Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-06-03
PROPOSED LAW
For the Prevention and Extinguish
 ment of Forest Fires.

For the Prevention and Extinguish- ment of Forest Fires.
 The forest fire bill which is now be- fore the agricultural committee of the general assembly. involves a subject of interest not only 10 the supporters of forestry. but 10 all who are interested in the betterment of conditions in the rural districts of the state.
 The proposed law makes the state forester ex-officio state forest fire war den and creates the position of town fire warden. According to the bill the town fire wardens. who are appointed by the selectmen, have the privilege of dividing the town into districts, with d district fire warden ill charge of each The duties of the fire wardens are to prevent and extinguish all forest fires in their towns outside the limits of cities and boroughs. They can com mand the assistance Of any male resi- dents between the ages of IS and n and the use Of all necessary equipment. They also have the power 10 arrest without a warrant anyone taken by them in the act of violating the forest fire laws. Since the officers are only paid for time actually spent in the work. the expense win he comparative ly slight. This expense is borne one half by the town in which the fire oc- CUTS. one-fourth by the county and one fourth by the state. The bill provides that all moneys derived from fines i'm posed under the forest fire laws shall be paid 10 the state treasurer. to be kept by him as a permanent fund for the prevention and suppression of for. est fires. except that one-half of the amount so collected shall be paid to the one giving the information upon which the proceedings were instituted.
 Forester Hawes believes that the prevention of forest fires is essential as the first step toward the introduction of forestry. for naturally owners are not willing to sacrifice any present profits for greater future returns i, there is danger Of the valne being destroyed by fire.
 So great Is the danger of fire ip our American forests that insurance com panies refuse 10 insure growing timber. In Europe the system of fire protec- Altll Ih- Hssil -p Nilhl Is comparatively small loss from this cause. and this is covered by insurance. Many of our own states have well de veloped fire systems and the damage from fire has been much reduced.
 While the hardwood forests of Con necticut are not subject tO the desiruc- tive crown fires of coniferOus forest regions. they suffer severely from the repeated ground freS which ssOrch the trees. making them subject to decaysg diseases. and which not only prevenf young trees from starting. but destroy fhe ground cover Sl essential aS a fer. tilizer and for the storing of moisture. SO much of the land of the state is con siderei worthless that little attention i~ paid to fires unless buildings CT val ua hle wassl lofs are in danger. In the northeast serfipn of fbe stsie. where there gre still considerable areas of pine timt.ef. ther. i~ a healiby senii- menf on the forest fire question and muei interest is shown in fhe proposed law
 The extensive forest fires Of the pres ent spring serve t0 emphasize the need If wise legislation on this subject. Judging from fhe numerous sc7gHnts ln ff8e newspapers. it ss-rrEls a ewn~.rya- five estimate f0 say that at least sIf sss, usrth of damage hs- been done in the state this spring by ~uch fires