FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONER. 



II 



This data is not published here merely to explain why the conditions 

 were so bad, or to minimize the fire loss, but to show that they were the 

 result of causes beyond human control. The efficiency of the fire warden 

 service of our Department can be far more effectively shown by comparisons 

 with fires in other years, and what other States were able to do this year 

 under similar circumstances. 



This shows in a striking manner that the organization, personnel and 

 efficiency of our fire warden system has been greatly improved since 1903 

 and that it is in perhaps as relative high a state of efficiency as can be 

 attained under the present law. 



The gravest danger in our present system lies in the fact that the law 

 does not provide sufficient means for preventing fires. Its purpose is to han- 

 dle fires after they are once started. During the past year $189,661.51 has 

 been spent for fighting fires which caused a loss of $802,135, making a total 

 loss of $991,798.51, a sum which would provide an ample patrol for the ordi- 

 nary routes of water, road and railroad travel for a long period of years, and 

 would reduce the fire losses to a minimum. Why not spend a small sum for 

 protecting our forests, — worth millions of dollars as a commercial proposi- 

 tion and of immeasurable value to the State, — in preventing a loss that can- 

 not be replaced in a generation, and in some cases not even in centuries? 



The efficiency of the Department is also shown in a striking manner, 

 when compared with the States of Maine, Minnesota and Wisconsin which 

 have large forest holdings similarly situated. 



Comparative Fire Losses in Four States, 1908 



STATE 



total loss* 



NUMBER 

 OF FIRES 



TOTAL ACREAGE 



BURNED 



COST OF FIGHT- 

 ING FIRES 



New York 



$802 ,135 00 



618,816 00 



2,003,633 00 



9,194,379 00 



605 

 221 



3 l 3 

 1.435 



368,072 



142, I30 



405,748 



1,209,432 



$189,661 51 



Not given 

 Not given 

 99,670 00 



Mainef 



Minnesotat 



Wisconsin! 





* Exclusive of cost of fighting fires. 



t Annual Report of Forest Commission, 1908, page 10. 



J Special Report of Forest Fires, 1908, page 1. 



§ Annual Report of State Forester, 1908, page 68. 



