576 AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Of the preventable fires the railroads are responsible for by far the largest 

 percentaj^e. Although the mileage of railroad within the national forests is 

 comparatively small, during a period of five years 4,069 fires, or 30 per cent 

 of the total number on the national forests have been set by locomotives. Rail- 

 road companies building new lines are in general required to clear and keep 

 clear from all inflammable material their rights of way and an additional 

 strip of sufficient width to prevent the setting of fires under ordinary con- 

 ditions; to notify forest officers in case fires are set; to furnish section hands 

 for assistance in fighting fires along the right of way or for which the com- 

 pany is responsible; to use oil for fuel or equip locomotives with suitable 

 s]>ark arresters. A number of railroad companies whose lines were con- 

 structed before the forests were created, are co-operating with the Forest 

 Service along much the same lines, and efforts are being made to secure 

 co-operative agreements with others. 



It is estimated that more than 400,000 people visit the national forests 

 for recreation each year, and carelessness on the part of a small percentage 

 has been responsible for 2,285 fires in five years, or nearly 17 per cent of the 

 total. 



The most effective method of checking these people and those who are 

 responsible for the brush burning, incendiary, and other preventable fires, 

 is by education. 



EDUCATION. 



The educational work of the Forest Service in regard to fires has included 

 chiefly attempts to show the extent of the damage caused, to encourage pre- 

 vention of fires where possible, and to encourage efforts to extinguish fires 

 which start. Local forest officers embrace every opportunity, especially Just 

 before and during the fire season, to confer with forest users and residents 

 in the forest and secure their interest and co-operation in fire protection. In 

 addition patrolmen during the entire season try to see all campers, hunters 

 and other transients who may be on the forests, inform them tactfully of the 

 best methods for handling and the care necessary with camp fires, and if 

 necessary inform them of the federal and state laws for fire protection and 

 the penalties for their violation. In addition to personal conferences fire 

 warning notices of various kinds are posted in conspicuous places in the 

 forests, at post offices, stores, and public ])]aces. These notices, which are of 

 several forms, call attention to the fire laws, the penalties for violation of the 

 laws, the rewards which are offered for the arrest and conviction of offenders, 

 and give the names and addresses of forest officers who should be notified 

 if fires are discovered, and finally direct transients to good camping sites, 

 which in many cases are kept sufficiently clear of debris and inflammable 

 material, so that the danger from fire is slight. 



Many district foresters and fore.st supervisors have adopted the plan of 

 writing each year to peoyHe who should be interested in fire protection, includ- 

 ing forest users and residents in or near the forests, asking their co-operation ; 

 to ministers, asking them to bring to the attention of their congregations the 

 importance of fire protection from the standpoint of the public welfare; to 

 editors asking for their influence in stimulating public interest, and to the 

 l)roprietors of summer resorts, asking them to assist in order to preserve the 

 scenic beauty of the forests. Editors or others whose influence is great, and 

 who question the value of fire protection, are sometimes urged to accompany 

 forest officers and to study fire damages on the ground. Public meetings for 

 the discussion of fire protection are valuable and have accomplished much. 

 Important results have been, and are being, secured by civil and criminal 



