96 



FOREST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, 



part by passing laws proYiding for a fire protective system and making 

 an adequate appropriation to operate it. In tlie absence of effective 

 forest fire legislation tlie State, as well as private owners of timber- 

 land, can do a great deal in educating tbe public to be careful in tbe 

 use of fire in dry seasons, and to extinguisli forest fires before tbey 

 get too large to be easily controlled. In !N'ew Hampshire and some of 

 tbe l^ortbwestern States, particularly Washington and Oregon, timber- 

 land owners bave formed protective associations for patroling tbe for- 

 est. Tbe cost is pro rated, and amounts to from one to tbree cents per 

 acre per year. 



Among tbe effective measures for preventing forest fires in Western 

 JSTortb Carolina, in addition to patrol, are lookout stations, fire lines, 

 and liberal posting of warning notices. Lookout stations are very ef- 

 fective supplements to patrol. Located on prominent elevations tbey 

 are a means of detecting fires at long distances as soon as tbey start. 

 Tbe best lookouts are connected by telephone with central points. Thus 

 fires can be reported by the watchman quickly, and men hurried to 

 them. The effectiveness of fire lines and warning notices is discussed 

 in Economic Paper I^o. 19 of the iN'orth Carolina Geological and 

 Economic Survey, '^Eorest Eires in iv'orth Carolina During 1909." 



Fire Laws. There is immediate need for a Statewide law for the 

 protection of the forests from fire. The following points are suggested 

 for consideration in framing such a law: (a) A fire warden system 

 with a strong and active organization to prevent and extinguish fires 

 and enforce all the forest laws; (b) regulations requiring the rail- 

 roads to take certain measures to prevent fires; (c) amendments which 

 will effectively restrict the use of fire by private individuals. 



(a) The fire warden system should have at its head a State Eire 

 Warden authorized to appoint, upon the recommendation of the county 

 commissioners of any county, one or more fire wardens in each town- 

 ship where there is enough woodland to make such an appointment 

 advisable. The wardens should be subject to the call of the State 

 Warden, when, in his judgment a dangerous season exists. Their du- 

 ties would include patrol ; posting warning notices ; extinguishing forest 

 fires; investigation of the causes of all forest fires and the collection 

 of evidence sufficient to convict offenders against the forest laws. They 

 should report at regular times, in addition to reporting on all forest 

 fires. They should be authorized to summon help in fighting forest 

 fires, and should be given the power of arrest without warrant. They 

 should be directly responsible to the State Warden to whom they re- 

 port. Prosecutions for setting fires or other infraction of the forest 



