TWO FOREST FIRES EACH YEAR. 



The state maintains two forest fire departments, both under the 

 control of the Public Domain Commission. There is one for a part of 

 the state's own domain, another for North Michigan outside of that 

 area. 



About half of the state's domain has been set aside as forest land 

 reservations, called in the vernacular of officialdom "state forests," 

 though large parts of them are as bald as an Arctic waste. There are 

 about 325,000 acres in the Forest Reserve system, and 156,258 acres 

 in the eight forests that have been "opened," to date. The opening 

 plan now contemplates two new forests every year; so that, while the 

 plan has not been fully carried out, the number of state forests and 

 the number of acres in each of the opened forests is continually in- 

 creasing. "Opening" a state forest consists of marking its boundaries, 

 putting up a house and a barn, also a watchtower or two, stringing 

 telephone lines, and beginning construction of fire lines and setting out 

 trees. 



FORESTER IS WARDEN. 



Over the state forest the state forester is fire warden, and on h.is 

 domain the other state organization has nothing to do. The other 

 organization contends with forest fires over the rest of Northern 

 Michigan. This is one of the departments of a department subordinate 

 to the Public Domain Commission, the State Game, Fish and Forest 

 Fire Department. 



Forest fire fighting in both departments goes along with something 

 else, in the case of the state forest part of the public domain it goes 

 with propagation of forests, and in the case of the millions of acres 

 outside the state forests, both public and private lands, it goes with 

 propagation of fish and game and enforcement of the game laws. 

 Secretary George L. Lusk of the Public Domain Commission is the 

 fire chief, leader of both fire wardens. 



The state maintains a fire department to fight fires on private 

 lands for the same reason that fire departments are maintained in 

 cities, because property protection is a public function and duty. The 

 beneficiaries are taxed, of course. There are two private fire fighting 

 organizations among timber owners, but both moribund. 



Fire fighting on that part of the public domain included in the 

 forest reserves is a very different business from fighting fires over the 

 millions of acres outside the problem on the state's own land which 

 has been organized for use can be and is dealt with differently than 

 that on widespread land, more than nine-tenths of which is privately 

 owned. It appears to be a more difficult problem. At all events, 

 State Forester Marcus Schaaf appears to have better control of the 

 situation than the state fire warden and his men. 



COUNTIES ARE GROUPED. 



These latter have the job set for them of protecting not only most 

 of the 10,000,000 acres of bankrupt and near-bankrupt lands but mil- 

 lions of acres of contiguous lands which, some of them, are of very 

 great value because of standing timber on them. Indeed, there is yet 

 a substantial notion prevalent among these fire fighters that protection 

 of standing timber is their main job, if not their only job. You can 

 hardly expect the average deputy fire warden or his helpers to admit 

 the high cost of destruction of soil by fire until the fact has been called 

 to his attention forcibly. 



