Arizona republican., 1898-10-14
FOREST FIRES iN POLITICS
The Ranger System Failure Because
 of Appointment by Favor.

AIt ItCOTu HI tuc west @ill cP tHS WOFSt for many years past, and this in spite of the fact that the rapid depletion Of the forests had left for this season less to destroy than at any time in the past These devastating fires also have a po- iitical significance. This is the first year in which the system of fores. rangers has been on trial, and current dispatches from Colorado and Wiscon- sin indicate that little is resulting from their employment. These rangers, or patrolmen, receive $50 a month, their supervisors S100 a month, and their duty is to travel over an assigned sec tion Of forest country, watching for fires, and taking necessary measures for stamping out such as are discover ed According 10 the present plan, the government is expending about s175,- coo annually in this service. No doub; exists as to the essential merit of the foTes's ranger system. In other coun- tries it works well, and in the east for est fires seldom amount to anything because the public so soon becomes aware of their existence and even il the heavily forested regions, promptly put out the blaze. It was expected that the ranger system would do for the
 
 watchful care of the neignbors accom- plishes in the east But these anticipa- tions have not been realized.
 A forestry expert, who has recently been west. says: "The ranger system has not in reality been tried. No. over oGe-fifth Of the employees are more than apologies for forest rang CTS. 4 system has been inaugurated by which salaries assignable to forest rangers have been distributed as chTo- mos to political workers, with little or TO preterse Of anything else. I found one forest ranger helping to build house, working as a jouTneyman car penter, and yet drawing the regular salary of forest ranger. 1 tock pains to investigate his work and learned that his district extended down the main road for twelve miles. Another man who had occasion 10 go over the same road daily and knew every travel CT or it assured me that this carpenter ranger had not in weeks been more than three miles from the place where he was employed. This, moreover. was not in a commanding position, so as to be Of any use in detecting fires throughout the district About three miles away this ranger had a little fire to which he drcve down daily and threw on a bucket of water A limited area had been so tTenched about that there was little danger Of serious eonse- Quences, and his reporl as submitted to the department doubtless shows a rec ord Of considerable industry. This was in the Cascade region Of Wash ington.
 ''In Colorado I met a forest ranger, somewhat over GO years Of age, that in itself sufficient disqualification for mountain climbing, who had proved himself useless Instances Of this kind might be gathered in great numbers. Party workers who cannot get any ether government office in the west are appointed rangers, and those who will accept the modest compensation pro- vided, are usually broken down men. wholly unacquainted with the work and unfit for it's performance. Their supervisor is often an active politician. This prevents the proper prosecution Of offenders against the forest laws. If local campers, miners and trappers knew that they would actually be pun ished for leaving sparks behind them, a good percentage of the fire loss might be avoided.
 ''In the opinion of many people 9 vast improvement might be made by having this work done by the regular army. In the Yellowstone park, which is well forested, exceedingly dry, li- able to high winds, and having more than it's share of camping parties, the United States army keeps the deatruc- tion by fires down to a minimum. The great objection to assigning this work to the regular army is the opposition of the people of the west to system Of military police. They prefer to have the forest ranging done by people more in sympathy with local conditions. Not a few Of the public spirited citizens, however, tell me that they would much prefer the regular army to the present aggregation Of incompetents.
 "The destructive effects Of the forest fires are never half told by the statis- tical tables. The value Of the forest itself is only small part Of the loss. as a great fire destroys the soil, by | turning the humus, or the covering made by the decaying vegetable mat ter. into ashes. This leaves almost nothing for the support Of new plant 1 life. for the ash coating is inferior in 1 fertilizing capacity and nature must t
 undertake a new and slow process fer getting the soil back into condition for ! forest growth. The first stage is a crop of weeds and underbrush, which in time develops humus covering. Without some depths Of this kind trees will not grow, or at least will net sur vive a dry spell of weather. The ef- feet of the destructive forest fires upon the storage of rain, the height of our flakes and the regular flow of our rivers, are too well known to need reference. ! The subject is one which concerns not only the west, where the immediate loss is the greatest, but also the whole country. Between the national care ] lessness of Americans in regard to for est fires, and the bounty upon forest de- struction provided in the Dingley bill at the instance of a ring Of Michigan lumber kings, by which the Mckinley duty on white pine was exactly doubled in the face of cur diminishing supply one might say that the American peo- pie do net deserve to have any forests
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