30 Forestry Quarterly 



over $4,000." It is no longer a question as to whether fires can 

 be kept down. The only remaining question is as to how much 

 the forester can afford to spend for fire prevention and control. 



The importance of attempting to define the reasonable limits 

 of protection expenses lies in that, with the State and National 

 Forests especially, it is necessary to secure appropriations for 

 the work. In the absence of general information on the subject, 

 it is naturally very difficult to persuade legislative bodies to take 

 unprecedented action. But it is to be feared that foresters them- 

 selves have paid but little attention to the matter, probably on 

 the assumption that they could amply justify more than there 

 was any chance of their getting. The same condition obtains 

 to a greater or lesser degree among the Private Protective Asso- 

 ciations, where the competent administrative officers have peren- 

 nial difficulty in getting really adequate appropriations. 



As with all other forms of property, forest protection will 

 justify any expense up to the point where profits are confiscated. 

 The forester should be able to demonstrate that, long before any 

 such point is reached, he can furnish his forest with protection 

 which protects adequately. In the European forests mentioned, 

 it is not unusual to have a gross annual expense of about $1 to $3 

 per acre. Of this amount approximately 6.25 per cent, or about 

 25 cents, is spent for protection. The forests, of course, pay a 

 satisfactory interest on their capital value, which is high. At 

 this rate, about $250 per 1,000 acres, per year, goes for pro- 

 tection, which will include more or less work in connection with 

 insects and fungi, trespass, etc., as well as fire protection work. 



The average assessment among our Private Protective Asso- 

 ciations runs between 2 and 5 cents per acre and year. Under 

 unusual conditions, usually where large fires have to be fought, the 

 assessment reaches as much as 10 cents per acre. It has seldom, 

 if ever, been higher. Out of this, is paid the salary of the 

 year-long force (usually very small), the summer patrolmen, 

 packers, fire-fighters, etc., and relatively small sums for permanent 

 improvements, such as trails, cabins and telephone lines, and 

 equipment. In a number of cases the assessments are only a 

 fraction of a cent per acre and practically no improvement work 

 is attempted. Without adequate statistics it is impossible to 

 rate the relative efficiency of the protective work of the Asso- 

 ciations in proportion to their costs. As a rule, the losses are 



