LOGGING PRACTICE IN THE LAKE STATES Poll 
not deter progressive owners from growing timber crops. By co- 
operative effort they can soon secure for themselves fairly effective 
protection at a cost which, when considered as in the nature of 
Insurance on the investment in standing timber, camps, and other 
equipment, is comparatively small. 
In one instance in Minnesota, seven companies owning some 124,600 
acres within 14 townships organized in the spring of 1919 a fire- 
protective association the members of which are bound by an infor- 
mal written agreement renewed yearly. Control is in the hands of 
a board of directors, consisting of one representative from each mem- 
ber company. Active direction is given by an executive committee 
which includes the chairman and two other directors. Details of 
supervision, accounting, etc., are handled by the secretary, an em- 
ployee of one of the member companies permanently assigned to fire- 
protection work. By the summer of 1922 the fire-protective work 
was sufficiently well organized to justify observation of the results 
obtained. 
The experience of this particular cooperative fire-protection asso- 
ciation during the five years to 1927 indicates that an average annual 
expenditure of between 18 and 19 cents per acre per year, including 
the cost of improvements and equipment, will give good protection 
and insure prompt suppression of such fires as have not been pre- 
vented on the land actually owned by the members. ‘To secure proper 
protection from neighboring fires, however, it has been found neces- 
sary to extend the patrol area over 30 townships, or about 700,000 
acres, making the cost about 3 cents per acre for the total area 
protected. 
What this expenditure of about 19 cents per acre per year has 
accomplished is shown by a comparison of loss and cost figures for 
three years before and five years after effective protection was 
established, as shown in Table 5. 
TABLE 5.—Loss and cost figures before and after the establishment of an effective 
fire-protection system 
BEFORE PROTECTION 
: Value of Area 
Year Fire season 1 property | burned 
destroyed} over 
Dollars Acres 
TOL OSs 1DERAO) HO (2) ee Ee See eS ke EEE ee eee ee eee 17, 160 4,127 
QOS ase ae Rap pee Poe he SEN SE EP ERE Te ARO Se ANAL lA ee 3, 022 835 
G2 e seert e HAV OLA Ore caer ee Ce SSO cee is oh Sukie EI ee ak Slip tabs 55, 886 7, 979 
AOD Ne ee 08 2 DEI Mi eg a I ES ee ae te ee ig 2, 223 1, 097 
QDS ee Fee Cif CO Sees Sc 8 a od Si a a a 2 ie le ae Pa ad 985) | a 15705 
1924_____._- HAVOLaDIGeEs Be Sh ie Fe a ee oN EE eee Eh Pe Bn 34 170 
WG2GEe esac ee EXCOpulOnally bade 2hes Se eUT eee EeE Es EE, eee a ee 1, 261 3, 042 
926s = 2 Favorable_____...--- eee NR SRNR ene eae ee eee ee oe (?) (?) 
1 Bad or favorable fire season refers to the general climatic conditions in the region during the fire season, 
and not to the good or bad luck the association had during that season. 
2 Loss insignificant. 
