FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 



319 



Area of Forested Land, Stand of Timber, Amount Protected, and Annual Money Loss 



Through Fires in Southern States. 



DISCUSSION UPON THE REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON FOREST FIRES 



Mr. W. L. Sykes, of New York: "I would like to ask if, when you were 

 looking into this matter of fires, you learned about what proportion of fires were 

 started by railroads as compared with those started by campers, fishermen and 

 hunters. 



Air. C. S. Chapman, of Oregon: I cannot remember the ejcact percentage, 

 but it is considerably higher percentage that is started by the railroad. 



Mr. W. L. Sykes: There is now? 



Mr. C. S. Chapman : Yes ; is now. 



Mr W L Sykes : Last week at the annual meeting of the Empire State 

 Forestry Products Association in New York, Superintendent Pettis of the 

 Forests of New York State showed us some charts in which one piece running 

 up farther than the rest, indicated that most of the fires started m New York 

 State forests were started by fishermen and hunters, and the fires started by the 

 railroads were very much less in proportion to the others, and I was surprised, 

 but I am not so much surprised since I know that the railroads are taking more 



I want to say in this connection, for the information of you people, that 

 oil burning in the Adirondacks has a good deal to do with it, but it is working 

 another evil that is coming back on the general public very soon. I was talking 

 with some New York Central officials a few days ago, and they said the price of 

 oil has increased over 100 per cent within the last year and they are carrying all 

 their passengers at a loss. It is costing $80 to run a passenger train now to Utica, 

 where it ought to cost only $30. The Standard Oil Company has notified them 

 that they cannot furnish oil next year at all. Now, this is a conservation proposi- 

 tion I do not own the New York Central Railroad, or any stock in it, but we 

 could not lean so far back of the perpendicular to fall over any of these proposi- 

 tions I want to say that the time has come when pleasure seekers and hunters 

 who do not have a dollar invested in those great forests should account for their 

 actions whenever they go into the forest. I have a home in one of the rnost 

 beautiful cities in this country. Most of the lawns in our cities are protected by 



