FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 307 



The present law provides that the State shall furnish a watchman for any 

 mountain lookout station built and equipped by land-owners. 



Since most of the railroad lines run through agricultural land they cause 

 few fires. Some of the companies, however, have cooperated with the State to 

 the extent of furnishing passes for patrolmen and paying part of their wages. 



From the appropriation made by Congress in the Weeks Law, Vermont re- 

 ceived $3,000.00 in 1911, and the same amount in 1912. The territory to be pro- 

 tected was divided into three ranges and each put in charge of a ranger paid from 

 this fund. 



In 1909 the State Forestry Department made an examination and survey of 

 the old burns throughout the State. The published report covering this field 

 work gives all details obtainable regarding each fire such as its origin, duration, 

 extent, damage, method and cost of fighting it. The report covers a period of 

 about twenty years, and as a record of past experience should be a reminder of 

 the seriousness of the forest fire problem, and a valuable aid in the prevention 

 of disastrous fires in the future. 



This report shows an area of 27,350 acres burned over resulting in a loss of 

 $132,354.00. Since the report was published the annual loss has been as follows : 



Area burned Damage 



1909 570 acres $ 985.00 



1910 341 " 1,035.00 



1911 2,150 " 6,000.00 



1913 to July 1st 3,330 " 6,300.00 



WASHmGTON 



THE State of Washington has 33,000,000 acres of timber land that requires 

 protection. Of this area, 11,684,680 acres are within the exterior bounda- 

 ries of the National Forests. Of the balance, 8 million acres are protected 

 by the Washington Forest Fire Association and, approximately 3 million acres, 

 mostly in Eastern Washington, receives no systematic protection aside from that 

 of the State, together with Federal assistance under the Weeks Law. Of this 

 11,000,000 acres outside of the National Forests approximately 800,000 acres are 

 owned by the State of Washington, being acquired through grants from the 

 Federal Government. 



Forest Protection 



The first systematic effort toward forest protection outside the National For- 

 ests resulted from the passage of a law in 1905 creating a State Board of For- 

 estry and providing for the office of a State Fire Warden and a Deputy Warden 

 in each county. The first appropriation made by the State was $13,500.00 for a 

 biennial period. The passage of this law was a direct result of the forest fires 

 of 1903, which destroyed over 3,000,000,000 feet of timber, besides resulting in 

 great loss of life and property. 



The appropriation for State work was exhausted the first year, and in order 

 to continue it the timber owners were called upon for financial assistance, which 



