or other depository, for the payment of such check, draft, or or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or both Approved May 10, 1923. [No. 143.] AN ACT to provide for the preservation of the forests of this state and for the prevention and suppression of forest and prairie fires, and to create the office of chief fire warden. The People of the State of Michigan enact: fires. SECTION 1. The director of conservation shall have charge Prevention, of the prevention and suppression of forest fires as hereinafter etc., of forest provided and shall appoint, subject to the approval of the conservation commission, a chief fire warden who shall have direct supervision over the game, fish and forest wardens hereinafter provided for. wardens. office. SEC. 2. The director of conservation shall divide the Fire, etc., counties of the state into districts of suitable and convenient size as he may deem advisable and appoint for each of such districts a deputy game, fish and forest warden and such other assistant fire wardens as he may deem necessary. Such Term of deputy game, fish and forest wardens and assistant fire wardens shall hold their office during the pleasure of the director of conservation and shall be subject to removal by him. It Duties. shall be the duty of such deputy game, fish and forest fire wardens to familiarize themselves by personal investigation with the locality and the condition of the cut-over lands, prairie lands and other districts in their respective counties where fires are most likely to start and spread and to take such precautions as they shall deem reasonable and proper to prevent the starting or spreading of fires in such districts and in so doing may enter upon lands and remove or destroy brush, rubbish and other dangerous combustible material wherever necessary. It shall be the duty of such deputy game, To give fish and forest wardens and assistant fire wardens to caution notice of all sportsmen, settlers and others of the danger of fires in the woods, to extinguish all fires left burning by anyone if within their power, and to give notice to any and all parties interested, when possible, of fires raging and beyond their control, to the end that the same may be controlled and extinguished. In case of fire, such deputy game, fish and forest May employ wardens and assistant fire wardens shall have the power to assistance. employ assistance in emergencies to extinguish or control fires. Director to have charge. Deputies to make reports; what to show. fires and it shall be the duty of said deputy game, fish and forest wardens, whenever possible, to go to the place of fire, take personal charge of and direct all efforts to extinguish and control same. SEC. 3. The director of conservation shall have general charge of all the deputy game, fish and forest wardens and assistant fire wardens herein before provided for. Said deputy game, fish and forest wardens shall make annual reports to the director of conservation and such other written and verbal reports as he may require, which annual reports shall show in detail each fire occurring in such district, stating the cause of the same, the method used to control or extinguish such fire, amount of property destroyed and the number of lives lost and such other facts as the director of conservation may require. The director of conservation shall have authority to mass such fire warden force as may be available at any special point to suppress fires and he shall co-operate with any police or military force of the United States government which may To investigate be detailed to guard the national domain from fire. He shall damages. investigate, or cause to be investigated, by the said deputy game, fish and forest wardens, the damages done from time to time by forest fires, and the causes of such fires, and include the same in the annual report to be made by him to the governor. May mass force. Warning placards, what to contain. Deputy war SEC. 4. The director of conservation shall provide and officially sign an abstract of the penal laws of this act, with such rules and regulations in accord therewith as he may deem necessary, and on or before the first day of March of each year he shall forward as many copies as he considers needful to the deputy game, fish and forest wardens in the state and to all railroad companies, and it shall be the duty of said deputy game, fish and forest wardens to post up such abstract as warning placards in conspicuous places in their respective districts. SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of each deputy game, fish and dens, duty of. forest warden to take precaution to prevent the setting of forest fires, and when his district is suffering or threatened with fire, to go to the place of danger to control such fires, and each deputy game, fish and forest warden and assistant fire wardens shall have authority to call to his assistance in emergencies any able bodied male person over eighteen years of age who shall be paid for his services at the rate of two dollars per day and this same rate for parts of days, and if such person refuses, without reasonable justification or excuse, to assist, or if any fire warden refuses or neglects to perform the duties assigned him in this act, such officer or person shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars or imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed three months. Idem. SEC. 6. The director of conservation, the chief fire warden and the deputy game, fish and forest wardens and assistant causes of wardens. fire wardens created by this act shall have authority to enforce the provisions of this act and it shall be the duty of said deputy fire wardens to co-operate with the fire warden of any adjoining district and in the absence of such fire warden to direct the work of control and extinguishment of forest fires in such district, and to arrest, without warrant, every May arrest person found violating any provisions of this act and to forth- offenders. with take the offender before a magistrate and make complaint against such person. It shall further be the duty of each of said deputy game, fish and forest wardens to look up the evidence relative to all fires the cause of which is unknown, and actively endeavor to secure the conviction of all persons violating the provisions of this act. The forest fire Inquiries into wardens provided for in this act shall inquire into the cause fires. of each forest fire within their respective districts, and report the same verbally or in writing to the chief fire warden, as he may request, and shall also inform him of conditions existing in their several districts believed by them to be dangerous, and also report such other facts as the chief fire warden may require. The director of conservation may transfer to any May transfer other district than the one for which he is appointed for a specified time, any deputy game, fish and forest warden, to aid in the enforcement of the laws for the protection of game and fish and in the prevention and suppression of forest fires. SEC. 7. Any person who wilfully, negligently or carelessly Misdemeanor, sets on fire, or causes