482 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



to these, the above-mentioned area of 140 million acres would be in- 

 creased at least to 200 milhon, for the adequate protection of which the 

 minimum expenditure required would amount to $3,000,000 yearly. 

 My opinion is, therefore, that when the States and private owners do 

 their part, the fair share of the Government in the co-operation would 

 be at least $1,000,000. 



Before leaving the subject of co-operative fire protection as pro- 

 vided for under the Weeks Law, I wish to say that it is my belief that 

 the best interests of the public would be served by doing away with the 

 limitation in that law in regard to the watersheds of navigable streams 

 and by placing the co-operation exclusively on the basis of protecting 

 our future timber supplies. The fact that the purchase of lands is lim- 

 ited to such watersheds is no sound reason for so limiting the co- 

 operative fire protection. An unnecessary restriction is placed on the 

 expenditure of Federal funds on certain lands where protection is 

 urgently needed. As a matter of fact, all forest lands need protection 

 from fire ; therefore, this restriction should be removed. 



I have in this paper given the subject of fire protection more space 

 than other subjects; and, although I realize that it is of minor impor- 

 tance in parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, still it is the largest forest 

 problem that confronts the country as a whole, and I understand how 

 very seriously it afreets the wood-using industries in those States which 

 draw their supplies of lumber and other forest products largely from 

 other States. Moreover, fire protection is the only co-operative under- 

 taking in forestry that the Government and the States have started on 

 a substantial and permanent basis. 



Along with fire protection should go the reforestation of denuded 

 lands. The aggregate denuded areas not acquired by the Government 

 or the States will be large. On account of the present economic con- 

 ditions, as well as the time required, these areas will remain unfor- 

 ested for a long period unless the Government and the States co- 

 operate with the private owners. Some of the States have been doing 

 this for a number of years. The common practice is for the State to 

 sell the planting stock at cost to the owner of the land. But even when 

 this has been done, the accomplishment in the reforestation of private 

 lands has been almost insignificant, both because of the small appro- 

 priations made by the States for the purpose and because of the cost of 

 placing the young trees in the ground — a work which of necessity is 

 done largely by inexperienced laborers. The present average cost of 



