TRAGEDY OF THE MACK LAKE .Fl RE

A small prescribed burn, aimed at helping an endangered bird, exploded into a ravenous wildfire that raises some tough questions about managing our natural resources by Louis Borie

N MONDAY MORNING, May 5, cast, it would reach into the 80s by The front would cool things off and O 1980, there was scant warning midday. Relative humidity was low, raise the humidity, but little, if any, of the disaster that was to hit 24 percent, and winds were light, six rain was expected. the Huron National Forest. The win­ to 10 miles per hour from the south­ At 9:45, District Ranger Ven ter of 1980, like that of 1981, had west; but a cold front predicted to Bosman told his fire boss, Tom been an almost snowless one in the move through that afternoon would Bates, to go ahead with a prescribed upper Midwest. But steady rains ar­ bring higher winds and gusts of 25 burn of the Crane Lake unit, a 210- rived in April, and by the end of the miles per hour out of the northwest. acre clearcutjust west of Highway 33 month moisture levels .in the pine in southern Oscoda County. barrens of north-central Michigan At 10:26, after topping off the were near normal. On Monday Louis B orie is completinf workfor a master of extra water tanks that would act as science degree in natura resources at the Uni­ morning, May 5, the temperature versity of Michigan's environmental­ backup for the 1,000-gallon tanker was 74°, higher than usual for_that communications program. He has written truck, Bates and his three-man crew time of year. According to the fore- numerous articles on the outdoors. set their drip torches to the sedges,

"I hope that warbler enjoys his nest-my nest is burned," said Joe Walker, shown examining the remains of his custom-made rifle while sifting through the ruins of his home. More than 44 homes and summer cottages were destroyed in the fire; Walker never even got to use a brand-new woodstove he had had installed two days before (background)

Mio District Ranger Ven Bosman gave the green light to the burn on the Huron National Forest. Fire conditions weren't perfect, but they seemed better than they had been

JULY 1981 TRAGEDY OF THE MACK LAKE FIRE (continued}

bracken fern, and piles of jack-pine tained and extinguished, and the Almost immediately windblown em­ slash on the eastern edge of the team continued to ignite blazes. A bers carried across the 100 feet of cutover. The plan was to use a ''back­ short time later, a fourth spot fire open space and ignited several ing fire"-letting the fire back itself broke out in a ridge of standing blazes iri the woods across the road. into the wind until a burned-out timber that had been left for aesthe­ The tanker and tractor-plow, alerted zone had been created to act as a fire tic purposes to · shield the clearcut on the radio by the fire boss, crossed break. Then the rest of the Crane from Highway 33, a heavily travelled the highway and contained one of Lake unit could be burned piece by road that bisects Oscoda County the spots, but the fires had' already piece; the tanker and a tractor0 plow from north to south. The spot started other blazesjust to the north. would assist the ground crew if any proved to be more difficult than the "At this point," Ven Bosman recalls, spot fires broke out in the jack-pine previous ones to control. Several "I thought we had something we stands surrounding the clearcut. · plow lines were needed before the weren't going to be able to control." The cutover site, harvested the fire was suppressed and the crew Within miriutes one of the secon­ year before, would be burned, re­ could resume the prescribed burn­ dary spot fires torched skyward and planted to jack pine, and in eight to ing. spread into the crowns of dense, 10 years would provide critical nest­ Before long several more fires pole-size jack pines. At 12:20, Tom ing habitat for the endangered Kirt­ sprang up in a portion ofthe cutover Bates radioed for the Mio-Tri Town land's warbler, a rare member ofthe that, according to the fire prescrip­ Volunteer Fire Department, the first wood warbler family. The yellow tion, was to be left unburned. These ofwhat was to be many calls for a.ssis­ and gray, surprisingly tame, tail­ were easily cont:rolled, but the inter­ tance. By late afternoon, firefighters wagging bird is named for Ohio nat­ ruption of the spot fires had now from five volunteer fire depart­ uralist Jared P. Kirtland, near whose put the prescribed burn behind ments, the Michigan Department of farm the first identifiable specimen schedule. It was questionable whether Natural Resources, and the U .S. was collected in 1851. the entire 210 acres could be burned Forest Service were battling an ex­ The Crane Lake unit is one of sev­ before the afternoon change in traordinarily aggressive wildfire, eral such areas being managed weather, as Ven Bosman had hoped. and more help was on the way from through the use of prescribed fire by With marginal conditiqrts to begin firefighting teams in Minnesota, the U.S . Forest Service and the with, any increase in wind speed Wisconsin, and Missouri. The fire, Michigan Department of Natural would make it too dangerous to con­ fanned by the expected gusty winds, Resources for Kirtland's-warbler tinue burning in an area surrounded had spread eastward across the pine habitat under the federal Endan­ by dense stands of young jack pine. barrens for more than three hours at gered Species Act. The goal of the Just after noon, a seventh spot fire an almost unbelievable sustained program is to create some 3,000 broke out in the aesthetics strip to pace of two miles per hour, sending acres of habitat each year until 1990, the north, upslope of the cutover. 50-foot flames and towering clouds but a scarcity of suitable days for Again the crew halted the prescrip­ of black smoke into the sky. burning the previous several years tion and.focused its attention on ex: · By 7 p .m . almost 25,000 acres of . had set the burning program behind tinguishing the spot fire. The men jack pine lay smoldering; 44 homes schedule. The Crane Lake burn had qt1ickly realized that this spot was and su111mer cottages were partly or already been cancelled twice previ­ going to be more troublesome than totally destroyed, most of them in a ous to May 5; high winds and low the others had been. Fueled by gusty small community on Mack Lake. , humidity had made burning too winds on the hillside, it had spread to One Forest Service fire technician, risky. several acrrs in a few minutes and the operator of the tractor-plow on The burning proceeded as planned was moving steadily toward the the origial prescribed burn, had died for the first 45 minutes. Then sev­ highway. fighting the ensuing blaze. The eral small spot ·fires were noticed At about 12:15, the fire leaped Mack Lake fire, as it came to be along the eastern edge of the cut­ into the crowns of the jack pine on called, was declared under control at over. The spots were quickly con- the western edge of the highway. (Turn to pag1' I 9)

