A NATIONAL PLAIT FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1211 



Few single causes have been responsible for more disastrous forest 

 fires than inflammable material left on the ground after cutting and 

 removal of timber. As a general rule approximately 40 percent of 

 the tree has been left behind as of no commercial value. In addition 

 there is often a large amount of dead-and-down material. Owners of 

 forest land have not been generally willing, of their own accord, to 

 dispose of this material by methods tha insure against spread of 

 fire, because they have not regarded the loss that they themselves 

 might suffer as equal to the cost of proper disposal. Most States 

 have passed laws requiring one form or another of so-called slash 

 disposal. Some of the laws need strengthening and clarification, but, 

 generally speaking, the difficulty lies more in enforcement than in 

 lack of legal authority. Proper slash burning requires careful piling, 

 the right day for burning, and care and judgment in the operation. 



Very commonly the precautionary measures necessary to prevent 

 the spread of fire from slash or other burnings represent some hard- 

 ship and expense to the landowner, and many problems are involved 

 in arriving at and enforcing requirements fair to all concerned. Abil- 

 ity of a protective organization to solve these difficulties and those 

 discussed in the caption above depends very largely on the attitude 

 of the public toward fires. If local sentiment is antagonistic or 

 indifferent, it can be accomplished only in part and at relatively 

 large expense. 



STATE LEGAL BASIS 



The Federal statute requires the State to provide by law for a 

 system of fire protection before it can participate in Federal appro- 

 priations for that purpose. All of the States with forest lands in 

 need of organized protection have made legal provisions which the 

 Federal Government has regarded as meeting requirements for at 

 least a beginning of cooperative protection, although in three States 

 cooperation is not now active. There has been a very gratifying 

 disposition throughout the States to amend their fire protection 

 laws or to enact new laws based on the experience of other States 

 when it has seemed that gains could be made by such a policy. 

 Federal aid has been influential in bringing such changes about 

 through the advice of experienced Federal cooperative agents and 

 through pressure for legislation considered adequate and appropriate 

 as a condition of continuing the Federal assistance. Nevertheless, an 

 ideal basis of State cooperation is far from attainment in many cases. 



Systems of protection necessarily vary greatly according to forest 

 conditions and fiscal limitations in the different States, but there are 

 five principles that should be followed as a standard. 



1 . Forest-fire protection, along with other forestry activities in the 

 State, should be placed by law under the supervision of a nonpolitical, 

 technically competent, and reasonably permanent department, board, 

 commission, or other authority, serving in forestry matters alone or in 

 connection with other conservation activities, and hereinafter referred 

 to as "the commission." 



2. The law should provide for placing responsibility for protection 

 directly on an official with adequate experience and training, to be 

 selected by the commission. It should delegate to this official wide 

 latitude in administration, subject to review by the commission only 

 in the more important phases of policy, planning, and accomplish- 

 ment. 



