tions in districts where none existed. There 

 are now sixteen cooperative associations having 

 a membership representing fifty-three per cent 

 of the total timbered acreage coming under the 

 law. The Board provides patrol at the actual 

 cost of the work for thirty-two per cent of the 

 timberlands, while thirteen per cent is patrolled 

 by the owners thereof. 



About three hundred patrolmen and lookout 

 men, paid by timber owners' funds, are employed 

 each summer. These men perform their duties 

 under the direction of twenty-six head, or 

 district, wardens employed by the State or 

 jointly by the State and cooperative patrol 

 associations. 



The protection work, however, does not end 

 with merely placing paid men in the timbered 

 districts. During the past six years a campaign 

 of preparedness has been waged in order to 

 make their work more effective. Approximately 

 4,696 miles of old and obstructed trails were 

 made passable, 1,145 miles of strategic new 

 trails were built, 514 miles of telephone line 

 constructed, and 301 miles repaired, forty-two 

 cabins were built for the shelter of the patrol- 

 men arid lookout men and also to store food 

 supplies and equipment for the use of fire 

 fighting crews. Thirty lookout stations were 

 equipped with telephones. 



All of this improvement work, which was 

 paid by the timber owners, aggregated an expen- 

 diture of $60,000.00. When the wardens and 

 patrolmen were not making these improvements 

 they were fighting and subduing an aggregate 

 of 4,183 forest fires. 



Only twelve per cent of the forest fires are 

 caused by lightning, while eighty-eight per cent 

 are the result of carelessness, indifference or 

 maliciousness on the part of campers, hunters, 