16 AMERICAN FORESTS These photos were taken by fire boss Tom Bates before and after the burn got out of hand. Right: technician halding a drip torch watches blazing piles of jack-pine slash. Burned-out zone was to act as a fire break. Below: the burn turns wild and approaches Mack Lake from the west, threatening several homes. One house was burned here M ichigan DNR

Kirtland's Warbler

10 20 MILES .-critical Habitat MONTMORENCY'

KALKASKA

Every nest of the Kirtland's warbler has been found on Grayling Sand and 90% of them are located in the watershed of the Au Sable River.

Jack pine can be found throughout the northern. forests on this continent, from Nova Scotia to British Columbia. But the rare Kirtland's warbler, a member of the wood­ warbler family, nests only within jack-pine forests that grow out of Grayling sand in northern lower Michigan. Ninety percent of the nests are located in the watershed of the Au Sable River. The Kirtland's warbler does not actually nest in .the trees; the pines and ground cover conceal the nests, which are embedded in the sandy soil. Once the trees grow large enough for the lower branches to die off, anp the ground cover is shaded out, the bird moves. Scientists used to believe that the Kirtland's warbler would dwell only among pines regenerated by forest fire . But experiment proved that the bfrd didn't mind if the trees were planted in straight rows on burned-over lands. The warbler may even accept forests that have been clearcut and replanted without intermediate fire. But, says ornithologist Harold Mayfield, "Without the intervening agency of fire, there may be unacceptable transformations in the soil quality and ground cover." Mayfield is on the Kirtland's Warbler Recovery Team, which is studying the effects of management on the bird . Any changes in forestry work in the Kirtland's warble~ management area will be conducted with caution. When you have a species that picky, you can 't be too careful.

