Burned-over Country* 



Found by Many Geological Survey Explorers in 1910. 



The summary report of the Geo- 

 logical Survey for 1910, like so 

 many reports of the Survey already 

 published, gives evidence of the 

 widespread prevalence of forest 

 fires throughout the Dominion. Re- 

 porting on the country traversed by 

 the late Governor-General, Earl 

 Grey, and his party, the Director, on 

 page 17, writes : — 



' The whole country from Lake Winnipeg 

 to York is timbered, but, as the route fol- 

 lowed had been the boat route from York, 

 u?ed for almost a century for a large part 

 of the entire trade of the northwest, the 

 forests have suffered repeatedly from fires, so 

 that practically all is second growth and no 

 sizable timber was seen. Where the original 

 forest is preserved, merchantable sizes may 

 be expected in the upper portion of the dis- 

 trict, and pulpwood for some distance down, 

 but, what with forest fires, muskeg and cli- 

 matic conditions near the bay, it seems un- 

 likely that the timber of that particular 

 district will prove of great value, except for 

 local purposes. Around the southern end of 

 the bay, conditions, of course, are different, 

 and the forest is of greater economic im- 

 portance. The trees are principally spruce, 

 poplar, and tamarack; canoe birch dsappear- 

 ed on the lower part of the Hayes. ' 



Mr. D. B. Dowling, reporting on 

 the Coal Fields of Jasper Park (Al- 

 berta), writes as follows: — 



'The largest area of green forest, contain- 

 ing timber of marketable size, occupies a tri- 

 angular stretch of country lying to the east 

 of Brule lake. The wagon road to Prairie 

 Creek runs along fts southeastern margin. 

 Along the Athabaska burnt country extends 

 from the east to a point nearly half-way 

 between the lake and Prairie creek. Other 

 fairly large areas of unburnt timber are 

 found within the mountains, on the flat lands 

 through which wind the many channels of 

 the Athabaska river. Another area of green 

 forest, consisting of patches only, extends 

 from the head of Drystone and Prairie 

 creeks to the western sources of McLeod 

 river. Although throughout the district 

 there are, here and there, small patches of 

 living trees, the greater part of the original 

 forest has been burnt.' 



Mr. "W. Mclnnes reports on his ex- 

 ploration of a tract of country lying 



north of the Saskatchewan river, in 

 the eastern part of the province of 

 Saskatchewan. The following is an 

 extract from his report (page 

 171) :— 



'There are areas still standing of good 

 white spruce, both in the region of the Sask- 

 atchewan valley, and in the higher land to 

 the north, though forest fires have denuded 

 much of the region of what valuable timber 

 it once supported. Several tracts of consid- 

 erable size were burnt over last summer. 

 Could the fires be prevented or checked, large 

 areas would within a measurable period be- 

 come reforested, since the rate of growth 

 in favourable situations is fairly rapid. Two 

 white spruces growing in Cumberland lake 

 were cut into for the purpose of ascertain- 

 ing their rates of annual growth. It was 

 found that the added growths for the past 

 three years, deduced from the rings of 

 growth, were three fourths of an inch and 

 half an inch respectively, rates that com- 

 pare favourably with those of many a much 

 more southerly locality. ' 



Mr. J. D. Trueman writes of the 

 Gunflint district, Ontario, his work 

 having comprised the exploration of 

 the country around Gunflint and 

 Saganaga lakes (situated on the In- 

 ternational boundary some seventy- 

 five miles west of Port Arthur and 

 Fort William). Treating of the 

 timber, he reports (p. 184) as fol- 

 lows : — 



'Owing to its rocky character, the value 

 of much of the country near Gunflint lake 

 as a national resource must lie entirely in 

 its mineral and forest wealth. Over consider- 

 able areas valuable timber is still standing, 

 the principal varieties of trees being red 

 pine, jack pine, spruce, balsam and tama- 

 rack. White pine occurs, but is not com- 

 mon. Birch and poplar are quite abun- 

 dant. 



'Forest fires during the summer season 

 of 1910 proved unusually destructive over a 

 large section of country west of Lake Su- 

 perior. A long period of dry weather made 

 conditions very favourable for the spread 

 of fires, so that during the latter half o< 

 June and the earlier part of July a dense 

 cloud of smoke remained almost continually 

 in the air.' 



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