GOVERNMENT FOREST WORK. 37 



Through cooperation of the Federal Government 

 with States, under the provisions of the Weeks law, 

 very substantial progress has been made in bringing 

 about protection against fire of the forested water- 

 sheds of navigable streams. The law authorizes the 

 Secretary of Agriculture to enter into cooperative 

 agreements with States which provide by law for a 

 system of forest-fire control and are prepared to spend 

 each year at least as much as the Federal Government 

 contributes toward maintaining the system. 



The Forest Service employs the Federal funds 

 available to pay the salaries of a certain number of 

 the State patrolmen, and also insures the maintenance 

 of proper standards of efficiency in the State protec- 

 tive systems through inspection by its own officers. 

 Failure on the part of a State to maintain such stand- 

 ards would become a cause for cancellation by the 

 Secretary of Agriculture of the cooperative agreement. 



Since the enactment of the Weeks law the number 

 of States cooperating with the Government, the 

 amount of funds contributed, and the forest area 

 given protection under this plan have increased 

 steadily. In 1911, the first year of cooperation with 

 States under the W^eeks law, 11 States entered into 

 agreements to protect a total of 7,000,000 acres of for- 

 est land, at a total cost of $350,000, of which the Fed- 

 eral Government contributed about $39,000. In 1921 

 the 24 States cooperating protected 150,000,000 acres 

 of forest land, at a total cost of about $1,700,000. of 

 which the Federal Government contributed $125,000. 

 The funds contributed by or through the States in- 

 cluded considerable contributions made by landowners. 

 Further extension of this important work depends 

 largely on an increase in the Federal funds available 

 for its conduct. In recognition of this fact, the ap- 

 propriation made by Congress for the fiscal year 1922 



