REPORT FOR '\\n-2 AND 11)1.:-) 23 



hunters in their districts, and to talk with them on the subject of fire 

 protection. 



While it is difficult to estimate the effect of such work, it has cer- 

 tainly been instrumental in giving residents of the wooded sections 

 quite a different view of fire protection, and in almost every case 

 when their attention has been called to the forest laws and the deter- 

 mination on the part of the State and Federal Government to aid 

 them in securing fire protection, they have expressed their willingness 

 to co-operate and their hope that the work would be pushed as vigor- 

 ously as possible. It is just such work as this which was required 

 to crystallize the sentiment and make it effective. The patrolmen 

 not only visited the land owners in their districts, posted warning 

 notices, and warned the careless, but also- visited the schoolhouses 

 and got the teachers interested. The forest laws in Maryland are 

 sufficiently comprehemsive to cover the situation and meet any emer- 

 gency that might arise, but such an agency as the patrol is needed 

 to create public sentiment in favor of the enforcement of the laws. 

 The fact that the Federal Government is paying men to patrol the 

 woods and enforce the forest fire laws carries with it a dignity and 

 force which cannot fail to arouse the admiration and good will of the 

 people and impress them with the importance of fire protection. It 

 is certain that these results have been secured to as great an extent as 

 could be expected, since the work has been carried on for such a 

 short time and over such a comparatively small territory. 



Lookout Stations. A. third adjunct of the fire protection work is 

 the establishment of lookout stations at commanding points in the 

 mountains where the observer can see a large stretch of wooded 

 country. At two of these points towers have been erected and men 

 are stationed constantly during the dry season to watch for forest 

 fires. Each has a telephone at hand by which he can communicate 

 with the forest warden who is located nearest the place of the fire, 

 and upon notification from the watchman he gets together a force of 

 men to extinguish it. At four other points men are employed to 

 make regular observations not less than three times daily, but are not 

 required to remain constantly on duty. This has greatly supple- 