18 AMERICAN FORESTS (rn 11tin111·d.frrn11 pag,, 16) J im Davisson, Editor-Publisher, Oscoda County News

noo n on Wednesday, May 7, a l­ though, according to one Forest Ser­ vice officia l, ''It was all over by seven o'clock" on Monday night. How could a 210-acre prescribed burn explode so suddenly into a ravaging wildfire? What caused the fire to spread at such an incredible pace? Could the entire incident have been avoided by more careful plan­ ning and judgment? Even before the fire was declared under control, Huron-Manistee Na­ tional Forests Supervisor Wayne Mann had ordered a full investiga­ tion and analysis of the fire, and had named a nine-person study team headed by Dale Gorman, Deputy Forest Supe rvisor of the White Mountain National Forest in ew Hampshire. The 100-page Mack Lake Fire Analysis released by the Forest Service in late July was a sys­ tematic, thorough, and remarkably frank summary of the disaster. The report points to a number of errors in judgment and planning that contributed to the devastating Charred snowmobile stands as a reminder of the almost-snow fire . According to the analysis , less 1980 winter that helped make fire conditions disastrous adequate personnel and equipment were not in place before the pre­ scribed burn began. A key burning sufficient amounts without the use The tragedy of the Mack Lake fire index, which would have warned the of prescribed fire. was compounded by the fact that it district ranger that conditions were The Mack Lake fire was a tragedy, started out as a planned fire, set by not suitable for prescribed burning from both the human and resource­ an agency charged with managing that day, was not even calculated. management perspectives. A hu­ millions of acres of the country's val­ The report also found short­ man life was lost, personal prop­ uable forests and grasslands. In the comings in communications in the erty destroyed, and thousands of aftermath of the fire and the sub­ hours immediately after the fire es­ acres of timber killed (some wood sequent analysis, lingering questions caped, and there was a lack of may be salvaged for fuel, however). remained about whether the Forest adequate coordination between the Immediately following the fire, local Service would be the final victim of Michigan DNR, the Forest Service , residents reacted with sorrow over its own mistakes. Mack Lake comes and local firefighters. the death of Forest Service employee at a time when the Forest Service and The analysis team made a number Jim Swiderski. Feelings of outrage other land-management agencies of recommendations in its report. It soon followed. are increasingly using prescribed called for an extensive training pro­ "People couldn't believe that the fire as a management tool But pub­ gram for Forest Service prescribed­ Forest Service would take a risk like lic understanding and acceptance of burning pe rsonnel, the deve lo p­ that when they didn't have to," re­ the intentional use of fire is still ment of a program for creating fuel calls Oscoda County ews publisher tentative-understandably so, given breaks in the extensive tracts ofjack James Davisson. 35 years of stern cautions from pine that are so abundant through­ Mack Lake resident Joe Walker Smokey Bear. out the lakes states, and more re­ summed up the feelings of many. "I As a result of the fire, the Forest search into Kirtland's-warbler habi­ hope that warbler enjoys his nest Service has undertaken an extensive tat needs. The team wanted specifi­ -my nest is burned," Walker said review of its prescribed-burning cally to see if habitat for the endan­ as he sifted through the smoldering policies and practices at all levels, gered songbird can be created in ruins of his home. (Turn to page 5 l )

