Forestry on Dominion Lands. 37 



the great rivers that have their sources there. You will create a 

 raging torrent for a few weeks in the spring, and after that a 

 water famine. You will destroy the North and South Saskatche- 

 wan, the Athabasca, and the Peace Rivers, and you will make a 

 desert of our new Western Provinces. Your irrigation canals 

 in Alberta will be raging torrents for a short time, and devoid of 

 water when it is required. You will simply bring about a condi- 

 tion of affairs which anyone can see to-day in Southern Europe, 

 in Northern Africa, and in Asia Minor, where large areas of 

 country once fertile are now, owing to the denudation of the 

 timber on the mountain side, practically a desert. 



But let us look nearer home. The future of this City of 

 Ottawa, as an industrial centre, depends on the valuable water 

 powers of the Ottawa and Gatineau so near at hand, but unless 

 precautions are early taken to preserve the forests at the head 

 waters of these streams, we will have raging floods for a short 

 time in the spring, followed by great scarcity of water later 

 on-'which will render the power so unstable as to be practically 

 worthless. 



Again, to say nothing of the evil effects on the fertile lands 

 further south that would follow the destruction of the forests 

 lying north of the provinces which at present form a barrier 

 against the northern air currents, the severe winter of those 

 high northern latitudes would be made almost intolerable by the 

 Arctic winds that would then blow uninterruptedly over the 

 denuded land. The fact is that voices come to us from all 

 quarters calling us to protect our timber areas. 



WHAT ARE WE DOING? 



I shall in a few words try to answer this question, so far 

 as the Dominion lands are concerned, but it must be admitted 

 that our efforts are small indeed compared with what should 

 be done, but nevertheless sufficient to show remarkable results. 

 Fires are the great enemy of our natural forest, and these usually 

 accompany the early opening up of the country. The building 

 of railways, the use of fire in clearing the land by settlers, and 

 the camp fires of travellers are among the agencies that have 

 caused great destruction of timber in the past. Lightning has 

 also contributed, but in a much smaller degree. The latter is 

 uncontrollable, but the destruction from the other causes may 

 be greatly lessened by due precautions and the enforcement of 

 regulations. Not only during the construction of railways 

 through the timber are great precautions necessary, but after 

 the roads are in operation the sparks from the engines are liable 

 to start disastrous fires. This latter is a question that I will not 

 pursue further, but it is worthy of further attention at this 

 meeting. 



