REVIEWS 



Report of the Director of Forestry for the Year 1916. By R. H. 

 Campbell. (Part VI, Annual Report, Department of the Interior.) 

 Department of the Interior. Ottawa, Canada. 1917. Pp. 95. 



In spite of the war, which curtailed the force by enlistments (some 

 55 employes having enlisted) and made retrenchments in expenditures 

 desirable, the appropriation for the forest service was hardly curtailed 

 and amounted to $750,000, most of which was expended during the 

 year. 



We note that 60 per cent of the expenditure is spent on forest 

 reserves, including planting ; over 25 per cent on fire ranging ; overhead 

 charges amounted to between 7 and 8 per cent ; and another 8 per cent 

 goes to the forest products laboratories; the balance for collecting 

 statistics and making surveys. The working force on the forest reserves 

 consisted of four district inspectors, 9 supervisors in charge of reserves, 

 13 forest assistants, 79 forest rangers, and 17 office staff, or a total of 

 122, which is increased during the fire season by 189 temporary rangers. 



When it is considered that this force is attempting to protect and 

 manage around 30 million acres, the magnitude of the task, and, indeed, 

 the impossibility of encompassing much, is apparent. As a matter of 

 fact, making accessible and preparing these national forests for manage- 

 ment is still the main task. A summary of the improvement work 

 shows construction of ranger houses and cabins, stables and other build- 

 ings to have consimied $40,000; roads, trails and bridges, around $50,000; 

 telephone lines, lookout towers, etc., $20,000. It may be of interest 

 to note that roads and trails can be constructed within $60 per mile; 

 telephone lines, within $70; and lookout towers within $150. 



Fires are still the bane of Canada in general and, in spite of better 

 protection, of the national forests. Although the records are incom- 

 plete, at least some two million acres are reported as burned during the 

 year, one-half being chargeable against the Hudson Bay railroad con- 

 struction, a government institution ! Otherwise, railroads as a cause of 

 fires have been greatly reduced, for, while in the collected data, unknown 

 causes are accredited with 36 per cent (leaving out fractions) of the 

 number of fires, campers and travelers with 28 per cent, settlers with 

 17 per cent, the railroads are responsible for only a little over 8 per cent. 

 This is due to the organization perfected by the Railway Commission 



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