EDITORIAL 



761 



These conditions increased the dan- 

 ger of fire starting and of the flames 

 spreading rapidly to a very great de- 

 gree, and yet all the reports indicate 

 that the tire losses for the season are 

 comparatively small. There have been 

 numerous fires, more in number than 

 in any season for some years past, but 

 the quickness with which such tires 

 were discovered by the forest patrols 

 and lire w^ardens and the rapidity with 

 which, under well organized systems of 

 protection, it was possible to get fire- 

 fighters to the danger points resulted 

 in the fires, in the majority of cases, 

 being extinguished quickly or else con- 

 fined to an area where they did but 

 little damage. 



While the newspapers may have, in 

 their reports of fires, conveyed to the 

 public mind the impression that tre- 

 mendous damage was being done and 

 that fires were sweeping the forests 

 for miles, investigation showed that 

 many of the fires which received the 

 most attention from the press were 

 on brush land of comparatively little 

 value and that the losses thereby were 

 trifling. 



The reports so far received by the 

 American Forestry Association lack de- 



tail. This will come later and be of 

 decided interest, for it will then be pos- 

 sible to report the actual loss and the 

 actual cost of the fire protection work. 

 Warned by the light snows that the 

 season might be a bad one, the Forest 

 Service, State organizations and tim- 

 ber protective associations early pre- 

 pared themselves for a hard campaign, 

 with the result that the fire patrol was 

 more than ever efficient, and more pa- 

 trolmen were placed in the national, 

 State and private forests than in any 

 year since the necessity for fire protec- 

 tive work became apparent. There 

 was also marked improvement in means 

 of communication with fire-fighting 

 headquarters, more telephone lines to 

 mountain lookouts were built, more 

 roads and trails for quick access to 

 danger points were opened and more 

 money was spent than in any previous 

 year, but all this proved, as the nature 

 of the season developed, the best kind 

 of safety insurance. 



It is certain that the success of the 

 protective work during the season will 

 result in the fomiation of more or- 

 ganizations by private owners and give 

 an additional impetus to national and 

 State forest protection work. 



THE Secretary of Agriculture has 

 just signed an agreement with 

 the State of West Virginia for 

 co-operative protection of the 

 forests of the State from fire. The 

 Weeks law authorizes the Federal Gov- 

 ernment to undertake such co-operation 

 with States for the protection of for- 

 ested watersheds of navigable streams, 

 provided the State has a fire protective 

 system and will expend a sum at least 

 equal to that expended by the Govern- 

 ment. 



The agreement provides for patrol 

 of those portions of the watersheds of 

 the Potomac, Monongahela, Little 

 Kanawha, and Great Kanawha Rivers 

 where fires are most likely to occur. 

 Lookout stations connected with tele- 

 phone will be established on promi- 

 nent points, from which fires can be 

 discovered quickly, and prompt notifi- 

 cation given to the patrolmen, county 



fire wardens, and other reliable persons. 

 Patrolmen will cover on foot or horse- 

 back the lower country, extinguishing 

 any small fires that may start and cau- 

 tioning persons met in the woods 

 against carelessness. 



For this work the State will expend 

 $5,000 a year from its appropriation of 

 $10,000 for forest, game, and fish pro- 

 tection, and the Federal Government 

 agrees to expend an equal sum. 



This protection will go hand-in-hand 

 with the work already being done by 

 the Federal Government on the areas 

 it has purchased in the State for na- 

 tional forests. It has been demon- 

 strated, according to forestry of^cials, 

 that the greatest efficiency is secured 

 through the co-operation of all protec- 

 tive agencies, including the national 

 Government, the State, associations of 

 private timber owners, railroads, and 

 other organizations. 



