Early Interest in the Forest Resources 
of the States 
The North Carolina Act of 
1777 was one of the earliest 
expressions of concern 
about forest fires in the 
South. But the concerns 
reflected in that law and 
most of the other State 
laws for the next century 
were about protection of 
homes, buildings, livestock, 
and turpentine-boxed trees. 
Such laws were not passed 
to protect the forests for 
the production of timber, 
clean water, or amenity 
values (Goodwin 1969, 
Kinney 1917, Winters 1950). 
However, there was some 
interest in controlling the 
harvesting of trees. In what 
is now Texas, on November 
24, 1827, the Congress of 
the Mexican Confederacy 
passed a law requiring six 
towns along the Sabine 
River to take out permits to 
cut timber. They were 
permitted to cut timber 
without paying taxes, but 
they had to cut during the 
tree-planting season. If they 
negligently caused fires, 
they had to pay for any 
damage and plant trees on 
the burned areas (Kinney 
1917). 
By 1900, all Southern States 
had laws on the books 
prohibiting acts ranging 
from willful or careless 
setting of fires and "fire 
hunting" to timber trespass. 
Many of these laws had 
been enacted during the 
first half of the 19th century. 
Several specified penalties 
for careless or malicious 
setting of fires. Some 
provided an open burning 
season and required 
landowners to give their 
neighbors notice of intent 
to burn. However, in spite 
of the laws, little 
enforcement took place 
(Kinney 1917, Goodwin 
1969, Widner 1968). 
The North Carolina 
Geological Survey was 
established by the 
legislature on March 7, 
1891, with a law that called 
for a study of the forests of 
the State. State Geologist 
Joseph A. Holmes employed 
W.W. Ashe as assistant in 
charge of timber 
investigations. Ashe was 
not a forester but became 
a widely recognized forestry 
expert and headed the 
forestry division of the 
survey when it was created 
in 1908 (Goodwin 1969). 
Both of these men were 
very influential in southern 
forestry. Notable among 
Ashe’s early work was his 
