est. For this they receipt to the ranger responsible for it, 

 and are in turn held responsible by him for its care. Where 

 there are good water routes in their beats, patrolmen are fur- 

 nished canoes. In the latter case, or where horses are used, 

 sets of fire-fighting tools are carried. 



Patrolmen are endowed with police powers to enforce the 

 forest law. They are empowered to summon aid in case of 

 fire, to demand the observance by the people of the require- 

 ments of the law, to make arrests when necessary; and are 

 responsible to the rangers in carrying out the details of their 

 work. Their principal duty is, of course, the prevention and 

 control of fires. In this connection, they post warning notices 

 and explain the law and the aims of the Forest Service to 

 the public. In rainy weather, when fires are unlikely, employ- 

 ment is always at hand in erecting watch towers on com- 

 manding sites selected in going about the country, in compil- 

 ing maps from data obtained when on patrol, in clearing out 

 trails and portages, and other work of a similar useful char- 

 acter. 



Rangers take care to select points for patrol headquarters 

 which can be reached quickly by telephone if possible, at any 

 rate by mail. Thus, in any emergency, a patrolman can 

 quickly get in touch with the ranger, and vice versa. Patrol- 

 men are required to keep a diary, recording therein the busi- 

 ness of each day. These are forwarded to the ranger once a 

 week, to be summarized together with his own. While the 

 nature of a ranger's duties is such that he must spend a part 

 of his time in district headquarters, he devotes the greater 

 part of it to going about his district advising with the patrol- 

 men, supervising the work of the latter, planning new activi- 

 ties for them, and looking after such matters as are beyond 

 the authority of the patrolmen. 



Some patrolmen are retained during the winter to assist 

 the rangers in looking after slash disposal. Although most 

 of them are laid off duty in October, others are furloughed 

 until the beginning of the next fire season. 



This field organization of the Forest Service has been aided 

 by a system of auxiliary and subsidiary forces, fluctuating in 

 numbers and capable of much enlargement at need. These 



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