CHAPTER XVI. 103 



interests in water or power companies, timber lands or resorts, tell me 

 that they would cheerfully do these things to protect their own in- 

 terests. Four such stations with the heliograph system would be am- 

 ple for the San Gabriel reserve. Two would do in the San Bernardino 

 range. It would probably be wise to ultimately have an alternating 

 fag system for our rare cloudy days, and a colored light code for 

 night work. Several stations should be set apart in the burned district 

 for experimental tree-planting and re-foresting study and work. We 

 all have a great deal to learn about re-foresting our Sierra. In fact, 

 we have got to learn how and what to do from pretty near the head of 

 the forestry alphabet. 



PROVISION must be made for dealing with forest products. In 

 the Southern reserves, practically all of what little merchantable 

 timber there is, is in private holdings. But the handling of mature 

 forests, to know how to provide for the sale and right use of ripe 

 timber, should be studied. The principal thing remaining is the 

 sale and use where possible, or gradual destruction, of fallen timber 

 and limbs, to reduce the injury by fire and fire danger. This system 

 cannot safely, at present at least allow the exploitation by private 

 persons of wood or timber killed by fire. The sale of such wood must 

 be by government foresters cutting and removing for the benefit of the 

 service. The Santa Monica Ranch owners have twenty-five thousand 

 acres in brush-covered mountains. They used to allow people to cut, 

 remove and sell fire-killed brush. The result was a forest flre when- 

 ever wood brought a good price. 



PERMIT OR REGISTRY STATIONS. No forest system can ever 

 be effective in dealing with the paramount question of forestry in 

 Southern California, which is fire, without a plan for permits, or, at the 

 very least, registry for those entering the forest reserves. Pre- 

 vention is the one great thing to provide for in dealing with forest 

 fires. A permit plan will do this. Every road or trail into the moun- 

 tain forests should have a permit station. Private interests will pro- 

 vide assistance in this matter on the San Gabriel, San Jacinto and 

 San Bernardino reserves, and probably on the others. These permits 

 should be in books, with a stub to be left in the book for each permit. 

 The permit should be given free. There should be entered on the per- 

 mit and stub the name of the applicant, his home address, the object of 

 the visit to the mountain, the expected duration of stay, and the dis- 

 trict to be visited. On the permit should be printed the rules of the 



