The United States Forest Service, the State Forester, the farm bureaus and the Division of Forestry of the University of California have all contributed largely to the fire-protection campaign. Much has been accomplished, but the present system is entirely inadequate for the protection of forests outside the national forests and national parks. It is reported from the State Forester's office that one forest fire in 1918, in Humboldt County, destroyed timber and other property valued at about a million dollars. The State Redwood Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains is frequently threatened. Why can we not all unite in securing thoroughgoing fire protection by the state?

ONE STORM CAUSES TWO HUNDRED FIRES

Lightning started about 200 forest fires between Lake Tahoe and the Oregon line in one storm, on June 28, 1918. The fires were particularly serious in the Klamath region.

STATE FOREST NURSERY

At the 1917 session of the legislature the State Forester was authorized to expend $14,000 for the establishment of a forest nursery. But the law stipulated that the nursery must be located on state land or on land donated for the purpose. As no suitable area was found which met the provisions of the law, the establishment of the nursery was postponed. This year the State Forester will make an effort to secure from the legislature authorization and funds to buy or rent a suitable site. The plan is that the nursery will furnish stock for planting along the state highways, on school grounds and in small parks in rural communities.

INFORMATION Regarding WOOD AND ITS USES

The State Forester has established a wood-utilization service, to give information regarding the properties, uses, markets and available supplies of wood products. Inquiries should be addressed to the State Forester, Sacramento.

CALIFORNIA White and Sugar PINE Manufacturers' AssociATION Early in the war the California White and Sugar Pine Manufacturers' Association pledged its resources to the Government without reservation. About eighty per cent of the pine cut in 1918 in California has gone into uses recognized as war-time essentials by the Government, and the industry has therefore been given preference in cars, materials of construction and labor. In 1918 the association provided instruction in first aid and sanitation at logging-camps and sawmills. Some of the pine operators have pooled their resources for the purpose of advertising California pine in eastern markets.

CALIFORNIA REDWOOD ASSOCIATION

There are twenty-two sawmill operators now cutting the coast redwood. The California Redwood Association includes sixteen of these operators. The association is conducting a national educational campaign regarding the properties and uses of redwood. Its engineering department has been active in developing the use of redwood for wood-block flooring. A Redwood Emergency Bureau was organized to assist the Government in its war program.

WAR AND THE FOREST SERVICE

War caused many changes in the United States Forest Service. Nonessential work was suspended. Many projects were postponed until the return of normal times. Short-cut methods have been adopted. Men eligible for military duty were replaced by women or by men not eligible for such service. Much direct help has been given to the various war boards and to the War Department itself.

TAHOE-YOSEMITE TRAIL

Among the Forest Service projects postponed because of the war is the completion of the Tahoe-Yosemite Trail. It is but one of the many things on which no work was done in 1918.

FORESTRY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

One hundred per cent of the juniors, seniors and alumni of the Division of Forestry of the University of California joined the colors, and most of the men are still in France. Instruction in professional forestry was therefore almost discontinued in 1918, but work in the elements of forestry for non-professional students was given as usual. In the fall of 1918 the forestry faculty gave a course in military mapping to over two hundred men of the Students' Army Training Corps. The normal work of the forest school will be resumed in August, 1919.

MEMORIAL TREES FOR SAILORS AND SOLDIERS

Memorial trees for sailors and soldiers who gave their lives in the struggle to overthrow autocracy are called the finest tribute that can be paid those heroes in hundreds of letters to the American Forestry Association in Washington. The association is urging the proper setting of memorial trees for whatever memorial may be adopted by the various municipalities. An “Avenue of the Allies," lined with trees in honor of the allied nations, is one suggestion. Another plan being worked out is for the planting of memorial trees along the transcontinental motor highways by the various counties through which such highways pass. The Lincoln Highway Association has taken up this plan.

MALE MOUNTAIN LION TWO-THIRDS GROWN-EIGHT MONTHS OLD
One of three cubs captured in May, 1918, and raised as pets
Floor of Yosemite Valley, end of December, 1918

Photo by C. T. Gutleben

BOOK REVIEWS

ELIZABETH M. BADÈ, Acting Editor

STEEP All who have found John Muir's interpretation of the mounTRAILS* tains to be the most beautiful in literature will rejoice in this new collection of papers and letters which Professor Badè has

so sympathetically compiled.

Eventually it will be seen that Muir's greatest service was that of recognizing and revealing God as the Infinite Personality who is working in and through nature. Never was he confused by the outward appearance, or by the evolutionary process, for his attitude of mind was that in which he perceived the Creator manifesting Himself in all that is true and beautiful. This insight illumined Muir's heart, and it fills his message with power and life. Personality in God and man; individuality in bird, and tree, and flower, each created for itself but interrelated with all life.

All great souls are in a measure solitary, for their companionship is with the invisible. With the unawakened spirit they may have little true converse. Theirs is an inner world of reality, and they deal with causes rather than with effects. John Muir was most at home when alone in the mountains, for there he found a freedom of spirit that rose above the bondage of city-bound humanity. In Steep Trails there are many of these trips into the open paradise of our western country. Up glacier-polished Tenaya Cañon, Muir made so difficult a trip that few have been able to follow him. For a hundred miles around the flowerstrewn slopes of mighty Shasta he strolled alone in joyous content. Early and late in the season he forced his way through storm and night to its distant summit, finding in each new experience a fresh revelation of Divine love and purpose.

In all the annals of mountaineering one may hardly find a more thrilling night upon a mountain than was the one which Muir spent upon Mt. Shasta. In order to complete barometric observations he remained on its summit with a companion until overtaken by a blinding storm. Perilous in the extreme was their unseen route along a dangerous ridge, while beyond their progress was halted by the force of the wind and the uncertain darkness. Knowing no fear, Muir would have continued down the icy slope, but, respecting the wish of his companion, he retraced his steps to the fumaroles near the summit, where they spent the night. Unable to stand against the storm, they were compelled to lie in the boiling mud and fight for their lives amid its poisonous gases.

*Steep Trails. By JOHN MUIR. Edited by WILLIAM FREDERIC BADÈ. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York. 1918. Pages, xi + 390. Illustrated. Price, $3.00. Large paper edition, $5.00.