536 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



cial value and interest. After the lec- 

 ture there were speeches by Governor 

 Henry B. Ouimby, Senator Henry E. 

 Burnham, and ex-Senator W. E. Chand- 

 ler. 



Wednesday morning there was a talk 

 by the state forester of New Hampshire, 

 Edgar C. Hirst, which was really a re- 

 port of progress. Fts main features are 

 therefore especially well worth summar- 

 izing here. The new forestry law of 

 the state provides for a forestry com- 

 mission and for a state forester, whose 

 duty it is, under the direction of the 

 commission, to have charge of all forest 

 fire wardens in the state, and to aid and 

 direct them in their duties. He is also 

 to give educational lectures throughout 

 the state, and, whenever he deems it es- 

 sential to the best interests of the state, 

 to cooperate with counties, towns, cor- 

 porations, and individuals in preparing 

 plans for the protection and extension 

 of the forests. It provides for the ap- 

 pointment of a forest fire warden in each 

 town, whose duty it is to extinguish 

 fires when they occur, in doing which 

 he may require the assistance of persons 

 and the use of property. The expense 

 of fire fighting is then shared equally 

 by the town and the state. It is the 

 \varden's duty also to keep the town 

 posted with fire notices and persons de- 

 siring to burn brush must in times of 

 drought first obtain the warden's per- 

 mission. Further provisions of the law 

 prohibit the careless setting of fires and 

 provide penalties for violations. 



By the enactment of this law, which 

 took effect May i, 1909, the state of 

 Xew Hampshire made a long forward 

 step in its forest policy. Under this 

 law, the forestry commission has en- 

 deavored to get the best results with the 

 funds appropriated, and has been able 

 to increase the scope of its work by co- 

 operating with private individuals in- 

 terested in forest preservation. 



On July i, 1909, a state forester was 

 appointed and the first work begun was 

 the appointment of forest fire wardens. 

 Tt soon became evident that this would 

 require considerable time, and, as fires 

 were occurring in different parts of the 



state, the wardens \\ho had held office 

 under the old law were asked to hold 

 over until new appointments could be 

 made. In this way other lines of work 

 could be pursued and better men were 

 secured as wardens than if the appoint- 

 ments had been made with undue haste. 

 This method has been fully justified by 

 the results. The state has a corps of 

 wardens who are experienced fire fight- 

 ers, interested in their work and prompt 

 to act. They have posted about 10,000 

 cloth fire notices, have notified owners 

 of portable sawmills about the use of 

 spark arresters, and have prevented 

 many fires by warning persons about 

 the danger of burning brush in dry 

 weather. In general, the law has worked 

 well, and with a few minor changes will 

 be a very effective law for the southern 

 and central parts of the state. 



The commission realizes that this sys- 

 tem is not adequate to protect the wild 

 mountain forest, and there is not enough 

 appropriated by the state for this pur- 

 pose. However, contributions from pri- 

 vate parties have permitted the build- 

 ing of several mountain lookout stations, 

 to be connected by telephone and used 

 for fire patrol. Also several mountains 

 are used where telephone lines have al- 

 ready been built. The mountains being 

 used arc : Magalloway, south of the 

 Connecticut lakes; Signal Mountain, in 

 Millsfield : Black Mountain, in Cam- 

 bridge : Sugar Loaf, in Stratford ; Pine 

 Mountain, in Gorham ; Mount Madison ; 

 Mount Agassiz : Mount Moosilauke ; 

 Mount Rosebrook : Mount Osceola ; 

 Mount Kearsarge ; Mount Carrigain ; 

 Croydon Mountain. The value of these 

 stations has already been proved by the 

 quick discovery and extinguishing of 

 fires that otherwise might have caused 

 considerable damage and expense. Seven 

 more stations, or twenty in all, would 

 cover about all the wild land and make a 

 very effective fire protection system for 

 the mountain region. 



Beside the administration of the fire 

 law, and the work of cooperative pro- 

 tection, the forestry commission has 

 been aiding private owners in the prac- 

 tice of forestry. Numerous applications 



