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Show Compulsory Defense For Natl. Forests Under authority from the secretary secre-tary of agriculture, the United States Forest service has designated the national na-tional forests of the California district dis-trict as areas of fire hazard, and has issued orders that all camping parties par-ties entering the government forests must carry at least one shovel and one axe per automobile or per pack outfit, suck equipment to be of a size and character suitable for fire fighting fight-ing purposes. This order is effective beginning June 15, 1927, and will continue until further notice. The person in charge of a camping or pack outfit party will be held responsible re-sponsible under federal laws for any violation of the order. The purpose of this new regulation is to further safeguard the 19,000,-000 19,000,-000 acres of national forests from uamage ana destruction resulting from unextinguished camp fires. Many fires, reported to forest officers offi-cers by motorists and campers, could be readily extinguished before they become of large size if the people discovering them were equipped wdth i tools for fire fighting. One objective objec-tive of the new order is to impress national forest visitors with their personal responsibility to not only j extinguish their own fires but also ' any fires that they find and can control. con-trol. If people will do this, there is less likelihood of their being called upon to fight large fires. No experienced woodsman or camper would ever think of going op a camping trip into the mountains without a good shovel and axe. To properly make camp and secure materials ma-terials with which to build a fire, one must have an axe, and no camp fire can be effectively extinguished, even after it has been drowned with water, without being well covered with shovelsful of earth. A shovel is also ; absolutely necessary for camp sani-i sani-i tation and for the disposal of gar-j gar-j bage and refuse that can not be burned. . . |