122 Canadian Forestry Journal. 



"As has been pointed out in previous communications 

 "upon this subject, the question of the preservation of the tim- 

 "bered districts is one of far reaching potentiahty. All exper- 

 "ience goes to prove that in this and every other country from 

 "which information and reports have been gathered, that the 

 "most serious and disastrous results to agriculture, have in- 

 "evitably followed the deforestation of the timbered lands. 



"I wish therefore to state here briefly that I am of the 

 "distinct opinion that in localities which are reliant solely upon 

 "a certain area or block of bush land for their supply of neces- 

 "sary wood, that such area should be maintained, preserved, 

 "and guarded as and for wood reservations, for the use of the 

 "people for all time; and also because of the unfavorable in- 

 "fluence their destruction and removal would undoubtedly 

 "exercise upon the climatic conditions of the country." 



The agent submitted several recommendations in regard 

 to reservations in the Province of Manitoba, and it was finally 

 decided that the policy of setting apart reserves should be adopt- 

 ed. The first reservations made were Turtle Mountain Reserve 

 in Southern Manitoba, and Riding Mountain and Lake Manitoba 

 West reserves in Northern Manitoba, which were set apart 

 by order of the Minister of the Interior on the 13th of July, 1895. 



Other reservations were made from time to time, but as 

 these reserves were set apart merely by order of the Minister, 

 lands could be withdrawn therefrom by the same authority 

 and it was considered advisable that a more permanent character 

 should be given to the reservations. With that end in view it 

 was decided by the Government that the reserves should be 

 set apart by Act of Parliament. This has now been done and 

 no lands can now be withdrawn from the reserves except by 

 special Act of Parliament. 



The purposes for which the reserves are established are to 

 protect the headwaters of the streams and so ensure a constant 

 water supply; to provide a supply of wood for the settlers, 

 and to serve such additional beneficial purposes as may be 

 brought about by the influence of large areas of forest, protecting 

 the country from winds or other adverse climatic influences. 



Of the reserves situated in Manitoba, the Turtle Mountain 

 Timber Reserve covers a district of somewhat elevated land 

 covered mainly by aspen and balsam poplar. It also includes 

 a number of lakes and will serve the double purpose of being a 

 pleasure resort and a source of supply for the wood and smaller 

 timber required by the settlers. This reserve has been some- 

 what severely cut and part of it has been burnt. One serious 

 difficulty in protecting it has been the fact that fires frequently 

 came from south of the international boundary along which 



