Chap. 416.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 526, 530, 540, 541 and 542
of the Code of Virginia, with reference to forests, and to add to said Code
three new sections to be numbered 546-a, 546-b, 546-c. {H B 181]

Approved March 22, 1920.

Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sections
five hundred and twenty-six, five hundred and thirty, five hundred and
forty, five hundred and forty-one, and five hundred and forty-two of
the Code of Virginia be amended and re-enacted, and that three
new sections, numbered five hundred and forty-six-a, five hundred and
forty-six-b, and five hundred and forty-six-c, be added to the said
Code, which sections of the Code and said new sections shall read as
follows: /-

Sec. 526. Commission may purchase lands for forest reserves;
rules and regulations; donations of lands; what reservations may be
made; duty of attorney general.—Said commission shall have the
power to purchase lands in the name of the State suitable for forest
reserves using for such purposes any surplus money not otherwise
appropriated which may be standing to the credit of the forest reserve
fund, and to make and enforce all rules and regulations governing
State reserves, the care and maintenance thereof, the preventing of
trespassing thereon, and for the conduct of its officers, agents, and
employees ; and it may accept gifts of land and money to the State for
forestry purposes, the same to be held, protected and administered by
said commission as State forest reserves, and to be used so as to
demonstrate the practical utility of timber culture and as a breeding
place for game. Such gifts must be absolute, except that mineral and
mining rights over and under land donated may be reserved by the
donors, and that the lands shall be administered as State forest re-
serves. The attorney general of the State is directed to see that all
deeds to the State lands for the purpose mentioned above are properly
executed before the gift is accepted. _

Sec. 530. What trees may be sold by commission; how sale made;
disposition of proceeds.—For the purpose of maintaining in perpetuity
the production of forest products on State forests, said commission,
upon the recommendation of the State forester, may cause to be desig-
nated and appraised such of the trees as should be cut under the
principles of scientific forest management, and may sell the same for
not less than the appraised value thereof. ‘When the appraised value
of the trees to be sold is more than one thousand dollars, said commis-

sion, before making sale thereof shall receive bids therefor, after notice
by publication once a week for four weeks in two newspapers of gen-
1920. | ACTS OF ASSEMBLY. 615

eral circulation; but said commission shall have the right to reject
any and all bids and to re-advertise for bids. The proceeds arising
from the sale of the timber and trees so sold shall be paid into the
State treasury, and shall be held as a special fund for the improvement
or protection of State forests or for the purchase of additional lands,
and shall be paid out in like manner as money appropriated for the
use of said commission.

Sec. 540. Forest wardens; their appointment, compensation and
removal; oath; powers.—Whenever the State geological commission
considers it necessary, it may apply to the governor to commission
such persons as it may designate to act as forest wardens of this State,
to enforce the forest laws, and, under the direction of the commission,
to aid in carrying out the purposes of this chapter; but they shall be
subject to removal at any time at the pleasure of the State geological
commission. Such wardens shall receive such compensation from time
to time as the State geological commission may allow them for special
services. Forest wardens thus appointed shall, before entering upon
the duties of their office, take the proper official oath before the clerk
of the court of the county in which they reside, after which they
shall, while holding sajd office, possess and exercise all the authority
and power held and exercised by constables at common law and under
the statutes of this,State, so far as arresting and prosecuting persons
for violations of any of the forest fire laws or of any of the laws or
rules or regulations enacted or made, or to be enacted or made, for
the protection of the State forestry reserves, or for the protection of
the fish and game contained therein, are concerned.

Sec. 541. Duties of forest wardens; enforcement of laws; fires.—
It shall be the duty of the forest wardens to enforce all forest laws
of this State, to protect the State forests, and to see that all rules,
regulations, and laws for the protection of the State forests are en-
forced; to report violations of the forest laws to the State forester ;
to assist in apprehending and convicting offenders, and to make an
annual report to the State forester as to forest conditions in their
immediate neighborhood. When any forest warden shall see or have
reported to him a forest fire, it shall be his duty immediately to repair
to the scene of the fire and employ such persons and means as in his
judgment seem expedient and necessary to extinguish said fire, within
the limits of such expense as he may have been authorized to incur.
He shall keep an itemized account of all expenses thus incurred and
send such account immediately to the State forester. No action for
trespass shall lie against any forest warden on account of lawful acts
done in legal performance of his duty. |

Sec. 542. Supervisors may make levies for forest protection, 1m-
provement and management; expense of fighting fires; action for.—
The board of county supervisors of the several counties of this State
are hereby authorized to levy and appropriate money for purposes of
fire protection, improvements and management; and said boards shall
have recourse under an action at law for debt against any land owner,
individual, or corporation if they shall be obliged to pay out money
for fighting fire upon the land of said owner for the amount which they
shalt have expended for such purpose.

Sec. 546-a. Premises‘of certain mills to be cleaned; punishment
for failure—Any individual, firm or corporation responsible for the
operation, in, through or near forest or brush land, of a saw-mill.
stave-mill, heading-mull, or any other mill, shall clean the premises
for at least a distance of fifty yards in all directions from any fires
maintained in or about, or in connection with the operation of said
mill, of all matter not essential to the operation of said mill, which i»
liable to take fire from any sparks emitted from said fires. Any such
person, firm or corporation, failing to clean up the premises of said
null in the manner. hereinbefore mentioned, shall be guilty of a mis-
demeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined ten dollars tor
each day or fraction thereof on which the provisions of this section
are violated. Whenever it shall be established that a forest fire
originated from a fire maintained in or about any such mill, proof of
such origin shall be prima facie evidence of failure to comply with the
provisions of this section, and the individual, firm or corporation,
from whose mill any such fire originated, shall immediately become
liable for all costs incurred in extinguishing said fire.

Sec. 546-b. How railroads may remove inflammable material from
lands adjoining right of way.-—For the purpose of providing increased
protection to forest property from fire originating along railroads, any
steam railroad company’ shall have the right, subject to the provisions
of this section, without liability for trespass, to enter upon forest
or brush lands for a distance of fifty feet from the railroad right-of-
way and to clear from:such a strip any inflammable material such as
leaves, grass, dead trees, slash and brush, but shall not remove any
valuable timber growth or other things of value without consent ot
and recompense to the owner. Not less than fifteen days pnior to
clearing such land, the railroad company shall give the owner thereot
notice of its intention, together with a transcript of this section, by
letter deposited in the United States mail to his last known address.
If the owner shall not file objections to such clearing with the State
corporation commission within ten days of the date of said notice he
shall be deemed to have given consent. Upon the filing by an owner
of such objection showing cause why such clearing should not be
done the corporation commission shall review the case and may sus-
tain the objection of the owner or permit the clearing in whole or
in part.

The corporation commission may require assistance of the State
forester in furnishing information pertinent to the carrying out ot
this section.

Nothing contained in this act shall apply to temporary steam tram
roads used for hauling logs and lumber, nor to steam railroads not
over fifty miles in length built for and operated in the main for hauling
logs and lumber. :