Forestry Notes. 



267 



into the State treasury for penalties shall be held for forest 

 protection. 



In the main it appears to be a good law. It is weakest 

 in the most important provisions, fire patrol and restraint on 

 the present methods of lumbering in the dry season. It is thought, 

 however, that the great expense involved in better provisions 

 and present public sentiment do not warrant an ideal law in 

 these directions. An excellent feature is the evident intention 

 to keep the service free from politics. Criticism has been made 

 on section eleven, concerning "assistance and compensation of 

 citizens in fighting fires," which provides that "fire-wardens shall 

 have authority to call on able-bodied citizens, between the ages 

 of sixteen and fifty years, for assistance in putting out fire," 

 and that "compensation for services in fighting fire shall be at 

 the rate of twenty cents per hour." It is argued that this will 

 induce irresponsible parties to set fires, notwithstanding the heavy 

 penalties involved, in order that they may obtain wages for 

 perhaps trivial labor. The writer believes the point well taken. 

 He would modify this provision, would make the fire-patrol much 

 more strict, perfect the plans for preventing fire, and simplify 

 the machinery for putting out big fires. Indeed, a great forest 

 fire cannot be controlled by men unaided by favorable atmos- 

 pheric conditions. He would call attention to another weakness ; 

 the State may find itself under this law paying for the fire- 

 fighting on the lands of great timber-owners, when the latter 

 should be made to patrol their land and suppress their own fires. 



It may be said that the Sierra Club ardently desires a good 

 forestry law; and these suggestions are made not as against 

 the law, but to meet objections, and therefore bring to its sup- 

 port as much public opinion as possible. A forestry law along 

 the simplest lines is very much better at this time than no law, 

 and the support of right public sentiment is the best of all. 



YosEMiTE ^ ^^^^ passed the Senate on December 12th, and the 

 Park House on December 19th, cutting off a large amount 



of land from the Yosemite National Park, returning 

 it to the Sierra Forest Reserve. It was done to promote mining, 

 and particularly the interests of two small railroads which desire 

 to build electric and other lines into or near Yosemite Valley. 

 The bill cut off considerable groves of sugar pines surrounding 

 both the Tuolumne and Mariposa big trees, besides excluding 

 some big trees from the park. It entirely ignored the report of 

 a commission appointed last year to readjust the lines of the 

 park; and for that reason the President has declared his inten- 

 tion to veto the bill unless it is reconsidered and passed accord- 



