dropping Canso flying-boat and up to 31 commercial float-equipped machiiies 

 were employed. A total of about 70 aircraft were engaged at varying periods. 



Water dropping was considered a major factor in successful fire attack in 

 several instances. During the 1961 season, 843,500 Imperial gallons of water 

 were dropped on 104 fires in Ontario. 



During the emergency period, over 200 experienced Department personnel 

 from other sections of the Province moved in to reinforce district staffs at Sioux 

 Lookout, Kenora and Fort Frances. Over 300 pumping units and a million feet 

 of fire hose, handtools, and camping equipment were shipped from caches and 

 other districts to supplement the normal complement of equipment located in the 

 fire areas. As many as 2,600 extra firefighters were recruited at the peak of the 

 fire suppression operations. 



New Developments A system for mapping area seen from lookout towers was 

 developed during 1961. Use is made of panoramic photographs, sketches from 

 visual observations and a helicopter to make elevation checks. 



A combined steam table-grill was developed for possible use in camps on 

 fires. The unit is to be field tested during 1962. 



Water dropping tanks were modified to turn inwardly rather than outwardly. 

 This modification results in a single mass of water dropped which reduces loss 

 to break-up and evaporation. 



Water dropping tests were carried out with a Vertol H-21 helicopter. The 

 aircraft showed considerable potential in this field and is also capable of trans- 

 porting fully equipped initial attack crews. 



Forest Insects and Diseases 



Forest insect and disease problems in Ontario are shared co-operatively 

 with the Forest Entomology and Pathology Branch of the Canada Department 

 of Forestry. The Province is responsible for conducting all control operations 

 on lands under its jurisdiction, and the federal government conducts the surveys 

 and research work on which control decisions are based. 

 Surveys Each year this Department participates to a large extent in the Ontario 

 portion of the Canada-wide Forest Insect and Disease Survey of the federal 

 Department of Forestry. Detailed information concerning the occurrence and 

 distribution of specific forest insects and diseases is contained in the Annual 

 Report of the Forest Insect and Disease Survey. 



The major insect infestations during the 1961 season were caused by the 

 spruce budworm, the larch sawfly, the European pine sawfly, and some native 

 sawflies on pine. The forest tent caterpillar, the eastern tent caterpillar and the 

 birch skeletonizer showed substantial increases in numbers, but did not cause 

 serious damage. 



The large spruce budworm infestation in northwestern Ontario remained 

 about the same size at about 6,500 square miles. Although it entered into four 

 districts, it occurred chiefly in the eastern three-quarters of the Fort Frances 

 District and the adjacent south-west comer of the Port Arhur District, with only 

 very minor extensions into the Kenora and Sioux Lookout Districts. Most of the 

 infestation was classed as heavy. As a result of the prolonged defoliation, mor- 

 tality of balsam fir trees showed a sharp increase in the Fort Frances District, 

 and some mortality started to appear in the south-west portion of the Port 

 Arthur District where severe defoliation had occurred for five consecutive years. 

 The 500-square-mile infestation of spruce budworm in the southern part of 

 the Geraldton District remained about the same size as in 1960, but a decline 



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