REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FOREST FIRES, CANA- 

 DIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



Your Committee on Forest Fire Laws, having collected with 

 the aid of the Secretary all the existing forest fire legislation in 

 Canada and most of the United States, as well as literature on 

 the same, and having received expressions from competent per- 

 sons as to the working of these laws and suggestions as to their 

 improvements, begs to report as follows — 



A. Existing Legisi.ation. 



We find that while every province and the Dominion has legis- 

 lation to protect forests from fire, the laws vary greatly in detail 

 and their efficiency probably varies as much. Briefly reviewing 

 and comparing these laws we may make the following statements : 



Nova Scotia. The law is designed primarily to protect private 

 forest property which comprises the bulk of the forest area. It 

 provides efficient machinery with appointed wardens in each 

 county of the province to which it applies. It is based on the 

 municipal organization, and secures the expense of the service in 

 part by a pro rata assessment on the properties, except the salaries 

 of chief rangers and of the provincial chief ranger, which are 

 paid from the provincial treasury. This is probably the most 

 efficient fire protection so far designed in Canada, fitting the con- 

 ditions of the province, and needing only to be applied generally 

 throughout the province and further to be elaborated. 



Netv Brunszvick. This law seems to make no distinction be- 

 tween private and public forest, although the latter comprises the 

 larger part of the forest area. The machinery is indefinitely left 

 to be provided by the Surveyor General, the law authorizing the 

 employment of special officers, but limiting the expense to be 

 paid for such service from the provincial' treasury to $2,000. 



Quebec. The law is primarily designed to protect the Crown 

 domain. The declaration of certain territory as "fire district" 

 and the organization of a service is left to the discretion of the 

 Minister of Lands and Forests, except that the law provides the 

 appointment in each established fire district of an inspector paid 

 by the province, and for the purpose of the law all agents for 

 the sale of Crown lands, all employees of the Department, all 

 sworn land surveyors and all fire and wood rangers employed by 

 the Department are ex-officio justices of the peace, authorized to 

 impose penalties for the contravention of the law. In practice, 

 the wardens are nominated and paid (in lieu of a fire tax for- 

 merly collected) by the limit holders, the government clothing 



