The log cabin Democrat., 1909-10-04


 cooperation with the state. The re port is now completed and has been submitted to the governor for his con sideration. It is hoped that the leg islature may be able to incorporate at least some of the recommendations into law in the near future.
 Florida occupies a prominent posi- tion among the timber and turpentine producing states of the country. It has, at present, greater per cent. of it's land in forest than any other state. Some of the finest stands of longleaf pine in the south are contained with in it's borders The development of the forest industries during the past few years has been phenomenal. While the agricultural development in certain parts of the state will make permanent use of immense areas of cut-over land the bulk of lands now being cut over will not be needed for agricultural purposes for many years to come. In the meantime the tim Der producing possibilities Of such lands are being destroyed by repeated fires, turpentining, and reckless lum- bering. The opportunity to organize and adopt plans of forest manage ment should not be delayed until the forest lands have all been cut over.
 Many states have temporarily de- veloped at the expense of their for est interests and have realized too late the disastrous effects of wasting their forest resources.
 The report of the Forest Service Examiner in Florida lays particular stress on the importance of strong forest policy for the state. There should be a commission of forestry to have general supervision of the forestry interests of the state and to appoint a state forester It should be the duty of the state forester, un- der the direction of the commission, to advise private owners in reference to forest management, to bring to pub lie attention the damage done by for est fires, to formulate and put into execution firewarden system to pro- tect the forests from fires, to 'encour- age more conservative systems of numbering and turpentining, to inves- tigate tax and grazing problems, and in general promote healthy interest In forest preservation in the state.
 The forest fire problem in Florida, as in other southern states, was found to be a most serious hindrance to the perpetuation of the forests. The practice of burning over the ground annually destroys all possibility of 9 young growth of pine to take the place Of the mature timber when it is cut. Moreover, fires injure the standing timber, especially where the trees have been boxed. and destroy the vegetable covering of the soil. It has been demonstrated that repeated fires decrease the value of the forest for grazing purposes.
 In order to check the annual fire evil, the report proposes forest fire law for Florida which shall make it unlawful and punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, for any indi- yidual or corporation to start fires on land not their own, The proposed law also makes every owner liable for damages resu'ting from the spread of fire from his own land to that of an other. There are many other impor- tant features in the proposed law, such as the appointment of ilrewar- dens, the use of spark arresters on locomotives and engines, and posting of fire notices.
 The report furthermore recom- mends the establishment of state for ests from tax lands and by purchase, as has alredy been done by many states in the country.
 The forests of Florida have lasted longer than in many states, perhaps because the state has been more gen erously endowed with valuable growth Tha need of forest rreserva-