Canadian Forestry Journal, January, 1919 



A LAND WHERE THE FOREST IS AUTOCRAT 



By R. C. Lewis, B.Sc.F., late Technical Officer 

 with Canadian Forestry Corps in France. 



In the Jura Mountains, almost every Town runs a 

 Communal Forest to Ease Taxes. 



25 



During the war the French forests proved to 

 be one of that country's most valuable assets. 

 Not only did they provide the French Army with 

 lumber and fuel wood, but they also supplied 

 the needs of the American and British forces in 

 France and to a certain extent those of the 

 Italians. Owing to the foresight of the French 

 Forest Service in times of peace the supply was 

 ample in time of war, but in the early days of 

 the conflict men in sufficient numbers were not 

 available for the exploitation. A well-known 

 militatry authority is on record as having stated 

 that the need of wood m the trenches m 1916 so 

 hampered military operations that, could men 

 have been secured to cut and saw the timber m 

 French forests for the use of the armies, the war 

 would have ended in the fall of that year. This 

 may have been a slight exaggeration but the 

 fact remains that modern trench warfare is 

 enormously dependent on wood. From the 

 "duck board" that floors the trench in the front 

 line to the storehouses at the base there are 

 many uses to which this commodity, and it alone, 

 can be put. Huts for housing troops, plank 

 roads, gun emplacements, trench and dug-out 

 construction all consume lumber in enormous 

 quantities and every advance or retreat means a 

 loss of material and an increased demand. 



12,000 Canadians Used. 



The Canadian Forestry Corps started as a 

 modest battalion cutting timber on some of the 

 large estates in England and Scotland. Its 

 activities were extended to France during the 

 winter of 1916-1917 and being formed into a 

 Corps it grew until it became one of the most 

 important parts of the Canadian force in France. 

 At the termination of hostilities there were at 

 least 12,000 Canadians engaged in cutting 

 down French forests and sawing them into lum- 

 ber for the French and British armies. Many 

 American Engineer Companies were engaged in 

 work of a similar nature for the American forces, 

 French civilians and Russian troops in France 

 working under the direction of the French Forest 

 Service also made steady inroads into the supply 

 of standing timber. Exact figures to the extent 



of this activity are not available, but one thing 

 is certain, that the Forests of France have not 

 been destroyed and they still remain as a 

 valuable asset to the nation and a monument to 

 its thrift and foresight. Is this not a striking 

 argument in favor of scientific forest manage- 

 ment? 



Although the consumption of wood in France 

 in peace times was so great that the importations 

 were valued at three times the exportations, the 

 administration had adopted the policy of reserv- 

 ing about a quarter of the available supply for 

 emergency. When this emergency arose the 

 timber was available to meet it without borrow- 

 ing too heavily from the needs of future gener- 

 ations. 



French forests are scattered through the farm- 

 ing, grazing and vine growing lands in such a 

 way that no large areas exist at a great distance 

 from settlement and transportation facilities. 

 There is a ready local market for small material 

 obtained from thinning and improvement cutt- 

 ings, so that the expense of keeping the stands 

 up to a high state of perfection is not great. 

 Defective trees can be removed as soon as dis- 

 covered and their wood disposed of at a profit 

 for fuel. The result of this was evident to th? 

 Canadian lumbermen working in France. De- 

 fective material of saw log size was almost 

 unknown. 



Chips and Brash Picked Up. 



The utilization is carried out in such a way 

 that practically nothing is wasted, even chips 

 and small brush are removed by the inhabitants 

 for fuel. From the State forest the material is 

 marketed in such a way that the minimum dam- 

 age is done to the stand remaining. The ma- 

 terial is sold, often by auction at a certain price 

 per cubic metre, measured on the stump and 

 including the entire volume of the tree, bark 

 and branches as well as the trunk down to the 

 root collar. There are fines levied for all dam- 

 age done to the remaining stand, although allow- 

 ance is made in fixing the rate of these fines for 

 unavoidable damage. The result of this method 

 of selling timber is that the contractor lakes the 



