The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-06-03
FOREST FIRE
RESPONSIBILITY
FEDERAL FOREST FIRE LAW is
UPHELD BY SUPREME COURT
RESPONSIBLE FIXE D
FOR THOSE ACCOUNTABLE
FOR FIRES.

The Supreme Court has just de-
cided that carelesSness with fire need
not be confined to Federal forest
lands in order to constitute a crimi-
nal offense under Section 53 of the
United State Criminal Code. Leav-
ing fire near Federal forest with
out totally extinguishing it even
though the fire is started on private
land is criminal offense in the eyes
of the Court, and punishable by fine
or imprisonment if national forest
timberland is endangered. The de-
cision is especially important to
national forest protection, according
to the Forest Service of the United
States Department of Agriculture,
for their many thousands of miles
of boundary are subject to the grave
danger of fires that originate on adj
jacent private lands and may sweep
into national forest land.
"This decision, coming at the
very beginning of our main forest
fire season, will be powerful fac
tor in preventing carelessness with
fire on private lands within and near
national forests" according to e.
E. Carter, acting forester of the For
est Service. "The careless camper
or owner can no longer plead private
ownership as an excuse for leaving
live fire which escapes into Govern
ment timber. This, combined with
the fact that the law applies equally
clearly and forcefully to fires aban-
doned on Government land. gives
a strong weapon for combating this
phase of the fire problem.
'The Forest Service cooperates in
fire protection with many private
owners whose lands adjoin or inter-
mingle with national forest land,
but there are many other owners
and many visitors who are careless
with fire and endanger public pro-
perty," said Mr.. Carter. ''The For
est Service welcomes visitors to the
national forests for recreational and
other purposes, but it cannot afford
to be lenient with those who endan-
ger these vast public properties, and
is compelled in their defense to
strict enforcement of the forest fire
statutes. All campers and travellers
within the national forests are
warned to drown their camp fires
with water, to dispose of matches
and smoking materials safely, and
to observe the mo smoking" regu-
lations where they are in effect.
Likewise it warns local farmers and
settlers to burn brush and other
debris only in wet weather and in
strict accordance with State and
Federal laws, remembering that they
are responsible for the escape of any
such fires on to Federal forest land"
In the case of the United States
VS.. d. ]. Afford, just decided by the
Supreme Court, Afford had been in
dicted for building a fire on land
adjacent to the Florida National
Forest and not extinguishing the
fire before leaving it, as a result of
which national forest lands were
INJURED to on the ground that the
Federal statute did not cover leav-
ing a fire at any place except on
Government land. The District
Court for the Southern District of
Florida sustained the demurrer and
the case was brought up to the Su-
preme Court.
The statute involved reads in
part: whoever shall build fire in
or near any forest, timber, or. other
lnuamaDle material upon the pubic
domain shall, before leaving
said fire, totally extinguish the same !;
and whoever shall fail to do so shall
be fined not more than one thousand
dollars, or imprisoned not more than
one year, or both"
In handing down the opinion of
the Supreme Court, Justice oliver
Wendell Holmes said: ''The purpose
of the Act is to prevent forest fires
which have been one of the great
economic misfortunes of the country.
The danger depends upon the near
ness of the fire; not upon the own
ership of the land where it is built
1.-THE statute is constitutional.
Congress may prohibit the doing of
acts upon privately owned lands that
imperil the publicly owned forests
---T Taken in connection with the
danger to be prevented it lays down
a plain enough rule of conduct for
anyone who seeks to obey the law"
The Forest service points out that
90 per cent of the forest fires which
annually burn over vast areas of
p11h1io ond Y,v-iuofa lands in tbo TIni