THE OREGON FOREST FIRE ASSOCIATION 



563 



procedure and brings in a revenue of over $1,000,000 

 per year. 



Should a rival administration of grazing be set up on 

 adjoining areas by the admission of grazing into national 

 parks, regulations would have to be identical or users 

 would exert pressure to have lands transferred from one 

 department to another in order to take advantage of more 

 favorable regulations. Political pressure would be 

 brought to bear on the Interior Department, both to allow 



the extension of grazing in the parks, and to create new 

 and larger parks in order to transfer grazing jurisdiction. 

 There is but one way of avoiding this danger, and that 

 is to continue to prohibit grazing absolutely, as at present, 

 in national parks, and to make the areas of these parks 

 conform to the limits which must be preserved intact for 

 wild life and for the primary purpose of recreation, which 

 is sure to increase in importance and in the benefit which 

 we all share as a common heritage. 



The Oregon Forest Fire Association 



By Wells Gilbert, Treasurer 



THE Oregon Forest Fire Association was formed 

 in January, 1911, with the threefold object of 

 promoting cooperation among timber owners, 

 inducing the State to assume its responsibility in forest 

 protection and educating the public as to the causes and 

 methods of preventing forest fires. 



Many efficient fire patrols existed, but there was 

 duplication of effort and little cooperation. In addition, 

 these patrols from necessity guarded other timber lying 

 in their limits whose owners were shirking expense and 

 responsibility. Some timber was not being patrolled by 

 anyone. Between the heavy timber belts and the farming 

 regions is generally found the " stick-ranch " country in 

 the foothills. Here pioneers cleared patches a few acres 

 in extent, raised some vegetables and grain but depended 

 on their stock for subsistence. Timber had no value in 

 the early days, and their immediate interest lay in burning 

 it and clearing the ground. If the fires got into green 

 timber and burned the brush and dead grass, the grazing 

 and hunting were so much the better. No authority 

 existed for handling general conflagrations and the most 

 destructive fires in the State have started in this region. 

 The experienced hunter was at home in the woods, but 

 the average city sportsmen and the farmer boys were often 

 ignorant of the first principles of forest preservation. 

 Surely, the time was ripe for better methods. 



First, the Oregon Forest Fire Association in 1911 

 secured the passage by the Legislature of a model fire 

 code. A State Board of Forestry was formed, and a 

 practical woodsman placed in charge. One of this board 

 is named by the Association. Suitable appropriations 

 were made and patrolmen placed in the foothill country, 

 thus protecting the main timber belt. Thousands of fire 

 posters were issued by the State Board, the Association, 

 and County Associations, setting forth the fire laws and 

 penalties for their violation and careful instructions as to 

 camp-fires. Many of these circulars, by word and illus- 

 tration, vividly portray the tremendous waste in wealth 

 and wages caused by fires. 



A law was also passed requiring the private owner to 

 patrol his timber during the dry season. If he fails to do 

 so, his interests are looked after by the State or by 

 neighboring patrols, and his land is assessed for the 

 actual expense. 



The Association has actively encouraged formation of 

 County patrols. Our secretary acts as manager of these 



patrols, and the accounts are handled in his office. Each 

 County Association is financed by the owners interested, 

 who pay assessments on a uniform acreage basis, and is 

 managed by a Board of Directors serving without pay. 

 The State, the County Associations and the Forest Ser- 

 vice cooperate and there is no duplication of effort. 



The Association now represents over three million 

 acres of timber land. It actively patrols timber lands 

 when desired, but it has best served its members by secur- 

 ing needed legislation and by building up or combining 

 existing patrols. Its motto, if it had one, would be " An 

 ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." 



The value of its work cannot be estimated. The State ' 

 has had no destructive fires for several years, and as an 

 indication of the reputation of our protection system, it 

 is interesting to note that western Oregon and western 

 Washington have been selected as the first field in which to 

 offer insurance upon standing timber. 



No article on forest fire work in Oregon would be com- 

 plete without a testimonial to the thorough and novel 

 work done in enlisting public sentiment by Mr. E. T. Allen 

 of the Western Forestry and Conservation Association. 

 Nor must we forget the splendid cooperation and helpful 

 hints of the Federal Forest Service. 



The Oregon Forest Fire Association has only had one 

 manager, Mr. C. S. Chapman, formerly a U. S. District 

 Forester. To his ability, patience and enthusiasm we are 

 chiefly indebted for wise legislation and the splendid 

 spirit of cooperation which now exists among Oregon 

 timber owners. 



LUMBER AND ITS USES 



THE College of Agriculture of the University of 

 California announces a correspondence study 

 course on " Lumber and Its Uses," to be given 

 under the direction of the Division of Agricultural Edu- 

 cation. This course, which is prepared by Prof. M. B. 

 Pratt of the Division of Forestry, is planned to be of value 

 to all persons having to do with lumber. It deals particu- 

 larly with lumber produced on the Pacific coast, the gen- 

 eral nature of the assignments being as follows: The 

 Structure of Wood ; Physical Properties of Wood ; Me- 

 chanical Properties of Wood; Standard Grades and 

 Sizes ; Structural Timbers ; Seasoning of Timber ; Wood 

 Preservation ; The Finishing and Fireproofing of Wood ; 

 Lumber Prices and Cost of Construction ; Specific Uses 

 and Qualities of Western Woods. 



