Lemmon Rock Lookout Tower was erected in 1928 and is the oldest lookout still in use on the Forest. This general locale has been used as a fire lookout since the Coronado Forest Reserve was established in 1902. The current lookout structure was built to 1920s standard plans, with a work area, kitchen, sleeping area, and fire finder in the same room, and it played a role in the first aerial fire patrols over the Santa Catalinas beginning in 1921. The earliest Forest Service fire towers were trees cleared of branches with simple platforms on top, followed by a first wooden tower built about 1915 and numerous wooden towers erected during the 1920s as telephone lines were established for reporting fire conditions. During the 1930s, Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees at camps on the Coronado National Forest provided personnel for fire prevention work and additional tower construction, while standard wood and steel lookout plans were developed across the Southwest Region. Few fire towers were built after World War II because of increasing dependence on air surveillance. Today, 50 permanent lookout towers remain on Arizona forests, most used seasonally through the dry, windy spring and during the first rains of summer. The Forest Service long emphasized fire detection and suppression to protect timber reserves, using horseback patrols and high vantage points to spot fires, although Aldo Leopold reported beneficial effects of fire for maintaining pine forests and controlling brush in a review of Southwest fire activities between 1919 and 1923. The Forest Service now emphasizes preventing fire damage rather than strict suppression, with fire recognized as able to enhance natural conditions and reduce hazards, while the tower still plays a valuable role in protecting forest resources.