METHODS OF FOREST POLICY. 261 



ably efficient provisions to protect forest property 

 may the community impose obligations upon the 

 owner and restrict him in the use of his property, 

 so that the protection can be made reasonably 

 practicable ; and only then and for such purpose 

 may regulations in the use of the property, inter- 

 ference by the state in its unrestricted manage- 

 ment, be adjudged admissible even in those 

 forests which we have designated as supply for- 

 ests, i.e. those which have mainly or only an indus- 

 trial and commercial significance. In other words, 

 we conceive as a primary condition for the apphca- 

 tion of restrictive measures, in the use of private 

 property, that the state furnish a quid pro quo, a 

 compensation, direct or indirect. 



It has frequently been proposed in the United 

 States to force the lumberman to burn his debris 

 in order to reduce the fire danger. This prescrip- 

 tion may be practicable and expedient in some 

 cases, but not in others ; in its generality it would 

 be both impracticable and inexpedient, unless 

 specific precautions and supervision accompany 

 it, as pointed out on pp. 188 ff. Here also the 

 practical objection would be properly raised that, 

 unless all the states, or at least a group of states 

 under similar conditions, exact such precaution, the 

 lumberman's industry in the one state which ex- 

 acts it would be placed at a disadvantage as com- 

 pared with the neighboring state which neglects 

 it. In such case, it would appear equitable that 



