12 CANADIAN FOREST It Y \xSOCJATION. 



i to be call.-! Bn rangers, at various points in the forest during the hot smn- 

 w ,,uld be to post up copies of the Fire Act and distribute copies 

 ol the same to parties with whom they came in contact, pointing out to them the pro- 

 visions of the law and the terrible loss that might be entailed by their carelessness 

 in the use of fire, that people might be educated to a sense of their responsibility, and 

 that eventually sympathy would be enlisted and losses by fire materially lessened. 



This fire-ranging system was first put in operation in the province of Ontario, 

 and on a very small scale. It met with great success and approval, and ultimately 

 the Dominion of Canada and all the provincial governments except that of British 

 Columbia followed the lead of Ontario, as indeed did nearly all the states of the 

 Union with very few exceptions, until it came about that the system inaugurated in 

 Ontario has spread over the whole North American continent, with the result that a 

 marvellous decrease has taken place in the destruction of timber by forest fires. 



In addition to preserving the forest from destruction by fire, there was borne in 

 mind the necessity for preserving the equable flow of the great rivers. We hoped to 

 impress upon the various governments the necessity of preserving the watersheds 

 from denudation. I need not amplify for you the dreadful things that occur in a 

 country where the headwaters of a large river are denuded of timber. You know the 

 floods and torrents that occur instead of the regular flow of water which exists when 

 the heads of the streams are kept covered with forest growth. 



Then there was the desire to protect the denizens of the forest, the game and birds. 



It would be a sad day indeed for us if the animal and bird life of the Canadian forests 



were destroyed. There is nothing that affords man greater pleasure or excitement than 



to see in the forest some of the larger of the wild animals. Even the squirrel calls up 



a spirit of humour when we see him running about enjoying himself to the very full. 



Then consider the beauties of the Canadian forest. I do not know what experience 



of forest life some of you gentlemen may have had, but in my youth I played Indian 



for several years. The forest was my home winter and summer, and to this day, and 



at any hour of the day, I can lay my memory tribute for scenes that make me long 



to be lost once more to civilization, a stranger to worry, to work and to noise. When 



1 call up the scenes I have witnessed as I floated in a bark canoe along myriad streams 



and lakes innumerable, their shores clothed in living green from the highest hills to 



the waters' marge, not a scar or mark of fire visible, the whole landscape absolutely 



perfect, wholly quiet, and inexpressibly lovely, just as it came from nature's hands, 



one of the most beautiful of nature's beautiful works, and then think of the dread 



probability of this earthly paradise being blotted out p.nd burned into a blackened 



waste by the carelessness or folly, or worse, of man, I am stirred to my innermost 



depths with the desire to prevent such sacrilege, and I have motive enough, putting 



everything else aside, to enlist me in the cause of forest preservation. 



Protection from forest fires is one of the most important matters looking in the 

 direction of the preservation of the timber, but it is by no means the only one. An- 

 other is the prevention of settlement or squatting on lands, which are rough and 

 unsuitable for farming, but which have valuable timber growing upon them. Frankly, 

 there is no more difficult question in connection with the administration of the Crown 



