Comments on the Ministry of Forestry’s Report Concerning National Forest Fires in 1951 [1] (March 4, 1952) Those responsible in Jilin (Songjiang) and Heilongjiang provinces—both party and government leaders—should be disciplined. Has disciplinary action already been taken? Mao Zedong March 4 Based on the manuscript for publication. Notes [1] Refers to the report submitted by the Forestry Department of the Central People’s Government on February 22, 1952, to Chen Yun and forwarded to Zhou Enlai, detailing the national forest fire situation in 1951. The report indicated that a total of 4,270 forest fires occurred across the country in the first half of 1951, resulting in 34.5 million mu of forest damage and the loss of 6.77 million cubic meters of timber. The area of forest damage was twelve times greater than the area reforested during the same period. The most severe fires occurred in Northeast China, primarily in Songjiang and Heilongjiang provinces. Over 99 percent of the timber lost nationwide due to forest fires originated from this region. The vast majority of these fires were caused by people burning off vegetation, with the root cause being certain leading cadres’ isolated emphasis on spring plowing as the “overwhelming central task.” Fearing that implementing fire prevention measures would interfere with spring farming or prevent villagers from completing their high-yield production targets if they were prohibited from burning, these cadres neglected forest protection and fire prevention efforts. 2£¹