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Caiiadlaii forestry Jourual, March, icj20 



The Progress of Forestry in Canada' 



Prepared by Cl\)de Leavitt 

 Chief Forester, Commission of Conseroation 



A Careful Review of Measures Adopted Thn^ughout the 

 Dominion for Perpetuating Forest Recourses 



The year 1919 has been pre-eminently 

 ■one of reconstruction. This is as true of 

 forestry as of other lines of effort. During 

 the war a very lar,q-e percentage of the 

 members of the forestry profession in 

 Canada were engaged upon some phase of 

 military service. With the return of most 

 of these men to their previous occupation, 

 forestry organizations throughout Canada 

 have taken on a new lease of life and are 

 showing greater activity along progressive 

 lines than has ever before been the case. 



There is also a keener realization than 

 ever before of the prime importance which 

 our forests play, not only in maintaining- 

 the industrial structure in Canada, but in 

 the development of our foreign trade. The 

 world-wide unsettling of the exchange 

 situation has proved serious for Canada, 

 as it has for other countries. Were it not 

 for the large exports of forest products, 

 particularly lumber, pulpwood, pulp and 

 paper, the exchange situation, particularly 

 with the United States, would be much 

 more serious for Canada than is now the 

 case. 



Export of Fore:t Products. 



The luml)er industry is credited by the 

 Bureau of Statistics with exports for th^ 

 fiscal year ending March 31, 1919, to the 

 value of $70,487,288, of which the greater 

 portion went to the United States. 



The growth of the '^ulp and paper in- 

 dustry in Canada has been nothing less 

 than phenomenal, ranking, as it now does, 

 third in the volume and value of its pro- 

 duct exported abroad, and second in the 

 amount of capital invested. Exports of 

 pulpwood, pulp and paper are now at the 

 Tate of over $100,000,000 annually, of which 

 about 80 per cent, goes to the United 

 States. About 90 per cent, of the news- 

 print manufactured in Canada is exported. 

 More than one-third of the newsprint used 

 in the United States is of Canadian manu- 

 facture. 



Obviousl" it is greatly to the advantage 

 of Canada to m-anufacture at home as 

 much of her raw forest materials as pos- 

 sible, instead of exporting them in an un- 

 manufactured state. Home manufact"re 

 means the development of Canadian in- 

 dustries, the employment of Canadian 



♦Constituting the report of the Commit- 

 tee on Forests, Commission of Conserva- 

 tion annual m-eeting, 1920. 



la1)or, and vastly more money coming into 

 the country than would be the case were 

 our natural resources exported in a raw 

 state. So far as the pulp and n-T^r in- 

 dustry is concerned, it is the policy of the 

 Dominion and provincial governments to 

 reauire manufacture in Canada of all -^ulp- 

 wood cut from Crown lands. That this 

 policy is greatly to the advantage of Can- 

 ada requires no argum-ent. 



In view of the rapidly approaching ex- 

 haustion of the pulpwood forests of the 

 north-eastern United States, the great 

 pulpwood forests of eastern Canada as- 

 sume an added value and increased eco- 

 nomic importance. The necessity for so 

 handling this great heritage that it may be 

 permanently productive, instead of merely 

 transitory, as in so much of the United 

 States, can scarcely be over-emphasized. 



While enormous damage has already 

 been caused by fire and by unregulated 

 methods of logging, so that great areas 

 have been rendered barren wastes, it is 

 still not too late to save the situation so 

 far as the bulk of the territory is con- 

 cerned. Indeed, much progress has al- 

 ready been made in this direction, though 

 still only a beginning. 



Saving the Young Growth. 



Adequate protection from forest fires is 

 tl.e first great essential. Notwithstanding 

 great progress already made, the experi- 

 ences of the past year, with millions of 

 dollars of damage done to the forests of 

 Canada, prove conclusively that far from 

 adequate attention is being paid this im- 

 portant matter. Over great areas, expen- 

 ditures upon fire protection average less 

 than one-half cent per acre per year. That 

 this is not sufficient is proved not only 

 by results, but by the testimony of men 

 most experienced in this line of work. Our 

 young forest growth is not now receiv- 

 ing the protection which its potential im- 

 portance iustifies. 



In addition to the appropriation _ of 

 adequate funds, it 's of the most vital im- 

 portance that a thoroughly efficient per- 

 sonnel be developed. To this end it is 

 essential that adequate salaries be paid, 

 that so far as possible the year-long basis 

 of employment be adopted through the 

 combination of various lines of forest work 

 in a single organization, that every vestige 

 of political patronage be eliminated in the 

 selection of' the personnel, that a really 



