ORGANIZATION AND COOPERATION 15 



the contract was closed by the signature of the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture. 

 Co-operative Agreement Between Colorado State Board of Forestry 



and the Forest Service of the United States Department of 



Agriculture : 



This agreement, entered into this seventh day of October, 1912, 

 by and between the State of Colorado, by and through the State 

 Board of Agriculture, party of the first part, and the United States 

 of America, by and through the Secretary of Agriculture, party of 

 the second part, WITNESSETH : 



WHEREAS, It is believed that a more efficient protection of 

 public, State, and private property against forest fires can be had 

 through co-operation by the State and Federal governments, 



Now, THEREFORE, in order that a plan of co-operation between 

 the officers of the State and the officers of the United States Forest 

 Service may be more clearly outlined and defined, it is hereby 

 mutually agreed as follows : 



FIRST. That this agreement is in no way intended to restrict 

 the officers of the State or of the Forest Service in, or relieve them 

 of, the performance of any of their duties imposed upon them by 

 law with respect to the prevention and extinguishment of forest 

 fires. 



SECOND. That this agreement relates to all lands within the 

 State of Colorado, including lands held in private ownership, lands 

 owned by the State, and lands of the United States, both reserved 

 and unreserved. 



THIRD. The use of the term "fire warden" throughout this 

 agreement is for the sake of convenience in designating the officers 

 of the State, and includes county sheriffs, under-sherif fs, and depu- 

 ties, and all other state and county officers whose duty it is under 

 the laws of the State of Colorado, to prevent and extinguish forest 

 fires. 



FOURTH. Whenever any fire warden discovers a forest fire, 

 he shall, if possible, proceed at once to extinguish it, and shall, there- 

 after, as soon as possible, report the occurence of the fire to the 

 nearest officer of the Forest Service and to the State Forester. If, 

 however, he is unable to control the fife without assistance he shall 

 immediately report the fact to the nearest officer of the Forest Serv- 

 ice and to the county sheriff. In like manner any officer of the 

 Forest Service discovering a fire, whether on National Forest land 

 or not, shall extinguish it, if possible, and thereafter, as soon as poss- 

 ible, report the occurrence of the fire to the county sheriff. If he be 

 unable, however, to control the fire without assistance, he shall 

 immediately report the fact to the sheriff of the County where the 

 fire occurs. 



