1916-17 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS, FORESTS AND MINES. 151 



made by provincial officers authorized by the Board. Also the Temiskaming and 

 Northern Ontario Railway Commission, which is not subject to the Board, entered 

 into an arrangement with the Forestry Branch to permit a similar inspection of 

 their locomotives. In all, 771 locomotives were inspected during the summer, of 

 which 229, or 30 per cent., showed defective screens, ash pans or other appliances. 

 This bad showing is in part explainable by the greatly increased volume of trans- 

 portation coupled with a shortage of mechanic labour. 



Other Causes. — Next to locomotives the commonest source is the neglected 

 camp fire. This form of carelessness caused 154 fires, or 14 per cent, of the total. 

 It is to be noted that 51 of the 154 were traced to the neglect of Indians in the 

 western end of the Province. 



Settlers clearing land caused 91 fires or 8 per cent, of the total. These were 

 largely outside the area where permits are required. 



Area Burned. — The total area reported burned over was 384,164 acres. Of 

 this, around 38 per cent, was cutover land with some coniferous (softwood) timber 

 remaining; 22 per cent, barrens; 19 per cent, coniferous timbered land; and 16 per 

 cent, coniferous young growth (up to six inches). The fact that cutover land and 

 young growth make up 54 per cent, of the total burned area, indicates clearly the 

 influence of the slash and debris accompanying logging operations on the fire hazard. 

 Forest protection can reach only a certain degree of efficiency without a considera- 

 tion of the matter of brush disposal. Burned timber can usually be salvaged and 

 is of less consequence than the oncoming crop. 



Fifty per cent, of all fires did not exceed 5 acres in extent. In only 6 of the 



34 fire districts did the total area burned over exceed 5,000 acres. Of the total 

 acreage burned over, 304,677 acres were in the Kenora and Rainy River Districts,, 

 leaving 79,487 acres for the remainder of the Province. The large total in the 

 west was caused by fires getting beyond control in the first part of the season during 

 a prolonged dry spell. For instance, in the north-eastern part of Kenora District 

 two fires starting from neglected Indian camp fires burned over 19,200 and 51.200^ 

 acres respectively, while another of unknown origin burned over 40,960 acres. 

 Sparks from locomotives on the Canadian Government Railway set fires which 

 burned over 20,160 acres in the vicinity of Millidge, 11,520 acres around Malachi 

 and 12,800 acres north-east of Sioux Lookout. One lumbering concern caused 



35 fires by using defective engines on their logging road, burning over 5,081 acres. 



(5) Permit System. 



The close season lasts from 15th April to 30th September. For the application 

 of the regulations regarding the setting out of fire the forest region is divided into 

 " Permit Areas " and " Exempt Areas." 



The Permit Area includes those portions of the Districts of Nipissing, Temis- 

 kaming, Sudl)ury and Algoma, north of the C.P.R. from Mattawa to North Bay, 

 and north of the C.N.R, from North Bay westward. Within this territory no fire& 

 may be set out without a permit from a fire ranger. 



The remainder of the Province forms the Exempt Area, within which a permit 

 is required only in the cases of those persons who have been so notified in writing 

 by the Chief Ranger. This provides for the establishment of Permit Areas locally 

 where conditions require it. 



The season was unfavourable for cleaning up land, and only 3,486 permits to 

 burn were issued, covering 15,186 acres, largely in Temiskaming. For a new 

 regulation, the Forestry Branch received hearty co-operation from those concernedv 

 and but three prosecutions were necessary. 



