Conservation Surveys and Reports 



Newly established Conservation Authorities are not equipped to carry out 

 examination of the conservation problems in their watersheds. Consequently, 

 the Conservation Branch undertook to carry out, at no expense to the Authority, 

 preliminarv investigations on the resources of the watersheds concerned. These 

 surveys are usually the first service rendered to a new Authority. Data gathered 

 in the surveys become the basis of the conservation report to the Authority. 

 These reoorts treat the conservation problems of the watershed under six head- 

 ings; history, land use, forestry, water, wildlife and recreation. 



The conservation reports deal with the use and development of the re- 

 sources of watersheds on an integrated basis. Water problems are related to use 

 of the land for agriculture and forestry. Recommended forest areas are related 

 to the agricultural capability of the land. Recommendations for wildlife and 

 recreation projects are made in the light of suggestions for water control pro- 

 jects and improved forestry. 



While most of the early Conservation Authorities were brought into being 

 because of flooding, all were aware of the necessity of carrying out such supple- 

 mentary measures as improved land use methods, reforestation and good wood- 

 lot management, prevention of pollution, investigation of water control measures, 

 fish and wildlife studies and recreation projects. 



Conservation surveys deal with all these subjects. The reports from the 

 surveys become a working plan for the Authority to follow, if it wishes. The 

 scooe of the studies made in each section of the survey varies with the condi- 

 tions in the areas under investigation. 



History 



A certain amount of historical matter is used in each report as a starting 

 point for the study. An attempt is made to get as true and localized a picture 

 of past conditions as possible. Experience has shown that this historical ap- 

 proach covering settlement, changes in population and the pattern of develop- 

 ment is of great value and interest to the people in the regions dealt with. This 

 information helps to promote an interest in conservation among people who 

 would otherwise very often, be disinterested. 



Measures of conservation must inevitably be aimed at setting right the 

 conditions which have caused waste and destruction in the past. To find methods 

 of correction and cure, it is necessary to get a true story of how these evils 

 came about. This involves a careful study of developments in the past. Former 

 conditions of climate; the records of former floods; the spread of settlement and 

 the cutting of forests which these involved; the retreat of wildlife as the clearing 

 spreads; the development of milling on the rivers; the rise and decay of the 

 village settlements; the steady growth of large urban centres; the decline of 

 rural populations; and the phases of agricultural development must all be studied 

 in detail. The various general factors which influenced these developments must 

 also be taken into account. 



The movement from the farms and the disappearance of small industries, 

 for example, are not always due solely to the cutting of forests and exhaustion 

 of the soil. Changed markets and methods, improvements in transportation, the 

 opening of new areas, the concentration of industry, must all be considered in 

 connection with their effect on the use of natural resources. 



The history of the development of the resources in the watershed thus forms 

 a starting point for each separate division of the conservation study. 



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