DIVISION or 



FORESTRY 



Of AGRICULTURE 

 PF CALIFORNIA 



REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT 



of the 



Coeur d'Alene Timber Protective 

 Association 



MEMBERS OF THE COEUR D'ALENE TIMBER PROTEC- 

 TIVE ASSOCIATION: 



Gentlemen: At the close of the eighth season in the 

 history of the Coeur d'Alene Timber Protective Association, 

 I, as President of that association, do not hesitate to say 

 that in my judgment a better equipped or more highly effi- 

 cient organization for the protection of the forests from 

 fire, does not exist. 



An organization of this nature must necessarily be the 

 outgrowth of experiments, and constant endeavor on the 

 part of its members to eliminate methods that prove to be 

 unsatisfactory, adopting and amplifying those showing 

 good results. In this connection it might not be amiss to 

 briefly sketch the history of our organization and the causes 

 leading up to it. 



Prior to the year 1905 there were but few timber land 

 owners in the district now covered by our Association, 

 and these few were individually fighting the forest fires 

 wherever they occurred in or near their own buildings, 

 generally ceasing their work when the immediate danger 

 to their own property was passed. From the standpoints 

 of efficiency and economy, this method was highly unsat- 

 isfactory. 



In 1905, during the latter part of July, forest fires be- 

 came quite prevalent throughout our district, and a crude 

 attempt at co-operation was made Mr. F. A. Blackwell and 

 Mr. O. C. Rice directing a fire-fighting force in one sec- 

 tion; Mr. F. J. Da vies in another; while I assumed charge of 

 the work in a third district. The result of this co-operation, 

 incomplete as it was, showed plainly the advantages to be 

 obtained by complete co-operation among the owners of 

 timber lands, and in June, 1906, the timber land owners or 



