2 METHODS OF COMMUNICATION FOR FOREST PROTECTION 



and located with this one end in view are placed at strategic points and are despatched 

 only to such fires as are discovered by the lookout men; instead of each man getting in 

 his own supplies for himself or a fire-fighting crew, a special man operating over a 

 large area with suitable equipment and assistants takes care of all the supplies and 

 transportation. In short, to establish a specialized forest protection staff means 

 nothing more or less than the extension of division .of labour on the modern basis 

 of function to the work of protecting forests from fire. 



Section 2 Communication Defined 



' ;W ( Ken we : spp a' ; of ^communication in connection with forest protection we may 

 have in mind one or thf> .other of two rather distinct concepts. On the one hand, 

 communication' refers/to, the conveyance of materials or of men from one place to 

 another. In this sense communication becomes a problem of transportation and lines 

 of communication become roads, railways, trails, etc. With this type of communi- 

 cation, although it is of vast importance in forest protection, this manual is not 

 concerned. 



Communication in the other sense means the conveyance of information from one 

 place to another. Obviously this does not necessarily involve any transfer of material 

 substance, and lines of communication become telephone or telegraph wires, wireless 

 installations, or signals of an almost endless variety. In this sense, communication 

 is one of the prime essentials in specialized forest protection. Without well-developed 

 means of transmitting information rapidly between all the numerous elements of a 

 specialized force it is wholly impracticable to employ the distinctive features of 

 specialized organization, and entire responsibility for all lines of work must necessarily 

 be left in the hands of the patrolman, the least trained, and most poorly paid and 

 equipped man in the whole force. This is obviously inevitable, however, in the 

 absence of lines of rapid communication. At the same time it must be kept in mind 

 that forest telephones and other modern devices for securing intercommunication do 

 not of themselves produce specialization in a forest protection staff, but are merely a 

 necessary mechanical device through the use of which functional organization and 

 centralized control are rendered feasible. 



Section 3 Present Protection Methods 



It is well recognized in Canada that forests if they are to be kept from burning 

 up must have some kind of systematic protection during that portion of the year 

 generally referred to as the " fire season." The extent of protection attempted largely 

 depends upon the enlightenment of the owner of the timber, the value placed upon it 

 and the fire danger or risk. This last is an extremely complex element made up of 

 several factors which vary with the season, the character of the forest, the local causes 

 of fire, and other local conditions which tend to favour or to obstruct the protection 

 work. It is equally well recognized in the forested regions of Canada that the only 

 kind of protection that has even a remote chance of success is patrol by a force of 

 specially employed fire rangers. The patrol of timber-lands has been a feature of fire 

 .protection in certain parts of Canada for more than thirty years. In other parts it 

 is only of recent origin, while very large areas in all parts of the country, bearing a 

 young growth whose value and vital national importance are unrealized, are as yet 

 wholly unprotected. A careful study of most of these patrol forces, however, reveals 

 the fact that they are organized and operated on extremely individualistic lines. Some 

 of the very largest operate almost without a directive staff and in no case has there 

 as yet been developed a staff capable of making a close scientific study of this problem 

 of fire protection, resolving it into its elements and building up on a basis of known 

 .facts a business-like organization and mode of procedure. In almost every case a 



