523 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



A Forest Fire at Night 



THERE ARE FEW MORE IMPRESSIVE SIGHTS THAN A FIERCE FOREST FIRE BY NIGHT, WHEN THE GLARE 

 LIGHTS THE HEAVENS AND MAY BE SEEN SCORES OF MILES AWAY. 



wealth far greater than that in many 

 other States, CaHfornia still fails to oc- 

 cupy the place she should in forestry. 

 We realize that some other States are 

 developing effective protective policies 

 to prevent the indiscriminate exploita- 

 tion of their forests. However, we can- 

 not extensively accomplish forest ])ro- 

 tection until the lumbermen become 

 more thoroughly awakened to the prac- 

 tical necessity of the work. Unfor- 

 tunately, some of the lumbermen are 

 mistrustful of any agency directed to- 

 ward forest regulation, fearing, it 

 seems, that unfavorable and impracti- 

 cable restrictions will be subsequently 

 imposed ; and the general public is in 

 some degree influenced by this attitude 

 on the part of the lumbermen. 



California is a great playground, her 

 forest wilds attract thousands of pleas- 

 ure seekers every summer. There must 

 be provision for fire patrols, summer 

 guards, paid fire wardens, effective co- 

 operation between Federal, State and 

 private agencies, and the operation of 

 all necessary protective measures. 



Such forest legislation will make it 

 possible for California to enjoy: 



State fire patrols, whose duty it shall 

 be to lessen the danger of fire by keep- 

 ing vigilant watch during the dry sea 



sons. At present we have only a sys- 

 tem of non-compensated voluntary fire 

 wardens ; the plan is very inefficient. 

 Full appreciation is expressed of the 

 effective work done by the Federal For- 

 est Service on the nineteen national for- 

 ests within the State. 



Sta^-e forest reserves, which are cer- 

 tain tracts of land within the State 

 owned and managed by the State. These 

 reserves will prove as valuable in Cali- 

 fornia as they have and are proving 

 in other States. 



State experimental stations, for as 

 forestry advances in California we will 

 need demonstration areas where the 

 relative merits of various indigenous 

 and introduced trees can be determined. 

 Highway planting is already popular 

 and trees for this purpose will always 

 be in demand. 



State nurseries where forest and 

 highway trees can be propagated for 

 distribution throughout the State. 



State timber tax reforms as the old, 

 and generally abandoned in other coun- 

 tries, system of forest taxation still 

 operates in California — the general 

 property tax. The farmer is taxed on 

 his crop, not by an increasing tax at 

 periods during its growth, but upon the 

 commodity when harvested. The pres- 



