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of. navigable streams, that a state must have provided by law for a system 

 of forest fire protection, and that the federal expenditure in any state 

 can not exceed in the same year the expenditure made by the state. 



Co-operation began in 1911 with eleven states, in which approximately 

 seven million acres of forest land received protection, two hundred federal 

 patrolmen were employed, and the federal expenditure was only about 

 thirty-nine thousand dollars. The number of states is now twenty-four, 

 the area protected is approximately fifteen million acres, the number of 

 federal patrolmen employed is four hundred, and the federal expenditure 

 is practically the full appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars. These 

 states include all but one of the Northeastern States, about half of the 

 Southern States, the three Lake States, the four in the Pacific Northwest, 

 and California. The chief result accomplished by this co-operation, besides 

 the purchase of a certain amount of protection, has been educational, 

 especially in encouraging states which have had no protective system to 

 enact legislation providing for one and appropriating funds for its support. 

 Furthermore, private owners have been encouraged through state and fed- 

 eral co-operation to adopt protective measures and, where practicable, to 

 organize into associations. 



The federal appropriation is allotted to the states on the basis of the 

 greatest good to the greatest number. A maximum is fixed, depending on 

 the number of states to receive co-operation. At first this was ten thousand 

 dollars, but the increase in the number of states necessitated a reduction 

 first to eight thousand dollars and then to seven thousand dollars. The 

 money is used primarily for the hire of lookout watchmen and patrolmen. 

 The watchmen are stationed on prominent points from which the lower 

 country can be seen and forest fires readily detected. By means of tele- 

 phone, these men describe the location of a fire to patrolmen or fire wardens, 

 who endeavor to secure help, if necessary, and reach the fire as quickly 

 as possible. 



As compared with the federal expenditure of one hundred thousand 

 dollars annually, the twenty-four states co-operating are expending about 

 six hundred fifty thousand dollars, and private owners in these states 

 approximately a like amount. The private and state holdings in these 

 twenty-four states which require protection from fire, including both tim- 

 bered and cut-over lands, aggregate at least one hundred forty million 

 acres. To adequately protect this area will require a minimum expendi- 

 ture of one and one-half cents an acre yearly, or something more than 

 two million dollars. If, as stated above, these states and private owners 

 are together expending about a million and a quarter, this sum falls short 

 of the estimated minimum by about three-quarters of a million. From these 

 figures, it is obvious that the Federal Government is not recognizing its 

 responsibility in this matter in adequate fashion. Furthermore, these 

 twenty-four states do not include such important timber states as Penn- 

 sylvania, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Missis- 

 sippi and Arkansas. If these were extended co-operation, the above-men- 

 tioned area of one hundrded forty million acres would be increased to at 

 least two hundred millions, for the adequate protection of which the 

 yearly minimum expenditure required would amount to three million dol- 



