36 



Canadian Forestry Journal. 



agriculture, and on either side are to 

 be found railways and thriving vil- 

 lages. How valuable this timber is 

 to the settlers can readily be imag- 

 ined. Timber may only be taken 

 out by farmers under close super- 

 vision of the department, and then 

 only for use on their farms. No 

 owners or operators of sawmills can 

 acquire any of it. The idea of the 

 government is to help the settler and 

 at the same time develop the coun- 

 try's resources. All present cutting 

 of timber is being done under close 

 supervision of the rangers and with 

 a view to reproduction. Wherever 

 cutting has been done to such an ex- 

 tent that portions of the reserve are 

 denuded of tree growth, reforesta- 

 tion will follow in its wake. 



Cutting must all be done under 

 permits issued by crown timber 

 agents, and these permits are issued 

 exclusively to farmers. Among the 

 other important duties pertaining to 

 the rangers is the work of prevent- 

 ing settlers squatting in the reserve, 

 and the preventing and extinsruish- 

 ing of fires. 



The Rangers and Their Duties. 



Wm. A. Davis is chief forest 

 ranger, and has headquarters at 

 Dauphin. His division not only cov- 

 ers the Riding Mountain but several 

 other reserves at more distant points, 

 so that great responsibility rests on 

 his shoulders. In this reserve Mr. 

 'Davis has four rangers under him, 

 located at about equal distances 

 apart. There are John W. Robert- 

 son, Gilbert Plains; W. Middleton, 

 Elphinstone ; Franz Hoffman, Scan- 

 dinavia, and Albert McLeod, Kel- 

 wood. 



The whole system of western for- 

 est reserves is under the direction 

 of A. Knechtel, a man of wide ex- 

 perience, who served seven years 



*Since this article was written, Mr. W. 

 A. Davis has been given charge of the 

 Duck Mountain and Porcupine forest re- 

 serves, with headquarters at Dauphin, and 

 Mr. McLeod made chief fire ranger ^of the 

 Riding Mountain reserve. 



with the forestry department of the 

 state of New York, joining the Do- 

 minion Forest Service in 1908. 



The system of guarding against 

 fire and controlling it, once it gets 

 started, in the Riding Mountain is 

 about as perfect as it can be under 

 the circumstances. Once a fire breaks 

 out the rangers get in communica- 

 tion with headquarters at Dauphin, 

 either by telephone or telegraph, 

 and the machinery is set in motion 

 to command all the assistance re- 

 quired to control it and put it out. 



Among the minor duties of the 

 rangers is that of procuring seed of 

 spruce and other trees. It is no easy 

 matter to procure the cones of the 

 spruce, as they grow on the extreme 

 ends of the limbs of the tall trees. 

 When picked, the cones are sent to 

 the Forest Nursery Station at Indian 

 Head, Sask. There the seed is ex- 

 tracted. Part of it is returned for 

 reforestation purposes to the reserve 

 and the rest is sown at Indian Head, 

 whence the trees produced are dis- 

 tributed to the farmers throughout 

 the prairie provinces to be used in 

 beautifying and protecting their 

 homes. 



Value as a Summer Resort. 



The Riding mountains abound 

 in beautiful lakes of the purest 

 water. By cutting roads into the 

 reserve it is possible to create a num" 

 ber of splendid resorts, which could 

 be used by the settlers in the vicin- 

 ity during the summer season. 



A Game Preserve. 



The rapid extinction of the large 

 game in the country suggests that 

 this reserve, which is one of the best 

 deer runs remaining in the west, be 

 created into a big preserve. If the' 

 monarchs of the forest, the elk and 

 the moose, are to be preserved, this 

 must be done. Each year the bands 

 which roam the reserve are lessening 

 in number and it will be only a mat- 

 ter of a few years before there will 

 be none left if the present rate of 

 (Continued on page .06.) 



