Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-01-06
FREELAND, PA, JANUARY 8, 1856


Damages from Forest Fires.
j. 7. Rothrock, state forestry com
missioner, has submitted an interesting
and'instructive report to Secetary Edge,
of the department Of agriculture, on
forest fires, in Pennsylvania. He says:
The most obvious consequences of for
est fires, serious as they may be, are by
no means of the greatest Importance
Loss logs, Of bark, of standing timber,
young and old fences, and occasionally
OF buildings, is not less than million
dollars annually to this commonwealth
This might well enough be termed di-
rect loss to the state. The indirect, or
the consequential, damages to the
state is many times greater For e1-
ample, it is fairly within bounds to as
sert that il all the unproductive lands
not vacant and uncared for, which exist
within the limits OF the state, were pro-
tected from forest fires, for say forty
years, the timber then growing would he
worth not less than 1,2O0, 900, ,OOU
When we remember that in burning
these seedlings, which are but a year OLD,
we destroy a crop which in point
of time is one-fortieth OF it's way on to
money value Of $1,000, 100000 the
damages are consequential or indirect
in character, and if expressed in figures
must equal not less than $50, 900, 900 as
the loss OF the commonw h."
Commissioner Rothrock says careless
ness on the part of hunters and Others
who make camp fires in the woods, is one
OF the causes Of forest fires Persons
who carclessly burn brush to prepare
lands for seeding are also charged with
some OF the responsibility for them.
Another cause assigned for forest fires
is the ''unmitigated maliciousuess" OF
some persons. Fires started by Ocomo-
tives cause u fourth class of forest fires.
The forestry commissioner says the rail
roads this year have caused u smaller
proportion than usual, and as the pro-
longed drought created special dangers
along their rights of way it must be as
sumed that they were on the alert and
endeayored to do their work with as little
injury to property as possible. In the
numbering regiosn small proportion Of
fires are caused by saw mills.
After referring to the statement made
few years ago that the disastrous fires
in Michigan and Minnesota had been
created in order that the timber thieves
might burn the evidence OF their depreda-
ton Commissioner Rothrocl says:
There is a suspicion that to limited
degree such things occur in our own
state, 1t is openly asserted in some por-
tiOns of the commonwealth that wood
lands whose owners reufso to sell their
timber holdings have suffered from forest
fires which killed the timber and so
forced it into market and that the fires
were desgnedly started"
Commissioner Rothrock enters his
protest to the conclusion prevailing in
many portions of the state that forest
fires are necessary evil, to be tolerated
simply because OF the absence of a rene
dy. "Analyze the causes as we may"
he says, they all reduce themselves to
three-ignorance, carelessness or crime.
The one fault lies in this that there has
not been in this commonwealth a deter
mined, persistent effort to enforce laws
existing upon the subject. The other
faults that no official has been charged
with the duty of suppressing forest fires
and of summoning force sufficient to ac-
complsh his work"
After offering a number OF suggestions
as to how to fight fires most efrectualy
he states that it cost one man in the
state $4,000 to protect his mountain
property from fires last year
Accompanying the report of Commits
sioner Rothrock is statement prepared
by his clerk, Robert S. Conklin, who says:
An approximate estimate from reports
at hand establishes the fact that in the
year 1885 there were about 225, 900 acres
of woodland burned over, occasoning
great loss OF valuable timber, aggregat-
ing fully S1,000,OO0. Many fences were
destroyed and about 1000 men were en-
gagged total of about $50 days in extin-
gushing the fires