STATE WORK 



377 



is not denied that in some cases the elimina- 

 tion of purely grazing lands may possibly 

 result in a certain amount of stream pollu- 

 tion, but the Department of Agriculture holds 

 it has no authority to try to prevent this 



ever to grow timber of commercial value. It 

 through national forest administration of such 

 lands. In the main, it is believed that the 

 interests of water-users have been well cared 

 for in making the eliminations. 



STATE WORK 



CALIFORNIA 

 A Plan for State Forests to Protect Irrigation 



The orange growers of southern California 

 are becoming alarmed at the rapid destruc- 

 tion of timber, because the cutting away of 

 the timber endangers the water supply. State 

 Forester Homans, in consultation with fruit 

 growers of Orange, Riverside, and San Diego 

 counties, has developed a plan by which the 

 legislature may be asked to appropriate half 

 of the money necessary to buy the forests 

 surrounding the irrigated fruit lands, and the 

 growers furnish the rest, with the under- 

 standing that the forests be taken over by 

 the state and maintained as public reserves. 

 Under that plan the state would be getting 

 more than an equitable return for its money, 

 and the land owners would be remunerated 

 through benefits derived by the preservation 

 of water for irrigation 



"Another plan," says Mr. Homans, "is for 

 the fruit growers to buy the timber lands 

 outright and keep them as private property. 

 Also, the legislature could pass a law to 

 stop the cutting of the timber. But the plan 

 which" seems to me the most logical one is 

 for the state and the fruit growers to each 

 appropriate enough money to buy the neces- 

 sary forests and deed them to the state." 



Connecticut 



The state forester, S. N. Spring, has issued 

 an urgent statement calling attention to the 

 forest fire peril and asking for the coopera- 

 tion of all citizens in guarding against it. 



Reports for 1909 from ninety-four per cent 

 of the towns in the state show the follow- 

 ing totals: Three hundred and thirty-six 

 fires burned over 1.5,000 acres, with an esti- 

 mated damage of $27.000. The expense of 

 fighting these fires was approximately $2,500, 

 of which the towns paid one-half. Six per 

 cent of the towns did not report at all, and 

 it is probable that many other fires oc- 

 curred which were unreported. 



The reports of damage done were also very 

 low, since the loss to future growth and 

 the final crop is difficult to estimate, although 

 very great. The damage was probably at 



least a third greater than reported, a total 

 of $36,000. Many of the fires, through the 

 efforts of the wardens, were confined to small 

 areas, and it is evident that the loss would 

 have been much greater if there had been 

 no organized effort to control and prevent 

 fires. 



Of the 336 fires reported, no known cause 

 for nearly one-half, or 159, was given. In 

 many cases it is difficult to determine with 

 certainty how the fire started, especially as 

 the warden's attention must necessarily be 

 directed to putting out a fire in its early 

 stages if possible. Ninety-four fires were at- 

 tributed to sparks from locomotives, and 

 eighty-three to carelessness of hunters, camp- 

 ers, brush-burners, etc. Doubtless there were 

 many unreported railroad fires, which were 

 put out by section hands and wardens before 

 much damage was done. The fact remains 

 that the railroads are responsible for an un- 

 necessarily large number of forest fires. 

 Greater cooperation of the railroads with 

 forest fire wardens must be secured during 

 the coming season. 



In his statement, Mr. Spring summarizes 

 the forest fire laws of the state, and dis- 

 cusses the causes of fires and means of pre- 

 vention. 



Forest Legislation in Maryland 



The Maryland legislature has recently en- 

 acted into law some recommendations of the 

 state forester amending the present forest 

 laws. The most important features are giv- 

 ing forest wardens the power of arrest with- 

 out warrant in the case of any violation of 

 the forest laws, the power to summon as- 

 sistance, and to require the use of teams. 

 tools, etc., in extinguishing forest fires. The 

 new law makes it the duty of any one who 

 sees a forest fire not under control to ex- 

 tinguish it, or to report it to the local forest 

 warden Failure to discharge this duty is 

 punishable by a fine of $10. 



The apportionment of forest wardens shall 

 not exceed one warden for each 15,000 acres 

 of woodland determined by the survey of the 

 state board of forestry, each warden to be 

 commissioned by the governor on recom- 

 mendation of the state forester. The mini- 



