120 



Canadian Forestry Journal, Aitgust, 1913 



GOVERNMENT AND LOGGERS 

 CO-OPERATE IN SLASH DIS- 

 POSAL. 



The Government of the Province 

 of ]^ritish Columbia is doing much 

 to create on all sides a full confid- 

 ence in the idea that the proper dis- 

 posal of logging slash is essential to 

 the permanence of the lumbering in- 

 dustry. Herewith is a letter sent by 

 Chief Forester MacMillan to all 

 loggers in the Province. 



I wish to request for the Forest Branch 

 your earnest co-operation in an effort to 

 solve the problem of the disposal of the 

 slash resulting from logging operations. 



Owing to the great density of the tim- 

 ber stands on the coast and in portions 

 of the interior of British Columbia, to the 

 conditions surrounding the lumber indus- 

 try which permit of the removal from the ' 

 woods of only a very small proportion of 

 the stand, and to the methods of logging, 

 the amount of slash remaining after log- 

 ging is excessive. Generally also the tim- 

 ber remaining after logging is without 

 further value, and, since the slash effec- 

 tually prevents the growth of a valuable 

 second crop, slash must be removed first 

 if the land is to be utilized in producing 

 another crop of timber. 



I need not point out that by far the 

 greater portion of the land in British Co- 

 lumbia is, owing to its roughness and lack 

 of soil, unsuited for agriculture, and the 

 only possible way in which it can be made 

 a steady source of wealth is by the grow- 

 ing of timber. Besides its effect in pre- 

 venting the production of a second crop 

 of timber, slash is universally recognized 

 as the most serious of all fire hazards, and 

 that it is only a question of time before 

 every slash area will be set on fire. This 

 being tne case, the eviden't thing to do is 

 to burn the "^^lash at such a time and under 

 such conditions as will, so far is humanly 

 possible to determine, render it certain 

 that the fire does not spread to adjoining 

 timber. 



The Forest Act of British Columbia does 

 not make the burning of slash eomplsory 

 although in the States of Oregon and 

 Washington, where the conditions are 

 identical, such laws are in effect. The 

 Forest Act does, however, empower the 

 Minister of Lands or the Forest Board to 

 require owners to construct a safe fire- 

 break about any area of slash, and where 

 necessary to protect valuable timber this 

 provision of the Act will be enforced. 



To be at all safe or effective against 

 July or August fires, fire-breaks must con- 

 sist of a strip 5 to 10 feet wide cleared to 

 mineral earth and a strip 10 to 30 feet 



Slash on logged over area piled so as to reduce fire danger. All 



the contractors working on the 2,000 miles of railroad being 



constructed in B.C.^^are now required to pile slash. 



Showing where slash has been burned on logged over area. 

 No danger of fire now. 



wide cleared of brush, inside which all 

 dead snags standing within a distance of 

 100 feet must be felled. 



As long as the slash remains, however, 

 the danger from fire is still serious, and 

 it is felt that it would be far better to 

 burn the slash itself than to construct such 

 fire-breaks, the cost of which is as much 

 or more than that of slash burning. 



A number of loggers in British Columbia 

 have already adopted the practice of 

 burning their slash every year either in 

 the spring or in the fall, and I hope that 

 you will decide to apply the plan to your 

 operations and take up the matter im- 

 mediately with your superintendent. The 

 present spring is backward, and except in 

 high winds slash burning may be safely 

 carried on until the first or second week 

 in June. During April no permit to burn 

 is required, and after May 1st permits 

 can be obtained from the local forest 

 officers. While it is impossible to specify 

 the conditions as to weather when burn- 



