EEPORT OF THE SOCIETY 27 



x)f piilpwood size, practically no trees of sxwlog siz3, that is 12 inches and 

 above in diameter, except in the iainediate riv3/ valleys. 



Destruction of our forests by fire has been incomprehensibly great. The 

 amount of saw timber thus destroyed has been much greater than the amount 

 removed by logging or farming operations since the settlement of the country 

 began, in fact probably greater than all that has been cut in the past plus all 

 that could be cut today. There is little doubt that from one half to two 

 thirds of the forested area of Canada, or in other words around one million 

 square miles (640,000,000 acres) have been burned within the past 75 years 

 and because of such fires do not today contain forests of sawlog size. This 

 reduces the areas containing trees of sawlog size to about one quarter of the 

 total forested area, that is around 500,000 square miles, or approximately 

 12 per cent of the land area of the countr}^ If we had the population of the 

 European countries or of the United States, this percentage would be far on 

 the wrong side of the factor of safety. In fact, our supply of sawlogs would 

 last the United States at their present rate of cutting not over fifteen years. 



Just a little more about forest fires and their effect: Much of this million 

 square miles has been burned not 02ice only, but two, three or even a half 

 dozen times. These repeated fires on the same area make abortive nature's 

 attempt to j-eclothe the old burns with commercially valuable trees. Whole 

 townships that once supported magnificent forests of pine or spruce 

 are now, because of repeated burnings, cove/ed with worthless brush or with 

 trees of no market value. It is reported that you, in Quebec, have about two 

 thirds of a million acres burned so severely that they are not producing the 

 kinds of trees now being used for lumber or pulpwood. Such areas in Ontario 

 are still larger according to reports. Bear in mind that these are merely 

 estimates. They are not based on actual surveys, although surveys cf the 

 burned-over areas are being carried on in both provinces. I fear, however, 

 we shall be simply appalled when the results of such surve3''s are made public. 

 It is a matter of public record in Ontario, being disclosed by recent investiga- 

 tions of which you ma}^ have heard, that certain pulp and paper mills art 

 finding it difficult to replenish from' crown lands their waning supplies of 

 spruce. And the reason is — repeated forest fires. This forest devastation 

 by fire is not a thing of the past; it still continues practically unabated, except, 

 in wet seasons, in some of the most valuable forest regions of the country, 

 Over a million and a half acres of forest fell prey to the flames in Eastern Canada 

 last summer, but it was an exceptionally dry season. 



Even on the areas which have been lumbered and have escaped burning, 

 inferior trees usually take possession after the removal of the valuable pine 

 and spruce, especially where they were mixed with hardwoods. I could show 

 y'ou areas both in Quebec and Ontario where old white pine stumps occur abun- 

 dantly beneath the present stand of hardwoods or of mixed forest with practically 

 no young pine trees to be found. The pine could not maintain itself after 

 the logging operations. The conditions are considerably better where spruce 



