680 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



ing for six months of the year and with 

 its heavy investment in machinery at 

 the Floriston plant it became evident 

 to the company in the winter of 1908 

 that it would be a wise policy to insure, 

 as far as possible, the permanence of 

 its supply of raw material by means of 

 a system of organized protection. As 

 the company cuts fir only for pulpwood, 

 leaving the remaining timber, which 

 consists largely of pine, valuable for 

 saw timber, they became convinced that 

 fire protection would eventually pay for 

 itself by protecting the cut-over land 



This agreement provides that the 

 district forester and the company estab- 

 lish a system of fire protection on the 

 company's lands, that the supervisor of 

 the Tahoe National Forest shall have 

 full control of all work of patrolmen 

 and fire fighters on the land, that the 

 company pays for protection and patrol 

 during the fire season a maximum of 

 $250 a month, including the services of 

 not less than three men. The company 

 also agrees to pay towards the cost of 

 fire fighting on its land such amounts as 

 shall be agreed upon with the Super- 



FoREST Service Fire Patrol Launch "Ranger" on Lake Tahoe. 



as well as the virgin timber. Since the 

 company's lands are either within or 

 closely adjoining the Tahoe National 

 Forest, they were afforded a consider- 

 able amount of protection from the 

 Forest Service patrol and lookout sys- 

 tem. Feeling the need of more inten- 

 sive protection, the Secretary of the 

 company, Mr. Frank Schwabacher, 

 whose energy and enthusiasm have been 

 largely responsible for the success of 

 the plan, took up with the District For- 

 ester, at the beginning of the fire sea- 

 son in 1909, the proposition of a cooper- 

 ative agreement. An informal arrange- 

 ment was then made which was fol- 

 lowed continuously until 1913, when a 

 new agreement was made. 



visor, and to pay these bills promptly, 

 while the District Forester agrees at 

 the end of the fire season to report to 

 the company on the work done under 

 the agreement, with a detailed state- 

 ment of expenditures and also show the 

 location, area, total cost and damage of 

 each fire. The contract remains in 

 force year after year until terminated 

 by either party. 



An apparent objection to the agree- 

 ment is that it does not seem to be suf- 

 ficiently detailed and definite, leaving 

 too much room for misunderstanding. 

 The successful results of the plan, how* 

 ever, have proved that this objection 

 does not hold. Since it was difficult to 

 foresee, for any length of time ahead. 



