CONCLUSION 



The proper conservation of our forests is a subject for deep 

 thought and the exercise of our best judgment. Up to recent 

 years forest fires were allowed to burn until extinguished by 

 rain or the winter snows. As a result a large percentage of 

 our forests have at some time or another been burned over, 

 entailing a loss almost incalculable. The ground in most of our 

 forests is covered with leaves, sometimes, to considerable 

 depth, in various stages of decomposition, and camp fires built 

 upon this ground are particularly dangerous, as the soil burns 

 and it is difficult to extinguish the fire. Ground fires have been 

 known to burn for months and defy all efforts to extinguish 

 until there was a heavy fall of snow. Such fires will some- 

 times travel beneath the surface for considerable distances and 

 break out in fresh places several days after one thinks it has 

 been entirely subdued. 



The recent destructive fires which have occurred in the prime- 

 val forests of Washington, :\Iinnesota and Montana, destroying 

 many millions of property and hundreds of human lives, demon- 

 strate the necessity of a thorough system of fire protection in 

 our own state. Maine contains upwards of 10,000,000 acres of 

 wild land, intersected in every direction by railroads, its forests 

 teeming with game, hunted by thousands of sportsmen, the 

 ground practically covered with litter and refuse left from log- 

 ging operations, all of which combine to make the dangerous 

 conditions necessary for a conflagration, which under favorable 

 conditions would exceed that of any fire in the West. 



The forest fire law enacted by the last Legislature was a long 

 step toward the conservation of our forests by protecting them 

 from fire. We know tlie principles of the law are correct 

 because we have tried them out. The necessity of patrol is so 

 generally admitted that it hardly needs mentioning. Putting 

 out fires already started is better than letting them burn, but, 

 as the real foundation of a protective system, it is aliout like 



