.4 Canadian Forest Policy 45 



lumberman should m all cases bear the expense of such safety 

 measures, for it is in the interest of the future citizens of the 

 state that they are undertaken. 



Woodland Taxation. 



Forest taxation is, next to fire protection, the most im- 

 portant consideration in planning forest management on private- 

 ly owned lands. Governments have in their control of the 

 method and amount of taxation a powerful lever to foster or 

 destroy the practice of forestry by private owners. Under 

 normal conditions no woodland owner can be exempted from 

 a fair and equitable share in the burden of government. Where, 

 however, the tendency to deforest reaches the point where the 

 general interests of a community are endangered, the partial 

 or complete exemption from taxation of such woodlands as are 

 devoted exclusively to forest purposes and come up to a reason- 

 able standard of production may be resorted to as a remedial 

 measure ; or the taxation may be shifted from an annual tax 

 on the land to a stumpage tax on the annual cut, thus converting 

 the tax itself into a measure of restraint as regards deforestation. 



Classification of Public Lands. 



An important feature of a Canadian forest policy must 

 be the exploration and classification of the public lands. Such 

 lands as contain a satisfactory proportion of good plow lands 

 and are reasonably accessible to markets should be opened 

 for settlement as the land is required for agricultural develop- 

 ment. Townships or larger areas in which the non-agricultural 

 lands predominate should under no circumstances be opened 

 for settlement but should be constituted Provincial or Federal 

 Forest Reserves and be devoted to timber production in 

 perpetuity. 



Just what proportion of plow land contained should entitle 

 a township or district to be classed as suitable for agricultural 

 settlement is open to debate. In deciding this point it should 

 be kept clearly in mind that a mistake in choosing too high a 

 standard for the agricultural lands may be subsequently re- 

 medied at any time without embarrassment or loss, while the 

 mistake of opening up for settlement lands unsuited for agri- 

 culture is certain to be a great and lasting injury to both settler 

 and Province, and is well nigh irremediable, as witness many 

 townships in Muskoka, Haliburton, and elsewhere. 



Municipal Forest Reserves . 



A second class of forest reserves which the Provinces would 

 do well to foster is what may be termed Municipal Forest Re- 

 serves. 



