No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 271 



Report of the State Fire Warden. 



Mr. F. W. Rane, State Forester. 



Sir: — In compliance with your request for a brief outline of the forest 

 fire organization and the work accomplished during my four months' 

 administration of this branch of the department, together with a state- 

 ment of the work done during the preceding months of tliis year, I beg 

 to submit the following : — 



By au act of the last Legislature $10,000 was appropriated for the 

 prevention of forest fires. Under this act you were authorized to engage 

 a State Fire Warden and necessary district forest wardens; also to adopt 

 such other methods as would further protect the large area of timbered 

 and forest lands within this Commonwealth. 



The first work under this branch was the division of the State into 

 five forest fire districts, each district being placed under the supervision 

 of a competent district forest warden. The district arrangements are 

 as follows: No. 1, Essex, Middlesex and Norfolk counties; No. 2, Bristol, 

 Barnstable and Plymouth counties; No. 3, Worcester County; No. 4, 

 Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties; No. 5, Berkshire County. 

 The principal work of the district forest wardens has been in assisting 

 in erecting telephone lines and observation stations, map making, visiting 

 the selectmen and forest v/ardens in each town, and showing them the 

 importance of appointing deputy forest wardens, and having them dis- 

 tributed advantageously in the outlying timbered districts of the town. 

 The district forest wardens are to visit each town within their respective 

 districts, and impress upon the selectmen and wardens the importance 

 of purchasing forest fire equipment; also, in towns with a valuation of 

 $1,500,000 or less, the necessity of taking advantage of the reimburse- 

 ment act. A large number of towns coming under this act have already 

 made application for the required blanks, and others, where funds are not 

 available at the present time, will see that an article is placed in the 

 warrant at the annual town meeting for the same. 



Each district forest warden has under his personal supervision prac- 

 tically 1,000,000 acres, 70 per cent, of which is forest land. He has also 

 supervision over three observation stations in his district covering this 

 area. 



We have established and have in operation 10 observation stations, 

 each station covering practically 525,000 acres, or a radius of 15 miles. 

 The length of time they have been in operation varies from two weeks to 

 three months. As fast as completed they have been placed in operation. 



District No. 1. — 'We have in this district two stations in operation, 

 one of which is Blue Hill Observatory, Hyde Park, with an elevation of 

 635 feet, where we were able to secure the valuable services of the man 

 already in charge. The use of the observatory has been tendered us 

 without any compensation whatever, except the payment of the man m 

 charge for the time actually employed on our work. This station was 



