the grain of human nature. In such ways time can be saved in changing human behavior pat- terns and lasting ?re prevention achieved. Southern ?woods burnin? is a human problem and should be tackled in the sci- enti?c and human way. AMERICAN FORESTS