WHAT OREGON IS DOING TO PREVENT FIRES 585 



Lake Counties Patrol Association, confined to these two counties, also has an 

 enviable record for achievement. There are also cooperative patrols in Polk, 

 Jackson and Lane Counties, all doinjj excellent work. Under informal agree- 

 ments between owners in the same locality, cooperation on a less extensive 

 scale is also practiced ; while in many other cases individual owners have 

 their lands patrolled. 



In the aggregate there are 350 men patrolling Oregon's timber lands out- 

 side the national forests. The state has about 60 wardens in the field, and 

 all that is now lacking to give the state the most complete protection is a 

 thorough organization of all forces so that lost motion will be eliminated. To 

 bring this about is one of the aims of the Oregon Forest Fire Association, for 

 it must be acknowledged that the serious losses of last year can be traced 

 quite as directly to lack of organization in protective work as to lack of 

 patrolmen. This Association, started two years ago, now represents approxi- 

 mately two million acres of the heaviest timber in the state. It has for its 

 object the encouragement and betterment of patrol, and educational work 

 looking to a better and more general understanding of what Oregon's timber 

 resource means to citizens of the state and the consequent need of safeguarding 

 this asset. The association constitutes the central agency to which its mem- 

 bers report fire losses, or the measures needed in their sections to prevent 

 fires. It is in a position to cooperate with other agencies engaged in similar 

 work and to point out needed legislation looking to the perpetuation of our 

 timber supply. Patrols are managed by the association for out of the state 

 owners at the actual cost of putting them on. This during the past summer 

 has been taken advantage of in numerous instances. 



The formation of additional local patrols has not been as successful as 

 had been hoped for, but the increasing interest in this subject leads to the 

 belief that very shortly the entire timbered area will be systematically pa- 

 trolled under some such system. 



D.\NGER PLACES ELIMINATED 



Two of the most fruitful sources of fires in Oregon are slashings and old 

 burns. The latter are particularly hard to manage. These areas come up to 

 brush and ferns, and since they receive the direct rays of the sun it becomes 

 very easy to start fires in such places during the dry months. Once started 

 they will burn wilh great intensity and rapidity. In the past it has been the 

 custom of some owners, and this custom is now quite generally adopted, to 

 burn off such areas early in the spring, thus eliminating the lighter and more 

 inflammable material which later is a menace to the surrounding country. 

 This practice becomes unnecessary once the area has come up to young trees 

 which thoroughly shade the gi'ouud and thus retain the moisture. Strips in 

 the timber along trails or roads can also be burned to advantage and this will 

 prevent the carelessly thrown away lighted match or cigar from starting a 

 fire. Timber owners now realize fully that careful preparation for the fire 

 season and the elimination of dangerous jjlaces is as necessary as careful 

 patrol later on. It generally hap])ens that conditions reach a stage toward 

 the end of the season where fires can be very easily started. This results in 

 a large number of fires at the same time, which taxes the supply of available 

 men and draws a large number of patrolmen from their districts to the fires 

 then burning, thus making it possible for new ones to start. By careful prep- 

 aration the number of fires which can become started is cut down, and this 

 helps materially to handle the situation later. 



Telephone communication can now be had with most patrolmen. This 

 saves each vear hundreds of dollars in time and money. Many miles of line 



