WESTERN SASH GO. Secretary \(/ickard Asks Nation's Help in Forest Protection Drivc

Washington, July 2S.-secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard today called upon all patriotic citizens to help win the battle on the home front against fires in the woods as a nationwide Wartime Forest Fire Prevention campaign was launched.

"Protecting our forests from fire means helping to win the war, and helping to win the peace afterward,,' he said.

The campaign, announced by Secretary Wickard in a coast-to-coast radio broadcast Friday night, is being planned with the active assistance of the Advertising Council, Inc., and with the cooperation of Federal and State forestry agencies, conservation groups, and other civic and patriotic organizations. Slogan of the campaign is "Careless Matches Aid the Axis."

The Secretary pointed out that wood is one of the vital materials of war, with vast amounts going into army cantonments, ships, planes, and hundreds of other war needs. In addition to the destruction of needed resources, forest fires can disrupt or damage communication lines or transportation facilities, interfere with military operations, and drain manpower from essential war work to the unproductive job of fire-fighting.

According to the Department's Forest Service, fires in normal times sweep over more than 30 million acres annually-an area larger than the whole state of New York or of North Carolina-and cause millions of dollars damage to watersheds, timber and young growth, and the loss of employment and stoppage of industry. Of some 20O,00O fiies that occur each year,90 per cent are caused by man's carelessness, ignorance, or indifference.

This year the forests are in added danger from sabotage or incendiary attacks from the air. The fact that submarines have landed enemy saboteurs on American shores, and that firing the forests has been employed as a war measure in Europe, indicate that there is nothing fantastic about such possibilities, the Department said.

Every fire in our fields or forests this year is an enemy fire, Secretary Wickard said. In the end, it makes no difference if a great forest blaze is started by enemy action or by the carelessness of an otherwise loyal American.

Secretary Wickard urged every American to help in the campaign, by being on the lookout for efforts to set fire in the woods, and by practicing the utmost care with matches, smoking materials, and with fire in any form. Enrollment in local units of the volunteer Forest Fire Fighters Service, now being organized in many communities with the cooperation of the Ofiice of Civilian Defense, provide an opportunity for many patriotic citizens to render additional service in the battle against fire.