all set by homesteaders, thinking' to take advanage of the dry 

 weather and burn their slashing's. It is safe to say that 90 per 

 cent of the fires so set became unmanageable and that all of the 

 fires west of Lake Coeur d'Alene and along the south shore of 

 the St. Joe River were directly caused by these settlers burning 

 without permit. The loss of standing timber or other property 

 caused by these fires is very slight, largely owing to the fact 

 that the growth is yellow pine, bull pine, tamarack and red fir, 

 all of which' species have thick bark and will stand a great deal 

 of fire; also the undergrowth is comparatively light, allowing 

 the fire to run through without creating heat enough to kill 

 the thick barked varieties of timber. 



It is practically impossible to get direct evidence to convict 

 these lawbreakers, especially at a time like this, when the entire 

 resources of the Association and the attention of all its officers 

 and employees are so completely taken up in caring for other 

 fires within the district. Something- must be done to stop this 

 indiscriminate burning without permit. 



The trails, telephone lines and other property of the Asso- 

 ciation are all in good condition and with our connections with 

 government trails and telephone lines, our district is pretty 

 thoroughly covered. The property of the Association in my 

 charge is being cared for. 



To be prepared for an emergency such as was caused by 

 the general electric storm of August 20th of this year, the Asso- 

 ciation should either purchase twelve additional pack horses 

 and equip them, or hire enough extra pack horses early in the 

 season to provide a reserve in case of emergency, and as pack 

 horse hire is $1.50 per day and board, it would be cheaper to 

 purchase the horses, even though the cost of keeping them is 

 from $15.00 to $20.00 per head per annum. 



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