The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-13
FoREsTRYI IN CALIFORNIA.
A State Which Appreciates the Value
 of It's Forests,

of It's Forests.
 California has over 2S.00O, ,000 acres.
 or over one-flfth of it's total area, un-
 der forest cover Much of this land
 Is finely timbered, and. with forest
 management will be increasingly
 valuable for the wood which 1t can
 supply But i7 California the forests
 have another use. which, as Is well
 understood in that State. is even more
 important than the production of tim l ber-to conserve the water supply. The wonderful agricultural develop
 ment which irrigation has made possi-
 ble Is perhaps. the largest fact fin Cal ifornia's recent economical history. Because of the need of water and ..-e fear of floods public sentiment in fa- vor of forest protection in California
 has always been well in advance of that in other States, as was conspio- uously illustrated after President Cleveland, in 1897, proclaimed the IS Federal Reserves created at the close
 of his administration. Everywhere else in the West the opposition arous- ed was so strong that the proelama- ton was soon afterward temporarily suspended; but a special exception was made in the case of California where public opinion was from the first strongly in favor of the reserves
 Something less than one+third of the entire wooded area of the State Is no1S embraced in the Federal forest re- serves. That the remaining 10000, 000 acres of its forests may be made to serve the public interest in the full- est extent possible, the State has so- licited and secured the cooperation fof the Bureau of Forestry in working out a proper forest policy for It. Mem bers of the Bureau have. since July, 1903, examined over 21.0o0.000 acres of forest and brush lands. and by the end of the year the entire State will have been covered. The different types of land-as timberland, chapar- ral, pasture and agricultural land. barrens. cut-over land, and burned land will be mapped and the stand o9 timber in each location will be rough ly estimated. Forest reserves may be increased In number or size, if land most suitable for that purpose is found.
 But the subject of paramount impor- tance is the prevention and control of fires. A good opportunity for exper- iment along this line was afforded thei Bureau by cooperation with the pri- vate owner of an s0,000-acre tract, who had previously introduced a crude flre-protection system. A com prehensive plan was outlined and it's execution begun. There has not been a time for thorough trial, but its in- stallatlon has had an excellent effect. The patrolling of the tract mas been greatly improved, and the neighbors now voluntarily report all fires wheth- CT on or off the tract. There has not been a serious fire on that tract this season. This splendid showing Is an impressive object lesson. It proves the efficiency of intelligent care and of fighting fires at the start. Tine pres- ent fire laws of the State are incom- plete and inadequate One result of the work of the Bureau will be thP of fire law which, is adopted. will be the best ever passed by any State.
 The most encouraging fact in forest management Is the growing determini- nation of large timberland owners to employ private foresters to haiidle their holdings. This win ensure a method of