74 



CONSERVATION 



of the general public and of future genera- 

 tions to provide the needful laws and to 

 enforce them, and to undertake vigorously 

 whatever lines of action promise to secure 

 the desired result. Protection from fire 

 should be accorded to all woodland without 

 respect to ownership. 



An efficient fire service can be secured 

 only by the expenditure of money, but the 

 cost of reasonable protection need never 

 be more than a fraction done by uncon- 

 trolled fires. 



LAWS DEFINING OFFENSES 



1. For the protection of woodlands, state 

 laws should declare it a misdemeanor to set 

 fires either on one's own or another's land, 

 either willfully or carelessly, whereby the 

 property of another is injured or destroyed. 



2. State laws should provide a closed 

 season covering months in which there is 

 extra danger from fire. During this sea- 

 son it should be unlawful to start fires on 

 one's own land for any purpose except on 

 ploughed ground and at least 200 feet from 

 woodlands, without the written permission 

 or presence of a fire warden. 



3. Proper restrictions should prescribe 

 the use of camp fires, their location and 

 extinction, which restrictions should be 

 posted conspicuously. 



4. Penalties for violation of such laws 

 should be either fines, imprisonment, or 

 both, in the discretion of the court, but the 

 minimum fine should not be too severe. 

 Large minimum fines often deter a court 

 from imposing any penalties. The important 

 thing is the deterring effect of punishment, 

 not necessarily its severity. All fines col- 

 lected should be disposed of in accordance 

 with existing laws. 



5. A definite form of procedure should 

 be provided, conformable to the law and 

 practice in the state concerned. This should 

 specify the courts in which complaints shall 

 be made, how they shall be heard, the form 

 of process to issue, the manner of deliver- 

 ing and recording a judgment. Wherever 

 possible, avoid trial by jury or provide for 

 a change of venue. Provide for appeals 

 and a method of execution. 



LAWS CONTROLLING RAILROADS 



1. The use of coal or wood by railroads 

 is a constant source of danger and is the 

 cause of a large percentage of the forest 

 fires throughout the United States. 



2. Railroads should be held responsible 

 for the starting of forest fires to the same 

 degree as individuals. 



3. Spark-arresters are an effective means 

 of lessening the damage of forest fires, but 

 no law should be so framed that their use 

 would relieve the railroads of responsibility 

 for setting fires. 



4. Railroads should be required to main- 



tain effective fire lines along their right of 

 way. They should be given power, under 

 proper limitations, to enter upon private 

 lands, in order to construct a firebreak of 

 effective width. 



5. In regions where it is not possible to 

 construct safe firebreaks, railroads should 

 be required to patrol all portions of their 

 lines which pass through woodland. Such 

 patrol should be under the direction and 

 control of state and town fire wardens. 



6. The state forest service should be given 

 power to enforce the carrying out by rail- 

 roads of any measures for the suppression 

 of forest fires. 



7. Penalties for violation of such laws 

 should be sufficiently severe to act as a de- 

 terrent on railroads, and make it cheaper for 

 them to comply with the law than to 

 ignore it. 



OFFICIAL MACHINERY FOR ENFORCEMENT OF 

 FIRE LAWS 



1. The enforcement of forest-fire laws 

 must be in the hands of special officials best 

 known as forest-fire wardens. 



2. At the head of every state system of 

 fire wardens should be a state fire warden, 

 who should be appointed by the Forestry 

 Board, if such exists, and be reappointed 

 during efficient service. He should have no 

 other duties than to superintend the work 

 of local fire wardens, should spend most of 

 liis time in the field, and be responsible for 

 the efficiency of the fire-warden service. 



3. The state fire warden should have the 

 power of removing from office inefficient local 

 fire wardens. He should approve the appoint- 

 ment of all fire wardens. He should audit the 

 accounts of local fire wardens, especially if 

 the state pays part of these expenses. He 

 should be required to appear personally or 

 by deputy as prosecutor in behalf of the 

 state against any one who violates the forest- 

 fire law. 



4. A system of town or township fire 

 wardens should exist, whose duty it is to 

 extend fire protection to all lands regard- 

 less of ownership. 



5. These town fire wardens should be 

 appointed, and should be kept in office dur- 

 ing efficient service. It is impossible to se- 

 cure efficient service from fire wardens when 

 the duties of the office are added to those 

 of some other public and elective office, as 

 town supervisor. 



6. Town fire wardens should be ap- 

 pointed by the town governing board whose 

 local acquaintance enables them to select the 

 best local warden. Where local govern- 

 ments are not organized or the state has 

 large land holdings, state fire wardens should 

 make these appointments. 



7. Town fire wardens should have the 

 power to appoint district fire wardens when 

 needed, these appointments to be confirmed 

 by the state fire warden. 