JULY 1981 19 planting at Highlands, North Caro­ sprouts. The blight has yet to be_ lina. This torreya is growing at an identified, and even when it is elevation about 4,000 feet higher known, there is no guarantee a cure than its native bluffs, but it is appar­ will be found immediately. ently doing quite well. Seed from the It is entirely possible that the tree· has been collected and may Florida torreya may join the Caro­ prove valuable in establishing path­ lina parakeet, the passenger pigeon, ogen-free plants. and the host of other plants and Time is slipping away, though. animals that have become extinct in THICK 'N THIRSTY Florida and Georgia already list the the past century. But public aware­ torreya as an endangered species, ness is increasing and research to TOWELING HAT and federal registration is likely this save endangered species has become Thirsty terry cloth toweling is shaped into a hat that beats .year if the Administration approves more intensive. With luck, scientists summer heat. Use .it to wipe funding. No one knows how much may soon isolate the cause of the your perspiring brow or douse it in water, wring it out and longer the root systems of the dis­ blight and save the Florida torreya wear it to keep you cool a) eased torreyas will produce basal before its time runs out. ■ I~ tennis, golf, boating, fishing, camping. Sizes: S(6 ¾ -67/.), L...:=.-=..-__J M(7-7YJ, L.(7¼-7}',l, XL.(7½-7}',l, XXL.(7¾-7'/,l. Colors: Sailing Blue, Powder Tragedy of the Mack Lake Fire (From page 19) Blue, White, Yellow. Toweling Hat $7.75 ppd. average, according to tree-ring data. OrderToday!MoneyBackGuaranteel from the ranger districts on up to the Enclosed is my check or money order for$ ___ decisionmakers in Washington. The A fire history in the area was com­ (Add sales tax wher~ applicable.) agency has decided to go ahead with piledjust after the Mack Lake fire. It Please RUSH my # 2002 Toweling Hat. Siz..,_ ____ Color _____ the use of prescribed fire. But with showed that some trees had been Name ______the eyes of the public and other scarred by a 16,000-ac;re fire that Address ______resource-management agencies covered much of the same area in City ______fixed upon them, the policymakers 1946, and some showed scarring State _____ Zip _____ in Washington felt it necessary to from a major fire that occurred in 0 Send me your FREE color catalog of quality outdoor apparel and equipment send a clear message to the lower 1913. echelons: "Proceed with the use of The jack pine/fire story is evi­ prescribed fire, but proceed with dently a time-worn one. But in a caution." nine-county area around Mio, in the northeastern corner of Michigan's Dept. HMF, .Fifth & Union, Seattle, WA 98124 Michigan Route 72 from Grayling lower peninsula, a third player is to Mio is a straight and bumpy engaged in the drama. Every spring, ·------· highway that cuts through the forest the entire known popula~ion of Kirt­ to the distant horizon. A slight rise in land's warblers-less than 500 indi­ Your own forest or the road offers a view that extends viduals in 1980-arrives in this small Christmas tree farm for miles across an unbroken ex­ region from wintering grounds in con be started as quickly and easily panse of pine lands. Clusters of the Bahamas. (The birds were still in as planting our fast growing evergreen we ll-kept summer cottages and migration at the time of the fire.) seedlings and transplants. year-round homes are visible from Research had shed some light on Giveri the best core we con provide the highway, modest but proud why the "jack-pine bird" is so par­ and the finest growing conditions nature dwellings tucked in the woods as if ticular in its choice ofnesting habitat, hos available, our planting stock is perfectly suited to making your idle they had simply grown up beneath but all of the questions have not been land productive. the jack pines. It is a somewhat pre­ answered. · Take the first step and carious existence; jack pine and fire The colorful warbler, whose song send for our free catalog today. are old and certain friends. has been variously describtd as "liq­ °WESTERN 207-935-2161 Jack pine is one of several tree uid" and "wild and clear," will not ~AINE Forest Nursery Co species that depend on fire to com­ use just any clump of scrubby jack Box AF71, 36 Elm Street plete their reproductive cycle. The pine as cover for its ground nest. It Fryebur11:, Maine 04037 1 ½-inch cones, normally sealed shut requires stands at least 80 acres in by a resinous bonding material, open size with trees from eight to 21 years · only when ambient temperatures old. As if these requirements weren't reach 125° F-as they do, several stringent enough, the pines evi­ times over, during a forest fire . dently must be growing on a particu­ Within hours, the winged seeds are lar soil type, called Grayling sand, released from the cones and quickly for. the bird to colonize the stands. take root in t_he mineral soil exposed These factors combine to form a by the fire. For thousands of years, rather narrow niche that the Kirt­ fires have swept through the sandy land's warbler has evolved to fill. But plains of Michigan, Minnesota, and areas where these environmental Wisconsin, burning crowded, over­ conditions occur together are not mature stands of the short-livedjack very common. So Kirtland's warbler pine, making way for new stands. breeding habitat is not common In the Mack Lake area, major fires either. have occurred every 20 years on the Organized efforts to increase the

