Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-01-10

SOI.
Carelessness Causes Fires
Howard b. Morse of Bangor, in an
address at the annual meeting Of
the Maine Forestry Association here
Tuesday declared that too little at
tention is given to experimenting the
careless and malicious, who today
set the fires in our forests, and spec
ial effort should be made to run to
earth such offenders and justice
melted out to them.
1T is my personal belief and of
many other well informed woods
men that the largest percentage of
fires are caused by carelessness alone
very, few can be traced to mali
ciousncss Of intention" continued
Mr.. Morse.
"A step should be made to enact
into law provision allowing the
governor to either prohibit men
from entering the woods during very
dangerous periods or the placing of
special patrolmen in logging opera
lions at the expense OF the opera
tors who rather than withdraw pre-
fer to operate with this added
expense.
''Strict enforcement of our present
forestry district law and necessary
additions to improve it.
state appropriation in addition
to money received from district
taxes to make our forests an insur-
able risk by protecting them from
raNages of fire and insect pests.
'All year-round chief wardens.
deputy Wardens or forest rangers
of better class and on payroll during
dangerous periods.
Additions to look-ou system in
shape of hydroplanes
Wage clause changed to allow
commissioner or governor to suit it
to times.
place forest fire fighting outside
the Forestry District under commits
siOncr with help from the state to
the towns under dangerous condi-
tons.
Law to enable governor to close
woods during any special dangerous
times with perhaps a clause allow
ing necessary operations under spec
ial patrolling done by state at the
expense of the operators.
Must Organize Protection
"The opportunity for loss from i'm
proper organization and supervision
of fire protection work. is too great
to be endured because of the loss of
the virgin forests" declared i. +.
Carter, former resident of Maine
but now Assistant Forester with the
United States Forest Service of
Washington, D. G. Mr. Carter de-
clarcd that the days of numbering
virgin pine in the south are lost, that
the northern lumber states are i'm
porting at the present time and that
in only the three great states on the
Pacific coast arc the forests holding
their own.
Tho timber famine Of which YOU
you have heard so much is with US
at the present time" stated the
speaker, giving as one of his rca-
sons for this statement that the price
of lumber has not dropped from the
high peak to conjunction with the
other commodities showing that the
demand is too great to be suppl ed.
Thirty of the ~ important forestry
states in the Union have protection
ard any protection worthy of the
name must lie handled. at least. by
counties. Whether any unit is large
enough to develop adequate pro-
lection was doubted because fire is
no rcspector of lines.
1t is essential that the state as
sumo charge of the fire protection
in cities and towns outside the for
estry district if the protection tax
is 10 he efficient. In the eight
southwestern counties in Maine on
one quarter Of the acreage is i'm
plovCd land.
II know that good big part of the
lard IS not productive because of
forest fires" declared Mr. Carter.
The question is whether this state
can continue 10 endure the economic
waste occasioncd by the fire 1t is
the proper function of the State to
organize fire protection to prevent
money from going to waste"
Ccn Contro! Bud Worm
Colonel Roy +. Marston of Skow-
hogan opened the discussion of the
Control Of the Spruce Bud Worm. as
the speaker. +. &. Crai"head of OF
taWa. canada. was forced to cancel
his cn%arcment because of sickness.
Colonel Marston stated that he first
observed the worm in the spring OF
1916, stating that il worked down
from Canada. He declared that its
rava%CS We're not necessarily fatal
to the tree if other PARISHES were
killed and tho work of salvage car
ricd ont thoroughly. lie estimated
that 100000, 600 feet of timber had
been lost to the state by the ravaccs
of Wprrn, stating that in some town
ships, at least 90 per cent of the trees
had been destroyed.
IT. p. picr&on. state entomolocist,
declared that tho worm was active
at the present time. declaring that
the department had stopped his
rava2cs by clean cutting in districts
where tho worm was discovered. The
worm only operates in areas where
there is sunlight and the worm works
upward. He thought that tho dam
age done by this pest could be ar
rested hy prop2r work.
Karl w. Woodward. professor Of
Forestry at New Hampshire State
College, showed the various values
of food for fuel purposes and discus
scd some OF the difficulties that he
had experienced in endeavoring to
cooperate with the farmers in the
of their woodlots. Professor
Woodward declared that few people
that Hickory and white
oak give almost as much heat as coal
and cnlirCned his talk with several
stories of his personal experiences.
Forests Aid State
'"The effect of Forestry on our in
dustrics is very Important" declar-
cd J. Q. Gulnac, president Of the
Maine State Chamber of Commerce,
"as three quarters of theAentire area
of the State is in forest lands and
produces raw material for the mills
M1inn rTtoy, tho nffnpf
water power is another angle and
how it effects all the mills in the
State.
onniol az hn To-