134 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



have obtained a fair value of tlie timber sold, and endeavoured by every means 

 possible to prevent it from destruction by fire. This closes what I have to 

 say about licensed territory. 



We now come to the question of what timber there is on unlicensed 

 territory. For convenience of thought we will draw a line, say from the 

 Town of Mattawa up the river of that name, thence across Lake Nipissing 

 and down the Erench River to Georgian Bay, and say that the timber terri- 

 tory we are now going to speak about lies north of that line. Then we will 

 divide that great region into three areas about which we will speak separately. 

 First, — all territory east of Port Arthur and south of the waters flowing into 

 Hudson Bay. Second, — all territory east of Port Arthur lying north of the 

 height of land and on the Hudson Bay slope. Third, — all territory west of 

 Port Arthur in the Thunder Bay and Rainy Eiver Districts. 



Our policy in recent years has been to keep from settlement areas on 

 which we know there are considerable quantities of pine timber or spruce, 

 and which are not deemed to be suitable for farming purposes. Therefore, 

 in the first of the above divisions, in which is the bulk of our white and red 

 pine, we have set aside the following forest reserves : Temagami, area 5,900 

 square miles; Mississaga, area 3,000 square miles; Nipigon, area 7,300 square 

 miles, and Thunder Cape, 80 square miles, a total of 16,280 square miles, 

 or an acreage of 10,419,000. On each of these reserves, except the Thunder 

 Cape, we have a chief ranger with a staff of fire rangers under him, who 

 during the heat of summer patrol and move about continuously through the 

 reserves, keeping an eye on all persons passing or having business there, 

 handing them pamphlet copies of the law with respect to forest fires and 

 inculcating a spirit of care, and when necessary bringing offenders to justice. 

 The force is large in the summer months, but is reduced in the winter, when 

 the prevention of trespass is the only service called for. 



The Temagami reserve is a very important one, and it contains a large 

 quantity of pine timber, variously estimated at from three to four billions 

 of feet B.M. A large percentage of this timber is of first class 

 quality, and from its situation it will bring a large stumpage price per 

 thousand feet. The timber will go partly down the Ottawa waters and partly 

 down the Sturgeon to the Georgian Bay. I think we are safe in assuming 

 that on this reserve there is about three and a half billions of white and red 

 pine. We are surveying it into blocks, and estimating it from year to year, 

 , and shall know with some degree of closeness what the quantity of timber 

 is. I need say no more to impress upon you the wisdom of creating it a 

 forest reserve, and of guarding it carefully. In this reserve we had last 

 year a staff of seventy rangers at a cost of about $30,000. We had no 

 serious fires and very little timber was damaged. This reserve is the subject of 

 a good deal of anxiety at the present time. We may be said to have an 

 embarrassment of riches in it. There is the pine timber growing on the sur- 

 face, and below there is the silver mine. How the silver is to be taken out 

 and the timber protected is one of a sort of questions that we have to deal 

 with, and which are calculated to turn a Minister's hair grey. But one thing 

 is certain, we shall have to increase our staff of rangers in this reserve. 



North of the Temagami reserve extending through to Abittibi, north 

 and west of the Frederickhouse River, we have found some blocks of pine 

 timber, not any large areas, but sufficient to warrant the opinion that we 

 shall find in that region some 250,000,000 of feet. Then south of the Tema- 

 gami reserve are a number of townships gtill in the Crown, containing a 

 Urge quantity of first class white pine timber. This timber will go down 

 the Sturgeon River and its tributaries to Georgian Bay, or it can be manu- 



