SUGGESTED FORESTRY LEGISLATION 



The following chapter was prepared for and published in Economic 

 Paper JSTo. 22, "Forest Fires and Their Prevention." This bulletin has 

 been distributed so widely over the State that the original edition is 

 nearly exhausted. 



As the question of Forest Fire laws will no doubt occupy the attention 

 of many people during the coming political campaign and subsequently, 

 it is hoped, of the entire Legislature also, it has been thought best to 

 publish the part of this paper relating to present proposed forest fire 

 laws as a part of Economic Paper 25 rather than reprint the whole of 

 Economic Paper 22, much of which is superseded by the report on forest 

 fires for 1911 which is included in this present bulletin. 



The proposed laws are given not as legislation which must be adopted 

 or rejected as a whole, but rather as suggestions to aid in the formation 

 of public opinion, and possibly as a basis from which to build a much 

 needed law which may be adapted to all portions of our State. It may 

 be said of the railroad law, however, that it was highly commended by 

 the Federal Forest Service, and during the session of the last Legisla- 

 ture it firmly withstood the criticisms of the more important railroads 

 of the State. 



PRESENT LAWS RELATING TO FORESTRY 



In 1777 the General Assembly of North Carolina passed a statute making it 

 unlawful for any one to set fire to the woods, except it be his own property, 

 and in that case not without first giving two days notice in writing to ad- 

 joining property owners. After one hundred and thirty-four years this law 

 still remains on our statute books, the best and practically the only law we 

 have on the subject. In its present form in The Revisal of 1905 it reads: 



Section 3346. Woods. — If any person shall set fire to any woods, except it 

 be his own property or, in that case, without first giving notice in writing to 

 all persons owning lands adjoining to the woodlands intended to be fired, at 

 least two days before the time of firing such woods, and also taking effectual 

 care to extinguish such fire before it shall reach any vacant or patented lands 

 near to or adjoining ihe lands so fired, he shall, for every such offense, for- 

 feit and pay to any person who shall sue for the same, fifty dollars, and be 

 liable to any one injured in an action, and shall moreover be guilty of a 

 misdemeanor. 



The law, therefore, forbids setting fire to woods, even though it be one's 

 own property, without giving two days notice in writing to adjoining land- 

 owners. This law is rarely enforced, because the "two days notice in writ- 

 ing" is considered an impractical measure, and also because the strong objec- 

 tion among most people to prosecuting their neighbors acts as a deterrent. 

 One of the most frequent causes of fire, that from burning brush while 

 clearing up new grounds in the spring, is not covered by this law, for the 

 courts have held that these "new ground" fires do not come within the stat- 



