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COMBINE AGAINST FIRES. 



COOPERATIVE agreements in- 

 volving the Forest Service, the 

 State of Montana, and the 

 Northern Pacitic Railroad have 

 just been renewed so that they will ex- 

 tend through the fiscal year ending June 

 30, 1915. 



The agreement with the State of 

 Montana provides that Federal and 

 State patrolment shall cooperate to 

 form one single force for handling for- 

 est fires. This force, in any locality, 

 acts under the direction of the forest 

 supervisor in charge of the nearest na- 

 tional forest. This arrangement is en- 

 tered into, according to the agreement, 

 so as "to secure the greatest efficiency 

 and avoid duplication of patrol." The 

 agreement applies to all Goxernment 

 and State lands lying within the ex- 

 terior boundaries of the national forests 

 in Montana. 



The number of patrolmen supplied 

 by the State is in proportion to the 

 acreage of State land within each na- 

 tional forest. No patrolman receives 

 less than a certain minimum wage and 

 appointments by the State must be ap- 

 proved by the district forester. State 

 patrolmen are made Federal "forest 

 guards," and are emj)loyed particularly 

 during the four months deemed by the 

 district forester to be the ones most 

 likelv to have forest fires. 



All lands within the various forests 

 are thus patrolled against fire. The 

 agreement provides that each patrol- 

 man, Federal and State, "shall keep 

 vigilant lookout for forest fires and 

 shall make every possible effort to ex- 

 tinguish them whether on lands belong- 

 ing to the State or to the Government 

 or on lands adjacent thereto where the 

 fire threatens such lands." 



Besides the State and other lands, 

 there are scattered through the national 

 forests in Montana many tracts, usually 

 in alternate sections, owned or claimed 

 by the Northern Pacific Railroad. The 

 agreement between this railroad and the 

 Forest Service provides for the same 

 kind of cooperative patrol that exists 

 between the Government and the State 

 of Montana. 



A third agreement, a continuing one, 

 provides for cooperation between the 

 Forest Service and the State under the 

 so-called Weeks Law for protecting 

 State and private lands on the water- 

 sheds of navigable streams. The Gov- 

 ernment allots the State the sum of 

 $3,500 a year, which is expended for 

 the salaries of Federal patrolmen, and 

 the State agrees to expend at least an 

 equal amount for fire protection pur- 

 poses of any character. 



567 



