A Plan of ForeSt Fire Protection for Virginia 



Forest fires have been prevalent for years in all parts of 

 Virginia, and have done an incalculable amount of injury to 

 merchantable timber, young growth, the soil, and frequently to 

 other property, such as houses, barns, fences, farm crops, etc. 

 Formerly the damage was not thoroughly realized, particularly 

 in backward sections and where timber was relatively abundant. 

 But with the spread of education and with the increasing scar- 

 city and the resulting higher prices of timber there has come an 

 increasing realization of the enormous amount of the annual 

 destruction of property by forest fires, which, judging by very 

 conservative figures on the subject collected in Maryland and 

 North Carolina, must amount to considerably over $600,000 per 

 year in Virginia to merchantable timber alone, disregarding the 

 damage to young growth and to the soil, etc., which is enor- 

 mous, but hard to estimate. There has come a very wide-spread 

 determination among citizens of Virginia that this senseless de- 

 struction shall cease, and in place of the former feeling of help- 

 lessness, there is a realization that Virginia timber can be pro- 

 tected just as well as that of some of the Northern and Western 

 states where very efficient state fire protective systems are now 

 in operation, at a trifling cost compared to the value of the 

 timber protected. One Southern state, Maryland, has for years 

 had a fire protective system, which is becoming more efficient 

 constantly, and the beginning of such a system has already been 

 made in the adjoining states of Kentucky, West Virginia, and 

 North Carolina. It is time that Virginia fell in line with the 

 march of progress if she is to keep the place to which she is 

 entitled among her sister States. A very effective beginning can 

 now be made through the cooperation of the federal govern- 

 ment, the state government, and either the County government 

 or the timber land owners. 



The Working of the 'Triple Alliance." 



The Forest Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture is 

 helping the states to protect themselves against fire by providing 

 a certain amount of money to be spent in paying the salaries of 

 patrolmen and watchmen. This money was appropriated under 

 the Weeks Law, and can be spent only where the states them- 

 selves are making an organized effort to prevent fires. The 

 State of Virginia is now able to take advantage of this offer 



