A Canadian Forest Policy 47 



Stock-Taking of Timber Resources. 



As a first step in this direction it will be the duty of the 

 Provinces to undertake a systematic stock-taking of their timber 

 resources, for without a knowledge as to what thay have in the 

 way of standing timber, any attempt at forest manage- 

 ment must be blind and ineffective. This stock-taking will 

 naturally include the kind, quantity, quality, state of maturity, 

 rate of growth, and location of the standing timber; the charac- 

 ter of the soil and its adaptability for growing particular kinds 

 of timber; and a more or less complete topographic survey 

 having special reference to the drainage, character of the surface 

 and such other features as would be of importance in planning 

 logging operations. 



Knowing, then what there is and where it is and how it may 

 be gotten out, the next step will be to limit logging operations 

 as much as may be practicable to districts where the stands are 

 mature or overmature. The mature timber must be sold under 

 such conditions as will conserve alike the interests of the lum- 

 berman and those of the Province. The price paid for the logs 

 must be made with the clear understanding that they are to be 

 removed under such rules and regulations as will insure the 

 reproduction and future safety of the forest. These rules and 

 regulations must naturally be prepared and published in advance 

 of the sale, that the purchaser may know definitely at the time 

 of the sale the conditions under which he is to conduct the logging 

 operations. 



The Lumberman and Forestry. 



Lumbermen are more interested in the perpetuation of the 

 forests than any other class of citizens, and in any square deal 

 will be found willing to do their share to that end. It is high 

 time, however, that the Canadian Provinces ceased to sell the 

 public timber under a system which makes it in the present 

 financial interest of the logger to despoil the forest. Were the 

 stumpage sold in a proper and business-like way there would 

 be no need to implore the lumberman to think of the nation's 

 posterity rather than his own, a plea which must alwavs be 

 futile, besides it is perfectly practicable to conserve and harmonize 

 the interests of the lumberman and the public, present and future. 



Trained Foresters Necessary. 



Systematic care of forests implies of course a trained forest 

 service. 



There was a time when the doctor's office, the court-room, 

 and the deck of a ship were the only places of training for the 

 physician, the lawyer, and the naval officer, just as to-day the 

 lumber camp is the only place of training for those who at pre- 



