EXAMPLE OF FIRE PROTECTIOX 



;Uo 



hazard to the mininiuiii and immediately 

 tightiiio^ any tires that start. 



In 1!)1"2 the membership included J 1 

 l)ig timber owners. Now the member- 

 ship numbers 209 timber owners repre- 

 senting- oiSo,392 acres of timl^er land, 

 making up the richest natural resource 

 in the county. Those owning small 

 tracts of timber ha\e fomid it to their 

 a(l\antage to join the association as 

 well as the owners of the big tracts. 

 The State law now provides that owners 

 of timber must maintain a patrol during 

 the danger season. If they do not, the 

 State patrols the timber and charges 

 five cents an acre, which is collected 

 like any other tax. When a timber 

 owner joins the association he meets 

 the requirements of the law and the 

 cost is much less than where he at- 

 tempts a patrol himself, and the work 

 is much more thorough when done by 

 the association. Last season an assess- 

 ment of one cent an acre was made and 

 most of this money was used in pre- 

 ventive steps. 



The association has built and main- 

 tains about 90 miles of telephone lines 

 which connect with the farmers' com- 

 panies and with the regular lines. Sec- 

 retary Conrad has his headquarters in 

 Marshfield and can keep in constant 

 touch with the wardens located in dif- 

 ferent parts of the county. Trails have 

 been built to the isolated localities and 

 make it easier to reach danger points 

 when fires start. The telephones have 

 done much to send warnings to head- 

 quarters and allow ])rompt work in 

 sending assistance to wardens when it 

 is needed. 



The held work is in charge of a chief 

 warden and during the past season 

 about twenty-hve deputy wardens were 

 ke])t in the field while extra men were 

 in readiness to light tires should they 

 be needed. Slashing is done by the 

 association and fire traps burned out 

 so that when the danger season comes 

 each year there is not much chance for 

 fires to get a start. 



The association has done much to 

 educate the farmers as to fire danger. 

 'Vh^ farmers in the timber districts are 

 allowed to use the association telephones 

 for their own purposes and in consid- 

 eration of this favor are asked to report 

 promptly any forest fires they may see. 



Secretary Conrad has conducted edu- 

 cational work in the country schools 

 and has otherwise taught the people of 

 the rural districts that it is to their 

 interest to help the tinil)er owners to 

 protect against fire. 



The county organization works in 

 conjunction with the State Forestry 

 Board in the ])rotection work. The cost 

 of fire protection through membership 

 in the county association has been at a 

 lower cost than any of the timber own- 

 ers could have individually done the 

 same work, and, moreover, it has been 

 more efifective. Hundreds of thousands 

 of dollars' worth of timber has been 

 saved from destruction by fire during 

 the four years that the organization has 

 existed. The work planned for the 

 coming season will make the danger of 

 loss of timber bv fire in Coos County 

 still less. 



Large Sale of .-Vlaskaii Tinihrr 



-Arrangements have ju.st been made for the sale of 40 million feet of timber on the 

 Tongass national forest in .Alaska. This forest is cut up bv bays and inlets, some of which 

 give an opportunity for taking the timber from the mill to the decks of ocean-going 

 steamers. The Tongass forest is now self-supporting, its lumber product being used largely 

 in local industries, much going into boxes for canned salmon. 



Chestnut Trees A^ain Affected 



•California State inspectors at San Francisco have found a new canker disease on 

 chestnut trees recently imported from Japan. .According to Dr. Haven Mctcalf, the Govern- 

 ment's expert on such diseases, this appears to be of the same type as the chestnut blight 

 which is ravaging the forests of the eastern United States, and it is possible tlir.t the new 

 disease would be eriually as destructive if it became established in this ciuntry. 



