Canadian Forestry Journal, May, ig20. 



259 



The Forward Movement in Forestry 



by Clyde Leavitt 



Chief Forester, Commission of Conservation 



{Continued from the March Issue) 



A Careful Review of Measures 



Adopted Throughout the Dominion 



for Perpetuating the Forest 



Resources 



Tile iKce^bit}' for forest researcli as a 

 basis for silvicultural practice is recog- 

 nized by the British Cohimbia Forest 

 Branch, which has provided definitely for 

 this class of work in the administrative re- 

 organization recently made effective. 



Some of the pulp and paper companies 

 are making a beginning at forest r-esearch 

 work, independently as well as in co- 

 operation with governm-ental agencies. 

 For example, the Belgo-Canadian Pulp 

 and Paper Company, through its forestry 

 department, has made some experimental 

 thinnings, with the particular object of in- 

 creasing the rate of growth of spruce and 

 balsam. Experiments along similar lines 

 have been made by the River Quelle Pulp 

 and Lumber Company, in co-operation 

 with the Quebec Forest Service, including 

 also some experimental cuttings under the 

 strip system. 



It is greatly to be hoped that a large 

 extension of forest research by the vari- 

 ous administrative organizations, Domin- 

 ion and Provincial, m-ay be made possible 

 by the appropriation of adequate funds. 

 The field is so large that there need be 

 no fear of wasteful duplication for at 

 least many years to come. 



DISPOSAL OF LOGGING SLASH. 



For many years, it has been recognized 

 that slash resulting from logging opera- 

 tions constitutes a most serious fire haz- 

 ard. The great majority of destructive 

 forest fires gain headwa)' liecausc of this 

 accumulation of inflammable debris on 

 cut over lands. It has been fully recog- 

 nized that if this accumulation could be 

 disposed of safely, at a reasonable cost 

 the problem of forest fires would be well 

 on its way to solution, to say nothing of 

 greatly lessoning the damage to standing 

 timber l)y forest insects and parasitic 

 fungi. 



The Dominion Forestry Branch is the 

 pioneer in systematic slash disposal in 

 Canada. Qn all timber sales in the Do- 

 minion forest reserves, this is required as 



*C'onstitutiiig tlie secoiul inst.ilnuMit of tlu- report 

 of the Committee on Forests, Commission of 

 Conservation. 



one of the tern^s of tiie contract. While 

 others have been discussing the matter 

 the Forestry Branch has gone ahead and 

 secured results. Slash disposal is now 

 generally in effect in timber sales on un- 

 licensed lands in the Dominion forest re- 

 serves. Operators find that, once their 

 men become familiar with the work and 

 recognize- that it must be done, the cost 

 is by no means prohibitive and competi- 

 tion with timber cut under' other condi- 

 tions is quite possible. Of course, the 

 stumpage revenues to the Government are 

 iomewhat smaller by virtue of this re- 

 quirement, but forest officers regard this 

 as a good investment. Qn Dom-inion 

 Crown lands under license, however, this 

 requirement is not effective, these lands 

 not being under the jurisdiction of the 

 Forestry Branch. In consequent, the 

 fire hazard to forest reserve lands is 

 greatly increased. 



In British Columbia very considerable 

 progress has been made toward slash dis- 

 posal in the Coast region, and a beginning 

 has been made in the Interior. This is 

 largely the result of co-oneration betw en 

 the B. C. Forest Branch and the opera- 

 tors, though there is now legislation under 

 which slash disposal may be made com 

 pulsory, the cost for the most part to I)e 

 divided between the operator and the for- 

 est protection fund. Qn the Coast, broad- 

 cast burning is the rule, this involvin-.^. 

 comparatively little additional expense. 



In the eastern provinces. liowovor. 

 broadcast burning is not feasible to any 

 great extent, partly because of damage to 

 the remaining undersized timber, and P-'irt 

 ly because in many cases the soil itself 

 is highly inflammable. As a rule, irnder 

 such conditions, slash must lie oiled for 

 burning, and this necessarily involves 

 n'-aterial expense, in additio-i to th-^ cost 

 of Inu-ning. wiiich lias to be done under 

 careful supervision. 



During the past autumn ami early win- 

 ter, several cNneriments in slash disposal 

 have l>een under way in Ontario. Q lebcc 

 and Xew I'mnswick. 



