Page:Handbook for Boys.djvu/180

Rh FOREST FIRES!

The great annual destruction of forests by fire is in an injury to all persons and industries. The welfare of every community is dependent upon a cheap and plentiful supply of timber, and a forest cover is the most effective means of preventing floods and maintaining a regular flow of streams used for irrigation and other useful purposes.

To prevent forest fires Congress passed the law approved May 3,1900, which—

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This law, for offenses against which officers of the FOREST SERVICE can arrest without warrant, provides as maximum punishment—

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It also provides that the money from such fines shall be paid to the school fund of the county in which the offense is committed.

THE EXERCISE OF CARE WITH SMALL FIRES IS THE BEST PEVENTIVE OF LARGE ONES. Therefore all persons are requested—


 * 1) Not to drop matches or burning tabacco where there is inflammable material.
 * 2) Not to build larger camp fires than are necessary.
 * 3) Not to build fires in leaves, rotten wood, or other places where they are likely to spread.
 * 4) In windy weather and in dangerous places, to dig holes or clear the ground to confine camp fires.
 * 5) To extinguish all fires completely before leaving them, even for a short absence
 * 6) Not to build fires against large or hollow logs, where it is difficult to extinguish them.
 * 7) Not to build fires to clear land without informing the nearest officer of the FOREST SERVICE, so that he may assist in controlling them.

This notice is posted for your benefit and the good of every resident of the region. You are requested to cooperate in preventing its removal or defacement, which acts are punishable by law.

JAMES WILSON, Secretary of Agriculture.

The above is a copy of one of a series of notices posted in forests by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, directing attention to U. S. laws on this important subject.