62 SUGGESTED FORESTRY LEGISLATION 



ute. This law is susceptible of considerable improvement and should be 

 amended. 



Since the great extension of railroad facilities all over the State, the prac- 

 tice of hauling farm crops and merchandise long distances to market, 

 which used to be the universal custom, has almost ceased. In the rougher 

 and more remote parts of the State, however, where more than one day's 

 trip is required to reach the market, the abandoned campfire is still a menace. 

 That North Carolina has a law against leaving such fires unextinguished is 

 often not known by wagoners, and a notice quoting the following section 

 posted near frequented camping places would often be of great advantage to 

 the passerby, as well as a safeguard to the property owner: 



3347. Woods, from Camp Fires. — If any wagoner or other person encamp- 

 ing in the open air shall leave his camp without totally extinguishing the 

 camp fires, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, 

 shall be fined not exceeding fifty dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding thirty 

 days. 



These two laws, the most important dating back some one hundred and 

 thirty years, constitute the present working forest fire laws of North Caro- 

 lina. Even these, however, are rarely enforced. 



SUGGESTED LEGISLATION RELATING TO FORESTRY 



As we have previously seen, the largest number of fires are due to the 

 carelessness or indifference of individuals, and to the negligence of railroads, 

 lumbermen, and other operators of engines. In order to successfully cope 

 with this situation, we need: (1) Better laws to control the private citizen; 



(2) stricter regulations controlling the railroad and other engine users; 



(3) a system maintained by the State, or the State and counties together, to 

 properly enforce the forest fire laws. These three features may be combined 

 in one act, as was done in the bill which was introduced into the last Legis- 

 lature, or they may be passed as three separate acts, as is here proposed. 



Fires Set by Private Individuals. — The present law, which has previously 

 been given, should be amended to include grassland, but the two days written 

 notice required should apply to woods only, or should be eliminated alto- 

 gether. By broadening the second section to make it include hunters and 

 other persons, some approach to controlling that fertile source of forest fires 

 would be made. 



In New Jersey and several other States to the north and west of us, the 

 burning of woods, brush, stumps, rubbish, and other material is not allowed 

 during a dry season, and in some cases throughout the year, without a written 

 permit from the proper officer. This has been found to work well in pre- 

 venting fires, especially the destructive early spring fires. In North Carolina, 

 however, we are hardly ready for such a law. A law to compel all who burn 

 material to watch it till it is extinguished would seem to meet a definite need 

 and would be more easily enforced. 



The following suggested bill contains all of the above features: 



A Bill to be Entitled An Act to Protect the Forests of This State From 

 Fire. 



The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact: 



Section 1. That section three thousand three hundred and forty-six of The 

 Revisal of one thousand nine hundred and five be amended to read as follows: 



