The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1899-07-19
MINNESOTA FORESTS.
Fourth Annual Report of Chief Fire
Warden Andrews.
The Report Deals Extensively With Forest
Fires in the State.--The Losses Sus-
talned.--The Benefits Derived
and Expenses Incurred.

The Fourth Annual Report of the Chief
Fire Warden of Minnesota for 1898 has
| been published. The most notable thing
! in regard to forest fires in Minnesota
| was the fact that, although there were
few weeks of dry and dangerous wealth
/ er in the northern part of the state, both
1 in the spring and autumn, our state es-
| capped any very serious fires, while in
| the adjoining state of Wisconsin forest
| fires occurred in the fall of enough mag
| nitude to be heralded as a calamity. The
forest fires in Wisconsin, the million-dol-
| lar fire in Michigan in 1896, and the eX-
| tensive fires in South Dakota would i'm
press a candid person of the value of
even the little preventive means used in
| this state. No sensible man pretends
| that human agency extinguiSh a
| great forest fire. The object of the Fire
! Warden Law is to prevent such fires
| from starting, or If, unfortunately, they
] have started, to extinguish them before
| they become unmanageable. Prevention
| is the main feature of the Fire Warden
| Law, as is seen in the Importance at
| tached to posting and publishing warn
| ing notices. Thus far the state has ex-
pended, under this law, less than 5000
year, including the one-third of coun-
| ty expenses which it pays; and the ex-
pense of the thirty odd counties affected
by the law has averaged less than 800
| a year.
| Reports from fire 'wardens made to the
| Chief Fire Warden, of forest fires in
| 1898, show that there were 81 such fires
and which burned over 2, $50 acres, much
! of which was light timber or cut-over
lands. Total damage reported, 5000,
| which seems very small, and is accounted
! for in part by some of the damaged tim
Der being cut the succeeding winter Sew
| enty-eight per cent of the whole number
| of fires reported were extinguished or
| controlled by fire wardens or their help
| ers. A man in Todd county was made
| to pay fine of 500 and costs for care
| lessly causing a fire which spread half
a mile into a neighbor's field, where it
| fatally burned woman and severely in
| jured a boy who tried to protect her.
| There were several other vigorous and
| effective prosecutions.
The number of acres reported as
! burned over by prairie fires was 81, 369;
damage, $l3,436. The number of such fires
caused by burning grass, straw or stub
BILE was %; by railroad locomotives IA,
| other causes 5, unknown %.
The report, which contains numerous
| illustrations of the Minnesota forests, de-
scribes some of the timber country in
| Beltrami and Cass counties which was
| visited in the month of August A par
| ticular description is given of a splendid
| pine forest on the south shore of Cass
| lake, recently made accessible by rail-
| way; also of some very fine forest on
| the north shore of Vermillion lake be-
! longing to the State University, and
which the Chief Fire Warden advocates
| being set apart as a demonstration forest
| for the use of the school of forestry
! connected with the Agricultural College
| and Experimental Station. If this were
| done, he thinks the State University of
| Minnesota would outrank all other uni
versities, except Cornell, in this country
| in the important science of forestry
! which is so rapidly coming to the front.
The Chief Fire Warden visited the Itasca
State Park and points out the need of
roads and paths therein.
1t is leading principle in forestry that
only land that is unfit for profitable
agriculture should be kept in forest
| The plan recommended by DIR. c. A
| Schenck, an able German forester, for
| utilizing waste lands in Minnesota for
| forestry purposes is printed in full. DIR.
| Schenck assumes that the land is to cost
| the state 25 cents an acre, and estimates
| that planting with pine on the large scale
| of 25, 900 acres a year (Which is less than
| is planted annually in Prussia), 5000
| plants per acre can be planted at $11 %
| per acre, to which add cost of land, 25
cents. makes $11.5O per acre. This capital
at two per cent compound interest will
amount in eighty years to $500 Mean
! time expenditures for taxes, protection
and administration per acre will increase
| at two per cent compound interest, to
| 800 which added to $500 makes S64 so,
| the cost of an acre of this forest at the
| end of eighty years He estimates that
| the product per acre on average soil
/ at the end of eighty years will be 1900
! feet, board measure, of the value of $3.50
| per thousand feet, equal to SOS per acre.
| being equal to the capital invested, ac-
! cumulated at two per cent compound in
| tereSt. Continuously after eighty years
| the forest will yield annually on %, 900
| acres a crop which can be cut of $4,000
| feet board measure per acre, or 800, O000 900
$50. 900
In proportion as people are informed in
! regard to forestry will they be disposed
/ to use precautions against the ravages of
| forest fires. With this view the Chief
Fire Warden prints in his report short,
fresh and comprehensive sketches of the
| forestry. systems of fifteen European
states, including Saxony, Prussia and
| France. which are foremost in the sci
| ence The Importance of setting apart
| a tract of prineval pine forest by the
| state as a health resort is also dis
| cuSSed.
The report concludes with the follow
ing: THE public cannot too deeply be
| impressed of the Importance of prevent
| ing forest fires. If only for the preserva-
| ton of our scenery. How they wipe out
| property-how dreadful they are to wom-
| en- and children whose humble homes are
| in woodland regions--most people can
| imagine. But ii needs one to open his
| eyes upon the miles and miles and scores
| of miles of blackened and dead forests
that have been killed by fire along our
| railroads to comprehend what it is to
destroy scenery. A living forest border
| ing a railway is beautiful. Turned into
| a dismal waste of tree skeletons by fire.
| it is horrible. and remains for years an