Government Forest Work 33 
tection of all forest lands, including cut-over lands, 
against fire, with a division of the cost of maintaining 
protection between the public and timberland owners. 
COOPERATION WITH STATES 
CLARKE-McNARY LAW 
Activities in State cooperation have been extended 
materially through the Clarke-McNary law of June 7, 
1924. This aet authorizes annual appropriations of 
$2,500,000 for the prevention and suppression of 
forest fires, $100,000 for the distribution of forest 
planting stock to the owners of farms and $100,000 
for assistance to farmers in managing their forest lands. 
The appropriations for the year July 1, 1926, to June 30, 
1927, are: $710,000, $75,000, and $50,000, respectively. 
FIRE CONTROL 
Forest fires in the United States have burned over 
annually during the 10 years from 1916 to 1925 an 
average of 11,865,000 acres and have caused damage 
averaging $20,944,000 a year. During this period the 
number of forest fires averaged 51,000 a year. 
Through cooperation of the Federal Government 
with the States under the provisions of the Clarke- 
McNary law, which in the provisions covering such 
work, supersedes the Weeks law of 1911, substantial 
progress has been made in bringing about protection 
against forest fire. The law authorizes the Secretary 
of Agriculture to enter into cooperative agreements 
with States which provide by law for a system of forest- 
fire control and are prepared to spend each year at 
least as much as the Federal Government confributes 
toward maintaining the system. 
In 1911, the first year of cooperation under the Weeks 
law, 11 States entered into agreements to protect a 
total of 7,000,000 acres of forest land, at a total cost 
of $350,000, of which the Federal Government con- 
tributed about $39,000. In 1925 the 30 States co- 
operating, under the Clarke-Mc¢Nary law, protected 
approximately 182,000,000 acres of forest land at a