DISPOSAL OF TIMBER ON THE DOMINION FOREST 

 AND GAME RESERVES. 



The praiseworthy action of the Dominion Government 

 in setting aside 5310 sq. miles as permanent forest reserves 

 encourages the hope that the same progressive forestry will be 

 followed not only in the protection but in the utilization of the 

 forests on these reserves. 



That large areas of public property should be given to specu- 

 lators or even legitimate lumbermen for all time to come for 

 the paltry consideration of a bonus based on the present value 

 of the timber in a local and changing market seems hardly in 

 keeping with good husbandry. 



According to the system in vogue the Government sells, 

 not only the present stand, but all succeeding stands so long 

 as the limit holder pays the small ground rent of $5.00 per sq. 

 mile. The bonus may be looked upon as a speculative price 

 paid for the control of public lands for an indefinite period and 

 t is safe to say that it seldom, if ever, reaches the value of the 

 present stand. A case has recently come under observation 

 where a limit of 18 sq. miles'jwas sold for $176.04 and from which 

 the limit holder says he cuts approximately 4,000,000 ft. B.M. 

 per sq. mile or 72,000,000 ft. in all. Making all possible allowance 

 for meadow land, burned-over land, muskegs, etc., he must have 

 bought the timber for less than 1 c. per 1000 plus of course 

 the royalty of 50c. per 1000. This lumber he sells at about 

 $15.00 per^M. 



The most objectionable feature of the present system is, 

 however, the long tenure of the land granted to the licensee. 

 With the rapid rise in the price of wood it seems only reason- 

 able that the people of Canada should receive at least a share 

 of this increase in value instead of having the timber sold at a 

 50 to 100 year old market price. Under the present system a 

 limit holder may not be required to cut a stick and the growth 

 of the timber and value accretion will more than pay the interest 

 on the small initial investment and the ground rent. Such a 

 limit holder would come under the class of speculators who are 

 essentially non-producers and are a drawback to the industrial 

 welfare of the country. 



What we would suggest as a reform in the method of disposal 

 of Crown Timber is the sale of timber on the stumpage basis 

 with a limited time in which to remove the crop. From the 

 standpoint of a forester a system such as outlined below would 