to be set on fire, any woods, grass lands what deemed. or other combustible material, whether or not on his own lands, by means whereof the property of another is injured or endangered, or any person who wilfully, negligently or carelessly suffers any fire set by himself to damage the property of another, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not less than twenty-five dollars nor ex- Penalty. ceeding one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding three months. Any person who Penalty for maliciously sets on fire, or causes to be set on fire, any woods, setting fire. grass lands or other combustible material whereby the property of another is destroyed or life is endangered, shall be punished with a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor over five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in the state prison for a term of not over ten years, or both such fine and imprisonment. maliciously etc., on SEC. 8. Any person who shall kindle a fire on or danger- Kindling fire, ously near to forest or grass lands, and leave it unquenched, forest, etc., or shall be a party thereto, and every person who shall use lands. other than incombustible wads for firearms, or who shall carry a naked torch, fire brand, or other exposed light in or dangerously near to forest land, causing risk of accidental fire, shall be punished by a fine not less than twenty-five dol- Penalty. lars nor exceeding one hundred dollars or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding three months. placards, SEC. 9. Every person who shall wilfully deface, destroy or Destroying remove any warning placard posted under the requirements penalty for. Railroads to use spark arresters on engines, etc. Engineers, etc., to report fires. Placards posted at railroad stations. Penalty for violation. Proviso. Threshing machines to have spark arresters. of this act shall be liable to a fine not less than ten dollars nor exceeding one hundred dollars for each offense, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding three months. SEC. 10. It shall be the duty of all railroad companies operating any railroad within this state, to use efficient spark arresters on all their engines and to keep their right of way to the width of fifty feet on each side of the center of the main track cleared of all combustible material and safely dispose of the same within said limits of their right of way between the fifteenth day of April and the first day of December. No railroad company shall permit its employes to leave a deposit of fire or live coals or hot ashes in the immediate vicinity of woodlands or lands liable to be overrun by fires, and where engineers, conductors or trainmen discover that fences or other materials along the right of way or woodland adjacent to the railroad are burning or in danger from fire, they shall report the same promptly at the next telegraph station at which an operator is on duty. In season of drought, railroad companies shall give particular instruction to their employes for the prevention and prompt extinguishment of fires, and they shall cause warning placards furnished by the director of conservation to be posted at their stations in the vicinity of forest and grass lands, and where a fire occurs along the line of their road, they shall concentrate such help and adopt such measures as shall be available to effectively extinguish it. Any railroad company wilfully violating the requirements of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for each such offense, and railroad employes wilfully violating the requirements of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and be punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than fifty dollars, and in default of the payment of such fine and costs of prosecution, shall be committed to the county jail for a period not exceeding ninety days. But this section shall not be construed to prohibit or prevent any railroad company from piling or keeping upon the right of way, cross ties or other material necessary in the operation or maintenance of such railroad: Provided, That for the purpose of this act the term "railroad company" shall include any and all railroad companies, logging road companies or any and all companies which operate a steam locomotive at any time or place outside of the limits of incorporated cities and villages. SEC. 11. It shall be the duty of each and every owner of threshing or other portable steam engines to have efficient spark arresters on their engines at all times when in use, and no person in charge of any threshing engine shall deposit live coals or hot ashes from his engine in any place without putting them out or covering them with at least three inches of earth before leaving them. All persons violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than fifty dollars. SEC. 12. Nothing in this act shall be construed as affecting any right of action for damages. SEC. 13. Woodland territory within the terms of this act shall be construed to mean forest and brush land. make annual SEC. 14. The director of conservation shall annually on Director to or before the first day of January, make a written report to report; what the governor, together with an itemized account of the ex- to contain. penses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this act, which report shall include such statistics and facts as he has obtained from the chief fire warden and from the several fire wardens of the state, and from other sources, together with his suggestions relative to the preservation of the forests of the state and the prevention and extinguishment of forest fires. SEC. 15. Act number two hundred forty-nine of the public Act repealed. acts of nineteen hundred three, as amended, is hereby repealed. Approved May 10, 1923. [No. 144.] AN ACT to amend section five of act number two hundred seventy-one of the public acts of nineteen hundred thirteen, entitled "An act to create the Michigan historical commission, to provide for the appointment of members of such commission, to fix their terms of office, prescribe their powers and duties, make an appropriation to carry out the provisions of this act, and repeal all acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith," being section ten thousand seven hundred thirty-one of the compiled laws of nineteen hundred fifteen. The People of the State of Michigan enact: SECTION 1. Section five of act number two hundred sev- Section enty-one of the public acts of nineteen hundred thirteen, amended. entitled "An act to create the Michigan historical commission, to provide for the appointment of members of such commission, to fix their terms of office, prescribe their powers and duties, make an appropriation to carry out the provisions of this act, and repeal all acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith," being section ten thousand seven hundred thirty-one of the compiled laws of nineteen hundred fifteen, is hereby amended to read as follows: SEC. 5. The said commission shall have power, and it is Historical hereby made the duty of all public officials to assist in the collection of. records, etc., |