1921-22 



DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS 



281 



It is, of course, in the best interests of the forests, of the settlers, and of all 

 concerned that the Department should have a clear legal mandate to sell such 

 small parcels at prices adjudged fair by the responsible officers of the Depart- 

 ment without public competition, which in such small matters would be quite 

 impracticable; such authority should, of course, be properly safeguarded as to 

 the amount so sold, and the time and matter of removal. 



(7) Notice of New Operations. 



A point that has been overlooked in the administration of the forests has 

 been a failure to require operators to notify the Department before a logging 

 operation is begun. This is desirable from every point of view, and is especially 

 necessary from the standpoint of the fire hazard, and for the proper supervision 

 of the logging operations and the scaling of the log output. Wide publicity 

 should immediately be given of an order making such notice mandatory and 

 immediately effective. 



(8) Fire Protection. 



Fire prevention, and the early detection of such fires as do occur, together 

 with efficient fire fighting, form the very foundation of all forest, management. 



Much progress has been made in recent years by the Department of Lands 

 and Forests in all these matters. Prevention of fires set by locomotives will 

 illustrate the progress made in one detail as a result of persistent and intelligent 

 work : 



The disposal of the debris incident to logging operations promises to be one 

 of the largest problems to be solved by the coming forest administration. It is 

 my conviction that at best fire prevention and fire fighting will, from time to 

 time — as the seasons vary — be a losing battle so long as the brush is left to litter 

 the ground where the future forest must be grown. For the present I am con- 

 fident that a requirement that all brush lying within specified distances of all 

 buildings, machinery, tote roads, railroads and other points of frequent human 

 contact be piled and burned, is immediately justified. Such cleaning up is 

 obviously as much in the interest of the operator as it is in the interest of the 

 Province. I understand that a start has already been made in this matter by 

 the Fire Ranging Department. It should be made obligatory on all operators. 



(9) Re Records. 



It appears to me that the testimony of Mr. Grigg, the former Deputy 

 Minister, before the Timber Commission, gives a decidedly wrong impression 

 as to the efficiency of the bookkeeping in the Department of Lands and Forests. 

 I am confident that an investigtion by competent parties will show that while 



