136 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



APPENDIX No. so. 



Algonquin Park, January loth, 1908. 

 To the Honourable the Minister of Lands, Forests and Mines : 



Honourable Sir, — I beg to hand you a report on the Algonquin National 

 Park for 1907. Our staff has con.sisted of- fourteen men as follows: Superin- 

 tendent, Chief Ranger and twelve rangers. These men have been in charge of 

 seven sections, which they are supposed to patrol — two on each — and I feel 

 confident they have done so to the best of their ability. There has, no doubt; 

 been some poaching, it being utterly impossible for the number of men employed 

 to travel as they should the area that necessarily falls to every two men. It 

 would require, at least, a man to each township. I hope you will see your way 

 clear to considerably increase the staff so that, it may be impossible for poachers, 

 with safety, to attempt trapping within the Park. 



We have done a great deal of work during the past yeir in cleaning out 

 por|.ages, building and repairing shelter houses. Six new shelter houses have 

 been built as follows : One on Tea lake, one on Ma'ple lake, one on Nipissing, one 

 on Otter slide, one at Opeongo and one at Oiam's. These are all good buildings 

 with cedar foundations, hewn logs and good floors, roofs, windows, etc. They 

 are built 14 x 16 feet, or 16 x 18, inside. 



We have had a great number of visitors in the Park during the past year, 

 and I am pleased to be able to say there has not been a single complaint of any 

 kind, the Park regulations ha^'ingbeen strictly ob-erved. The game in the Park 

 is very noticeably on the increase, beaver and otter especially. These are iu 

 evidence wherever you turn. The deer are here simply in thousands, and can be 

 seen in numbers where ver you go. They are becoming so tame, owing to the 

 sense of security, that they scarcely move when you approach them. 



Wolves, I regret to say, are also very much on the increase, and can be heard 

 at night from headquarters howling all around. This I attribute largely to the 

 increase of the deer in the Park, which, of course, is an inducement for the wolf 

 to seek the same section. Every effort should be made to rid the woods of this 

 pest that annually destroys more deer than the sportsman's rifle. This is putting 

 it at a very low figure. 



Fishing has been exceedingly god in the Park during the past year, and 

 there is no reason to fear that the fish are on the decrease. Souie large salmon 

 trout have been caught, the largest measuring 37 inches and weighing 20 

 pounds. 



Lumbering in the Park is being carried on very extensively, and a great 

 number of men are employed in the wo;)(ls. I feel that the staff have had the 

 co-operation of the limit-holders to a greater ext- nt each year, the lumbermen's 

 instructions to each and every foreman being at once to discharge any man found 

 bieaking the law. Fires, I am glad to report, have done very little damage in 

 the Park during the past year. 



I would respectfully submit for your consideration the advisability of 

 having the eastern boundary surveyed by a Provincial Land Surveyor and 

 properly cut out. This has not been done since the new section has been added 

 to the Park, and it is impossible for hunters to tell when they cross the line. 



I am, Sir, 



Yours respectfully, 



G. W. Bartlett. 

 1 Oa L M. 



