Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-05-11
PROBLEMS OF FIRE WARDENS
State Forester Halves in Charge
of Conference Saturday.
W nshington Official Speaks on Man,
ngcmcnt nj National Forests nnd
Secretary OIzcndnm Outlines
Work of state Association.

Fire wardens from ten of the towns III
the northwestern part of Vermont WERE
nresept Mt n conference held Saturday
afternoon at Morrill, hall called and pre-
sided over by state Forester Austin f.
IIawes who explained to the wardens
the Importance of their duties and the
best methods of performing them. Mr.
Halves held similar meetings last week
in Bellows Falls and Rutland, and will
direct one to-day at Montpelier j. q.
Peters of Washington, d. G., chief Of the
state cooperative branch Of the Bureau
OF Forestry. was the principal speaker
Saturday, delivering an interesting ad.
dress on "The Protection and Manage
ment of Rational Forests" In the course
of his remarks MIR Peters said that state
forestry work was most effective when
accomplished on non-political basis. and
that only by having it administered in
this fashion could the cooperation Of the
government be secured to the greatest
extent. He complimented Vermont upon
administering her forestry work in this
way. Roderic NJ Olzendam, secretary
of the State Forestry association, spoke
briefly concerning the aims and work OF
the association Following the exhibition
slides belonging to Mr. Halves. which
showed the damage done by forest fires
the best means of fighting such fires and
some of the splendid forestry work which
has been done in Europe. the meeting
adjourned. number of the wardens visit
ing the state nursery before returning
! home.
| After calling the meeting to order Mr..
| 1,,,. limo
the compensation of fire wardens and men
whom they employ to help fight fires. He
emphasized The advisability of securing
the cooperation of all citizens in giving
warning of any fire which might be seen
and also Of the wisdom of having sup
ply of tools, such as shovels and hoes,
distributed at various convenient points
in a town where thcy could be obtained
in an emergency. The speaker also told
of the help which would be given the
fire Wardens this Year by the National
Guard. In cases where it is necessary to
keep "A large force of men fighting 4
forest FIRE for more than a day, the
cooks Of the nearest National Guard com
pany will be detailed by their officers t.
proceed to the scene of the fire and sup
ply the men fighting it with food for as
long a period of time as is necessary II
is thought that this will prove Of grea
assistance to fire wardens, as it vii
enable them to keep a force of men con
tinually at work fighting the fire. Th'
state has been divided into districts
which have been assigned to the variou
National Guard companies for this pur
pose. Mr. Halves also distributed to tn
fire wardens the usual signs. warnin'
against the dangers of forest fires and Civ
l ing instructions as to how to act whel
one is discovered.
: In his address concerning the "Protec
ton and Management of National For
4 ests." Mr. Peters stated that there are 16
national forests, covering an area of Ia
million acres. situated chiefly in the ives
!, ern States, although the government ha
recently purchased areas in the Whit
| Mountains and in the southern Appala
chan range. The principal income de
? rived from these forest lands Is from tn
sale of timber cut from them. whicl
7 amounts to approximately one million dol
lars annually, and the revenue derives
from their use for forage purposes. TIL
y government approprates about five mil
lion dollars annually for forestry pur
n poses. The speaker thought that whe
= forestry department would be nearly self
e supporting.
Mr.. Peters then told Of the means EN-
Il ploYed to protect the forests from tn
y ravages of fires. and something of tn
. work of the forest rangers, on whom tn
+ responsibility for this protection rests,
The forest areas are divided into dis
4 tricts under the charge of certain ranger:
inn lictr ic ri tior
r which are in communication with eac
y other by means of telephones. A suppl
g of fire fighting tools is kept at all of tn
;, stations and every detail of the fire fight
: ing work is provided for.
n The cooperation of the governmer
forestry department with the forcstr
S services of the different States wa
= also dwelt upon. The sum of 800. ~
is spent each year in this work, I'll
s government spending an amount in eac
II state equal to the amount. up to Gel
y tain limit, which is spent by the Stat
a on forestry work. Vermont receive
10 $4,000 annually for this purpose and
r is used to pay the salaries Of feder:
lie lookouts on Camers Hump and B,rl
r. mountain, who are constantly on II
& watch for forest fires and who also kee
to in order the mountain trails, In clio
ar ing. Mr.. Peters said that the best r.
s. suits in forestry work We're secured /
he a proper amount of preparedness ar
D cooperation on the part Of ALL T
spoke Of the importance of the positit
of fire warden and emphasized the ia
that while the forest must be protects
from fires whenever possible, the r
. SponSbility for their control rests wi
''' the Wardens.
- The secretary of the state Forest
10 association. ROderic NJ OZcndam on