38 



Another case in which fire has done inestimable damage, occurred in 

 New Brunswick in 1825, when there occurred what is known as the 

 Miramichi fire, which, in nine hours, destroyed a belt of forest eighty 

 miles long and twenty-five miles wide. More than 2,500,000 acres 

 were burned over and nearly every living thing was swept from its 

 path, 160 persons and nearly 1,000 head of stock perished. A number 

 of towns were destroyed and 590 buildings burned. 



Fires of this type are seemingly of the past, greatly due to laws and 

 regulations governing the burning of brush, the awakening of the 

 people to the importance and necessity of our forests, and the good 

 work of Federal and State authorities. In our own State, statistics 

 show a marked decrease in loss from forest fires. In 1902 the loss 

 was 1620,573, in 1903 it was |241,240, in 1901, |135,873, and in 1905 

 it was reduced to |63,951, which is less than 1-9 of the loss four years 

 before. It does not follow, however, that the loss will decrease an- 

 nually, and until there is a good system of protection established, 

 we may look for very heavy losses. 



The loss due to trespass is comparatively small and may be guarded 

 against, to a great extent, by having good ranger service, by making 

 all boundary lines conspicuous, and by placing warning notices 

 through the tract. 



Protection from organic agencies, i. e., from insect and fungus 

 attacks, is very difficult and entails much study and experiment. The 

 loss by reason of this agency is not nearly so great as that by reason 

 of fire, but we must guard against it, nevertheless. This may be ac- 

 complished to some extent, by removing all breeding places, as dead 

 or dying trees, and slashings. 



Under dangers from inorganic origin we have '^wind-falls" which, 

 although they do not occur frequently, are often accompanied by 

 very heavy losses. On September 30th, 1896, a destructive ''wind-fall" 

 occurred in Sullivan, Wyoming, and Luzerne counties, and although 

 there is no exact estimate of the damage done, it is probable that not 

 less than 200,000,000 feet were destroyed, covering an area of from 

 10,000 to 15,000 acres. This danger may be partly overcome by using 

 proper methods of cutting, which should always be done under direc- 

 tion of a forester. 



In establishing an effective system of forest protection it is neces- 

 sary to do away with the cause of destruction. One of the most 

 essential things is good fire and trespass laws. Penalties should be 

 so severe that malicious people will be afraid to violate these laws, 

 and careless people will be more careful. 



It should be the duty of rangers, from the point of forest protection, 

 to patrol the woods in order to guard against fire and trespassers, and 

 to keep all fire lanes, or roads and trails used as fire lanes, free from 



