ANNUAL REPORT 1912 7 



COOPERATION WITH UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE 



As has been our custom for a number of years we have 

 co-operated with the United States Forest Service in the pro- 

 tection of that portion of our territory which is also in the 

 Palouse. Division of the St. Joe National Forest Under our 

 co-operative arrangement the Forest Service patrolled such 

 territory as it could efficiently with the few men its limited 

 appropriations made it possible to maintain in the field and 

 we looked after the balance of the co-operative territory. 



This scheme has worked without a hitch for a number 

 of years and I only trust has given the same satisfaction to 

 the local and district Forest Service officials that it has to us. 



I know that we have profited greatly by our close and 

 friendly relations with these earnest young men and I should 

 be gla^JxtfT feel that the benefit has been mutual. 

 ^"""if the Forest Service has any better men in its organiza- 

 tion than Greely, Silcox, Weigle, Fisher, Spanieling and the 

 dozen other brilliant young men with whom we northwestern 

 timbermen have been brought into contact it is -indeed fort- 

 unate. 



It is a hopeful sign that these men, whoJh.ave mastered 

 our peculiar local conditions, are retained in charge, and I am 

 glad to see that their recommendations and suggestions are 

 beginning to carry weight with those at Washington who, here- 

 tofore, have apparently been trying to administer our immense 

 western forests in the light of an all-too-limited experience 

 which has been bounded by the narrow confines of some small 

 wood lot in New Hampshire or Pennsylvania. 



FIRES 



We had reports on 24 fires this season and there were 

 possibly twice as many more which did no damage and were 

 not reported. The 24 reported fires were caused as follows: 

 Breaking out from old clearing and slashing fires, 1 1 ; settlers 

 clearing land, 6; lightning, 2; logging engine, 1. 



These fires burned over an area of 851.37 acres, of which 

 perhaps 200 acres were in merchantable timber. No saw tim- 

 ber was destroyed and but 860,000 feet fire killed, all of which 

 can be readily logged in the near future. As a matter of fact 



