APPENDIX. 175 



Form No. 1. 

 FOREST FIEES. 



WARNING. 



State Forestry Cosimission, 

 l^ansing, Michigan, July 15, 1904. 



Fires run over large areas of forest and cut over lands in our State every 

 year. In doing so the fires: — 



Destroy large amounts of valuable timber; 



Destroy entirely all the young growth of trees, which otherwise would 



grow into valuable timber; 

 Destroy the humus material of the soil and thereby make soil much 



poorer; 

 Destroy the feed, grass and sedges, which might otherwise be of much 



value to the settler; 

 Destroy the natural beauty of the land and make the country look like 



a desert. 



By doing these several kinds of damages, the fires have done more to hinder 

 and actually prevent settlement and the development of our northern counties 

 than all other agencies combined. 



The laws of Michigan: 



Forbid setting fire to the woods, and also. 



Forbid leaving fires, camp fires and others without extinguishing the same. 



The law provides a maximum punishment of: 



A fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for one year; and, in case of malicious burn- 

 ing of forests, by imprisonment for five years. 



These lands, forming a part of the State Forest Reserves, are regularly pa- 

 trolled by forest rangers, whose duty it is to see to the enforcement of the law 

 and thus to protect the property of State and settler alike. It is to every set- 

 tler's interest, therefore, to assist in this work of protection. 



These notices are posted for the good of the people, of every settler, of farmer 

 and townsman alike, and it is expected that the people will therefore see to it 

 that these notices stay in place, to do as much good as possible. 



CHAS. W. GARFIELD, 

 Pres. Mich. Forestry Commission. 



