FIII^H NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 283 



It is, of course, impossible to have trails reaching each legal subdivision of 

 property, but each protective agency should work out for its territory a system 

 of trails which will make it possible for rangers to get over their districts, and 

 for tools and supplies to be transported to within reasonable distance of places 

 where fires are apt to occur. 



TELEPHONE LINES 



NEXT to trails, telephone lines have probably been of greatest assistance 

 m patrol and fire-fighting work. Thousands of miles of line belonging to 

 telephone companies, farmers and logging companies are used by pro- 

 tection agencies. The Federal Government has built and maintains over 12,000 

 miles of telephone line, while forest fire associations own several thousand miles 

 of such line. A well organized patrol should have not only its lookouts, but all 

 of its patrolmen accessible through telephone communication. Often ranchers 

 and other residents of a ranger's district will notify him of fires if this can be 

 done by telephone. For the most part telephone lines are built on trees, thus 

 greatly reducing the cost of construction. 



The possibility of using the wireless telegraph and telephone in connection 

 with fire prevention, is being discussed. Unquestionably, if either could be suited 

 to the needs of the work, it would be a big step forward. 



INSURANCE ON STANDING TIMBER 



THIS is a subject which has received little serious consideration, though 

 its possibilities have been investigated to a limited extent. With the 

 better protection being afforded each year, it is reasonable to suppose that 

 insurance, in some form, may soon be offered owners of stumpage. 



One drawback which has existed is lack of reliable data extending over a 

 number of years, of the actual money loss through forest fires. Such data have 

 been carefully compiled for a number of States covering the past five or more 

 years, and would serve as a basis on which to figure risk. 



Another thing that has probably retarded the offering of insurance on this 

 class of property, is the fact that periodically we have had extremely bad years 

 with corresponding heavy losses. Unless an insurance company's activities 

 extended over a very wide field, it would be difficult for it to meet the losses of an 

 unusually serious fire season. Still another drawback to insurance on standing 

 timber is the constantly changing risk. Through establishment of logging works, 

 extension of a railroad, or the opening up of other means of communication 

 through a tract of timber, a good risk may, in one year, be converted into a 

 questionable one. Then, again, the difficulty of determining the value of a piece 

 of property, and the corresponding difficulty of checking up the degree of pro- 

 tection given it, all work to make people reluctant to offer insurance on standing 

 timber. 



With the perfection of patrol systems it is confidently believed that fire loss 

 will be kept within reasonable figures even during bad years, and that in ordinary 

 years it will be practically eliminated. Statements of fire losses in States main- 



