The Forests of Central British Columbia 501 



If the 40,000,000 acres were fully stocked with mature timber 

 it would carry at least 200 billion feet b.m. The difference is 

 represented by the large areas which have been burned. Most 

 of this, however, is now bearing valuable young growth. 



Value of Resource if Utilized 



Complete utilization of the present stand would yield the prov- 

 ince forty million dollars in royalty alone. It would distribute 

 in the neighborhood of a billion dollars in logging costs, repre- 

 sented by wages, transportation, supplies, etc. ; and 75 to 90 per 

 cent of that would go directly to the community. 



Complete utilization of the annual growth would each year 

 yield two million dollars in royalty alone, and distribute around 

 fifty million dollars in logging costs in the province. 



Beyond any doubt the forests of Central British Columbia are 

 an exceedingly valuable asset if they can be utilized. Their utili- 

 zation depends chiefly on the development of markets for their 

 products. 



Lumber Markets Needed 



Before there can be any permanent and important increased 

 development of the lumber industry as a whole, however, new 

 markets and bigger markets are needed. There is mill capacity 

 in Southern British Columbia now to nearly double the present 

 lumber production if the surplus could be sold, and unless mar- 

 kets are enlarged and a bigger demand created, any increase in 

 lumber production by one section of the province — Central Brit- 

 ish Columbia, for example — would be made at the expense of 

 other sections. 



The development of bigger lumber markets is one of the most 

 important tasks facing the timberholders, the lumbermen and 

 the government of British Columbia today. It is a task which 

 will require and deserves their best efforts, because on its suc- 

 cessful accomplishment the .commercial future of the province 

 is dependent to a greater degree than is generally understood. 



British Columbia's prosperity depends on the profitable utiliza- 

 tion of her natural resources, of which timber is one of the most 

 valuable. The province is primarily and pre-eminently a forested 

 country; excluding areas above timberline, nearly all of it is 

 covered with a forest growth of some kind. Great as is the 

 extent and quantity of timber in Central British Columbia, yet 