JU·LY1981 51 Ideal for clearing cutting bird's habitat began in 1957, when it Lake fire had been 30 acres-also on .I sites before chain saw · was recognized that the exclusion of an early May burn, in 1978. How did use. Stows and carries fire from the pine barrens,·brought the Mack Lake fire get out ofcontror neatly. Thousands about by Smokey Bear and more­ so quickly? High winds and the low used by chain sawyers, effective firefighting techniques, moisture content of the "fine fuels" I ·surveyors, foresters, was having a devastating effect on in the forest that day were perhaps and land managers. the warblers' population. With the the most critical factors, says Al The Woodman's Pal"' passage of the Endangered Species Simard, fire-management researcher -- FORESTRY TOOL Act in 1973, the Kirtland's warbler at the Forest Service's North Cen­ Light, Strong, Sharp was given protected status. A Kirt­ tral Forest Experiment Station Field land's Warbler Recovery Plan was Unit in East Lansing, Michigan , -- prepared, with the objective of re­ and a member of the team that ana­ cut.• clear establishing "a self-sustaining wild lyzed the Mack Lake fire. Five days •Ill trim• prune Kirtland's. warbler population before the fire, .68 inches of rain had throughout its known former range fallen in the area, but there had been I: blaze• thin at a minimum level of 1,000 pairs." no precipitation since then. brush-out Guided by the Kirtland's Warbler "We measured the fuel moisture Ill Recovery Team-which includes ofa 'punky' log three inches in diam­ representatives from the Michigan eter soon after the fire, and it was DNR, the U.S. Forest Service, the 400 percent," Simard said. That U.S. _Fish and Wildlife Service, and means the log weighed five times some interested citizens-the Forest what it would if it were dry. "Yet," he I Service and the Michigan DNR added, "the grasses would have been qegan their cooperative program of down to fi ve percent at the time of creating habitat for the warbler on the fire ." Simard noted that the Blade is SAE 1075 cold some 135·,ooo acres of state aQd fed­ rolled spring steel \ moisture content ofjack-pine needles • hardened to eral land. is at its lowest in early_spring, just C Rockwell C47± 2 The beauty of Kirtland's warbler before bud flushing. Add to these management is that it is also sound factors the fl ammable extractives Concave axe blade - forest management. Mature stands exuded by jack pine, and the ten­ is convex ground for I ofjack pine in areas identified as po­ extreme edge dency for youngjack pine to develop strength ~ tential warbler habitat are whole­ a pattern of "continuous fuels"­ tree-logged, wi~h slash left as fuel for branches and needles that extend ~ Weight 23 a subsequent prescribed burn. Then from the crown all the way down to ounces the tracts are hand- or machine­ the ground- and you have a for­ planted to jack pine, which the war­ mula for the type of explosive flash 16-3 / 4" bler, with some luck, will begin to fire that engulfed the Mack Lake overall utilize in eight to 10 years. area. Bi The reason for the intermediate "The intensity of the fire was tre­ Ill burning step is twofold: the burn is mendous, but the residence time [at excellent site preparation for jack­ any one spot in the forest] was very pine seedlings; and, for reasons not brief," Simard said. "Three or four yet fully understood, the Kirtland's minutes and it was gone. It only warbler seems to prefer areas that burned about a quarter-inch of duff • have a past history of fire. The bird and no twigs bigger tha n a half-inch •• has been observed injack-pine stands in diameter. It was almost as if some­ a. that don't have a recent fire history; one had painted.the ground black." r• but according to John Byelich , a re­ The fire researcher's characteriza­ I ♦• f tired Michigan DNR biologist and tion belies the enormous energy of 1 ORDER••• .. -· ♦ head of the Kirtland's Warbler Re~ the fire, calculated later by the Forest 1 covery T eam , "The best warbler Service to have bee n 2.½ trilli on TODAY ••••••• habitat occurs in areas tl}at fire has BTUs, or seven times the force ofthe : 1110% Satisfaction Guaranteed. Full refund II returned within 14 days. I created." Byelich says that natural Hiroshima bomb. I o Forestry Tool only ...... $37.00 regeneration without fire "appar­ In the light of the analysis , the I □ Forestry Tool in oiled bridle I leather-sheath c/w belt loop ...... $49.50 I ently encourages other plant asso­ question that comes quickly to mind I o Check □ Visa □ Master Charge ciations which are detrimental to the is whether or not Forest Service offi­ I Card Number Expires I warbler. When you ha ve a fire, it cials should have realized that fine I I eliminates any competition, sets suc­ fuels were so critically dry that Mon­ I Signature I cession back, and allows onl y jack day morning. Ven Bosman says that ■ N= I pine and blueberry and grasses to the fire technicia n s in the Mio I Address I grow. This is· ve r y conducive to Ranger District had little experience I City State Zip I warbler-nesting habitat." with the use of prescribed burning