716 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



phite, sulphate and groundwood, which might be esti- 

 mated as consuming two hundred million feet of logs. 

 If sixty percent of the wood so consumed was western 

 hemlock the total consumption of hemlock by the pulp 

 mills would be only 120 million feet less than the saw- 

 mill consumption by fifty-five million feet. 



There are at present operating in British Columbia five 

 pulp producing companies with an estimated total annual 

 capacity of some 240,000 tons. It is difficult to make a 

 correct estimate of capacity at a given time as some 

 changes in control are being made and the capacity of 

 one or two companies is being increased. Each of 

 these concerns controls timber estimated to last them 

 from forty to one hundred years, the aggregate stump- 

 age controlled being probably about twenty billion feet. 



cut, known as a "Royalty," this royalty also being fixed 

 for a period of five years in advance with provision for 

 extension for subsequent five-year periods on a sliding 

 scale in accordance with certain log market quotations. 

 A "Timber Limit" or "Timber License" is- such a permit 

 covering a particular square mile of territory. These 

 licenses are now perpetual and are transferable. They 

 cover almost the entire commercially timbered area of 

 the coastal region. 



Logging in much of this region is generally carried on 

 quite independently from sawmill and pulp mill opera- 

 tions by a variety of loggers and logging companies. 

 Accordingly Vancouver has become the location of a 

 large open market for logs the buyers being the saw- 

 mills and pulp and paper companies. The pulp and paper 



Photograph by Arthur Sewton Factt. 



HEMLOCK LOGS FOR PULPWOOD 



Over sixty-two 1>iUion feet or eighty-eight million cords of this hemlock suitable for pulpwood is on ; the coast region of British Columbia. The 

 logs in the photograph are ready to be hauled to tidewater and towed to the Howe Sound plant of the Whalen Pulp and Paper Mill. 



This stumpage is chiefly held under so called pulp 

 leases from the British Columbia Government. On some 

 of the older leases the rental paid amounts to only two 

 cents per acre and the government collects a flat royalty 

 of 50 cents per thousand feet for the timber when it is 

 cut.. The more recent leases and renewals of the old 

 ones now call for an annual rental of 22 cents per acre 

 and a royalty of 87 cents per thousand, which is the 

 same as the regular rate for standard Provincial Timber 

 Licenses. Forest titles in British Columbia forms a 

 subject in itself which cannot be treated here. It is 

 sufficient to state that less than one-fifth of the forested 

 land of the coastal region is owned outright by indi- 

 viduals, the patenting of commercially timbered land 

 having ceased by act of the Provincial parliament. The 

 bulk of the fo'rested region remains the property of the 

 Province of British Columbia which leases the right to 

 cut the timber thereon rentals being set for a period 

 of thirty years in advance. The government takes most 

 of its pay in the form of a charge on the timber when 



companies are regularly large buyers of hemlock and 

 balsam logs, but usually take delivery at the loggers' 

 camp or some northern point rather than at Vancouver, 

 as the nearest pulp mill is 32 miles up the coast and the 

 others range from 75 miles to several hundred miles 

 north and west. The sawmills on the other hand are 

 chiefly in and about Vancouver. During the recent slump 

 in the price of cedar and fir logs representatives of the 

 pulp companies continually urged the loggers to put in 

 more hemlock, and contracted to buy hemlock logs at 

 prices which have permitted many loggers to get through 

 the slump in pretty fair shape. Apparently this policy 

 is pursued by the pulp companies not only to conserve 

 their own supply but also to avoid the necessity of them- 

 selves investing in more logging outfits and equipment 

 when increased raw material is needed. Then too 

 their pulp leases naturally contain a fair proportion 

 of saw timber cedar and fir which offers a prob- 

 lem for disposal, particularly when the lumber market 



