THE CANADIAN DEPARTMENT 



685 



virgin forest on all but 30,000,000 acres 

 has been destroyed by fire in the last 

 60 years. Had no fires occurred the 

 stand of timber would amount to over 

 1,000,000,000,000 feet B. M. The 

 actual amount is 350,000,000,000. 



Timber lands, bearing over 8,000 feet 

 B. M. per acre west of the Cascades, 

 and 5,000 feet B. M. per acre East of 

 the Cascades are reserved by law from 

 alienation from Government ownership. 

 Prior to 1911 timber lands were dis- 

 posed of by lease or license, by the 

 terms of which the Government re- 

 tains a royalty interest and the right to 

 regulate cutting. When cutting is com- 

 pleted the land reverts to the Govern- 

 ment. About 10,000,000 acres were 

 disposed of in this way. At the present 

 time timber is disposed of only by sale ; 

 the conditions being almost identical to 

 those in effect on the U. S. National 

 Forests. 



British Columbia obtains an annual 

 revenue of $2,500,000 from its forests. 

 It expends for forest administration 

 over $200,000 and for forest protection 

 over $300,000 annually. 



The present annual cut from Provin- 

 cial Forests is 1,200,000,000 feet B. M. 

 per annum of logs, shingle bolts, cord- 

 wood and pulpwood. 



The Forests are administered 

 through 11 District Foresters, whose 

 districts, occupy 15,000,000 acres gross, 

 covering all the settled portion of Brit- 

 ish Columbia outside the Dominion 

 Railway Belt. The District Foresters 

 are assisted by 36 Rangers and 6 Forest 

 Assistants. 



The Protection Force consists of 

 about 200 Forest Guards employed for 

 the whole of the fire season from May 



1st to October 1st; 100 patrolmen in 

 the dangerous months of July and Au- 

 gust and 40 patrolmen on railway con- 

 struction. 



The Dominion Railway Belt, an 

 area of about 11,000,000 acres, extend- 

 ing across the province 20 miles on 

 each side of the C. P. Ry., is under the 

 administration of the Dominion Fores- 

 try Branch (forest reserves) and the 

 Dominion Crown Timber Branch (tim- 

 ber leases and licenses). They employ 

 a total protection force of about 100 

 men. 



The railways under operation in 

 British Columbia, as the Canadian Pa- 

 cific Railroad, Grand Trunk Pacific, 

 Great Northern Railroad, make fire 

 protection a part of the work of all 

 their outside force, and the sole work 

 of a special force of railway patrol- 

 men, totalling about 50 men. 



An important measure of co-opera- 

 tion has been secured through the ap- 

 pointment by the B. C. Forest Branch 

 of various men such as Fire Chiefs of 

 Municipalities, Public Road Superin- 

 tendents, etc., as Acting Forest Guards, 

 to a total number of about 40. 



A few of the larger timber owners 

 employ private guards on their hold- 

 ings. 



Altogether there are in the Province 

 over 500 men whose duties are chiefly 

 fire protection and another 500 men 

 whose duties are in part fire protection. 



The British Columbia Fire Protection 



Service has issued small pocket whet- 

 stones in attractive form to Boy Svouts 

 and others with a warning about set- 

 ting fires on the back. This is a very 

 good move. 



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