in In more than 55 prescribed burns jack-pine fuel types. Turnover on his : SURVIVAL EQUIPMENT CO. : conducted by the Forest Service and district has been unusually high in 370 N. Main• Oley, PA 19547 • the Michigan DNR since 1964, the the past several years . •••••••••••••• largest escape prior_ to the Mack The_fact that the program was be- 52 AMERICAN FORESTS hind schedule "entered a lot" into his ranger district in the Huron­ DRIP water your plants decision to go ahead with the burn, Manistee National Forests, this the WATER CHAIN way Bosman says. "There wasn't any di­ spring. One small burn may be at­ (professionals do) rect pressure, but our organization tempted this fall, says Ven Bosman, has become very target- and ac- "if we get our people trained and . complishment-oriented." The two have all the pieces in place by then." ~ previous cancellations and the possi­ Before that burn, however, several bility that the crew wouldn't be able public hearings will be held to hear •Saves you water (up to 75%). to burn at all- as was the case the what area residents have to say about •Saves you labor time (set & forget). •Saves your plants (proper watering). previous ~ring-tipped the bal­ the Forest Service's plans to continue •Weeds restricted (only plants watered) . ance. "Based on all the knowledge using prescribed bur:_ning as a key •No special tools, skills needed. and experience we had at the time, tool in the Kirtland's-warbler man- we did what we thought was right," says Bosman. · He explains that th.e reason the Ideal for flowers, vegetables ... hanging plants crew ignored Forest Service regula­ Water Chain Kit tions and failed to calculate the Contents, with complete instructions: Burning Index is simply that "wejust RB. LE-R 'only iRTLAND'S WA.. •60 ft PVC tubing •Solvent didn't have confidence in the predic­ MANAGEMENT AREA • 32 Aquatics • Hose connector s239s tions of the Burning Index." In fact, •3 Tee's, 4 Ends •Flow control r m . . • 2 Couplings • Anti-siphon the Mio District was in the process of - HURON NATIONAL FOREST J ·----·-·--·-··-·-ORDER TODAY··········-·-·-·­ switching from the old Fire Load Century Rain-Aid Index system to the new Burning Box 25 Index system, both complicated (AF) Madison Heights, Ml 48071 313/588-2990 formulas for predicting whether Enclosed is D check D money order copditions on a given day are suit­ □ Visa □ Master Charge able for prescribed burn. for __Water Chain kit(s)@ $23.95 each a Add $1 .50 shipping. The Forest Service, faced with Forest Service sign stands in low scrub . Card no. ______such a disturbing lack of confidence characteristic of much of the area. As tbe Expires ______by its own on-the-groµnd personnel sign says, the agency still plans to manage Signature in established fire procedure, took the site, but with more care Name ______steps to regain (hat confidence. Last Jim Davisson, Editor-Publisher, Oscoda County N ews Address ______winter the· agency required all district agement effort. Another result of ______Zip ______rangers to attend a series of train­ the policy review following the Mack Send for irrigation catalog! ing workshops on prescribed burn- Lake fire: public involvement will Only $2.09, or FREE/with purchase. ing; the rangers. in turn held training now be required before any pre­ sessions for fire technicians this scribed burning can take place in the spring. The Huron-Manistee Na­ National Forest System. tional Forests went a step farther. To be fair, it should be noted that The Mack Lake study team called for the record of the Forest Service with a special prescribed-burning team, respect to prescribed burning is not made up of Forest Service and typified by Mack Lake. The agency Michigan DNR personnel, which will has used planned fires to manage its plan and execute all of the pre­ forest and grassland resources for s·cribed burns on the forest-a jop more than 25 years-particularly in that, until now, has been done on a the South, where more than a mil­ district-by-district basis. li on acres are burned safely each The study team also recom­ year. It is unfortunate that it took a mended developing better radio­ major fire like Mack Lake to make communications procedures for the Forest Service aware of the in­ working with volunteer fire depart­ adequacies of its prescribed burn­ ments. And the new plan calls for a ing program in other parts of the system of fuel breaks in the country. ~ Huron-Manistee. The Mack Lake It is clear that fire will continue design products, inc. fire·could have been even more dev­ to be an important resource-man­ P.O. BOX 8125 ALBUOUEROUE, NEW MEXICO 87198 astating had it not made its way irito agement tool. But it's a tool as del­ (505) 296-5796 harqwood stands that were much icate to manipulate as a surgeon's less flamrpable than the jack pines. scalpel. Fire is also a ruthless and Bandsofhardwoodsoropenspaces unpredictable teacher, as the lessons that break up the large, continuous of Mack Lake demonstrate. We can jack-pine stands could be the most only hope that future lessons will be

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54. AMERICAN FORESTS