REPORT OF WASHINGTON FOREST FIRE ASSOCIATION Three 



Report of the President 



To the Members of the Washington Forest Fire Association. 

 Gentlemen : 



The annual report of the Chief Fire Warden of our Association 

 and the reports of the Secretary and Treasurer, all as contained 

 herein, set forth quite fully the record for the year 1915. 



The dry season of the year 1915 was upon the whole a very 

 advantageous one for forest fire protection. While the annual rain- 

 fall was below normal, yet the general weather conditions were almost 

 ideal for fire protection, and this, coupled with the very efficient 

 organizations that were occupying the field, i. e., that of the federal 

 and state authorities, as well as our own organization, all had to do 

 in bringing about a record which represents almost the minimum 

 amount of loss that has ever been sustained during any season since 

 our Association has been organized. 



The Secretary, in his report, calls attention to the number of 

 acres of timber land in Western Washington that need and require 

 fire protection, and likewise calls attention to the number of acres that 

 are reflected in membership in the Washington Forest Fire Association, 

 showing that over a million acres of timber lands in Western Wash- 

 ington are not contributing to the expense and responsibility of pro- 

 tecting the forests from fire. This lack of co-operation on the part 

 of many timber land owners is the only unfavorable situation in the 

 forest fire protection work. 



These lands which do not contribute to the expense of protection 

 are so intermingled with the timber belonging to the state and to the 

 members of our Association that they really get the benefit of all of 

 the protection which is put forth on the part of the state and on the 

 part of our Association, for we are protecting not only the timber that 

 belongs to our membership, but also all adjacent timber regardless 

 of whether the holdings are large or small. For any owner of timber 

 to accept this kind of service without joining in the expense involved, 

 indicates a lack of patriotic appreciation of a worthy cause. 



In the State of Oregon the law is such that if a timber land 

 owner will not contribute to a local forest fire protection association, 

 then he has to pay a special sum per acre into the state funds and the 

 state disburses the money in forest fire protection. A similar law in 



