1905 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



233 



tion for their services. Such officers 

 appointed under this provision shall 

 have power to make arrests, without 

 warrants, of any person violating the 

 act. 



The closed season, for burning or 

 slashing, wood and brush land, is fixed 

 from June i to October i of every 

 year. And in order to make a burn- 

 ing it is necessary to obtain first a per- 

 mit in writing from a deputy warden 

 of that county. Any person burning 

 without this permission shall be 

 deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and 

 fined in any sum not exceeding $100, 

 or be imprisoned not exceeding thirty 

 days. If in the judgment of the dep- 

 uty fire warden it is deemed necessary 



j - 



he can designate a deputy who shall 

 have full charge of all burning under 

 any permit, with full power of revoca- 

 tion in case he considers the burning- 

 dangerous. The penalty provided for 

 the wilful or negligent setting or start- 

 ing of fires is not over $500 for any 

 negligent fire ; for a malicious fire the 

 maximum fine is $r,ooo or imprison- 

 ment for one month to one year, or 

 both imprisonment and fine ; and also 

 shall be liable for all damages in civil 

 action. 



Any person, during the closed sea- 

 son, who shall leave a fire dangerously 

 near or on any forest land, or cause 

 any fire to be set, shall be liable to a 

 fine not exceeding from $10 to $100 or 

 imprisonment not exceeding two 

 months. 



It is provided that all locomotives, 

 logging or farm engines or boilers 

 shall be equipped with spark arresters 

 for the months from June to October 

 inclusive ; and a fine of from $10 to 

 $50 per day is provided for in case 

 of neglect to operate said locomotives 

 or engines as provided. A section 

 is included taken from the California 

 law, making country prosecuting at- 

 torneys liable to presecution, who do 

 not diligently prosecute allged cases 

 of violation under this law. 



The original bill called for an appro- 

 priation of $25,000; this was reduced 

 in the Senate to $7,500, with $2,500 



in another fund, and with a provision 

 that the amount expended in any 

 country for fire suppression or pro- 

 tection, shall be payable, one-third by 

 the country in which it is located and 

 two-thirds by the state. This will 

 make a total of about $6,500 annually 

 for fire protection in the State of 

 Washington. A very inadequate sum 

 when the immensity of the forestry 

 resources are considered. The tim- 

 bermen of the state are taking steps 

 toward supplementing this amount. In 

 this way it is hoped to raise at least 

 $15,000 per year for the fire protection 

 work. 



The Governor has already appointed 

 as Forest Commissioners, Hon. Joseph 

 Irving, of Snoqualmie, and Frank H. 

 Lamb, of Hoquiam. The other ap- 

 pointments will be announced later; 

 the law not taking effect until June, 

 1905. Washington has made the best 

 start of any state of the Pacific north- 

 west in fire protection, but Oregon and 

 Idaho are closely following in its steps. 



OREGON. 



In its session of 1903, the Oregon 

 legislature passed, with only six dis- 

 senting votes, a Forest Fire Law, 

 modeled largely upon the old Wash- 

 ington law ; and which made the 

 Superior Judge, of each county, a 

 "Fire W'arden." This was vetoed by 

 Governor Chamberlain on the ground 

 that the state, since it had parted title 

 to all its timber or state lands, was 

 not interested in the protection of 

 the property of a private corporation 

 or individual. 



In his message to the legislature 

 of 1905, the Governor again reiterated 

 his position and stated that he would 

 veto any measure appropriating money 

 for the protection of private pro- 

 perty ; therefore, a law was devised, to 

 obviate these objections, which was 

 passed by the Legislature in its clos- 

 ing days. The county court of each 

 county is authorized and empowered 

 to appoint fire rangers in their respec- 

 tive counties ; said fire rangers to be 

 paid by the timber owners so apply- 



