INTRODUCTION 



This manual has a twofold purpose. Primarily, it is intended for the instruction 

 and guidance of those officers of the Dominion Forestry Branch who are charged witj 

 the protection of the forest reserves and other Dominion-owned timber and who find 

 rapid and reliable means of communication an indispensable adjunct to their work. 

 In order to fulfil this purpose, the various methods of communication which experience 

 has demonstrated to be best adapted for use in forest protection are dealt with in 

 detail, and the methods herein set forth are to be followed without deviation wherever 

 permanent lines of communication are established. 



Particular attention is given to instructions for the building of forest telephone 

 lines. In some important respects these lines possess unique characteristics. The 

 distinctive requirements of telephone Communication for forest protection purposes have 

 been the subject of much intensive study and experiment during the past decade both 

 in Canada and the United States, and the equipment and methods of construction 

 which have been adopted or developed have been standardized by the United States 

 Forest Service and adopted by many state and private forest protection organizations 

 in both countries. These standard methods with slight modification to fit Canadian 

 conditions are set forth in detail in this manual and form the main body of the portion 

 devoted to the telephone. 



It is felt, however, that information with regard to the usefulness of the telephone 

 and other means of rapid communication in forest protection is of timely interest to 

 all owners of timber in Canada. Thus far, there has been relatively little specialization 

 in the work of forest protection on Canadian timber-lands. The usual system followed 

 by both government and private owners has been to send out each year a large number 

 of fire rangers, each of whom works on a more or less independent basis. In many 

 cases a new crew is raised each year and in most cases dependence is placed on chance 

 and the native ability of the rangers for the prevention, detection, and suppression of 

 fires in their districts, without aid from special training, organization, or equipment. 

 There are a few notable exceptions to this practice but as a general rule forest 

 protection in Canada is handled by forces wholly lacking the training, organization, 

 or equipment necessary for the employment of modern specialized methods and is, 

 therefore, of necessity, costly and inefficient. 



One of the prime essentials in the organization of fire protection on a specialized 

 basis, in contrast to the present non-specialized methods, is a reliable means of rapid 

 communication linking up all strategic points within the forest with those outside 

 of it and forming a network of lines of communication by which every unit of its 

 protection staff is in constant touch with every other unit, and the whole is in direct 

 communication with the chief ranger or other officer immediately responsible for the 

 protection work on the area. In this manual, the principal means by which this inter- 

 communication may be maintained in an unsettled timbered country are explained. 

 Naturally, wherever adequate commercial telephone or telegraph services exist they 

 will be employed, but these are of little importance in forest protection in Canadp 

 because settlement in timbered regions is extremely meagre. 



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