Canadian Forestry Convention. 169 



number of miles which any one concern may purchase be un- 

 limited no injustice will be done the largest operators." 



"Forest Reserves" was the title of a paper by Roland D. 

 Craig, Inspector of Dominion Forest Reserves, who said : 



"For several years the Dominion Government has withheld 

 portions of its timber land from settlement, but it was not until 

 the passing of the Forest Reserves Act last Session, that they 

 were defmitel}^ and permanentlv set aside for forest purposes. 

 These Dominion forest and game reserves are situated in Man- 

 itoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and in the Railway Belt in British 

 Columbia, and cover in all about five and a half million acres. 



The objects in setting aside these reserves are to protect 

 and improve the forests for the purpose of maintaining a per- 

 manent supply of timber, to maintain conditions favorable to a 

 continuous water supply, to protect the animals, fish and birds 

 within the reserves, and to ameliorate the climate. 



The lands so reserved are withdrawn from sale, settlement, 

 occupancy or other trespass, which may interfere with the objects 

 of the reserves. 



It is not, however, the purpose to prevent the use of timber 

 which is produced, but its exploitation shall be under the direction 

 of the Superintendent of Forestry, and conducted in such a way 

 that the perpetuation of the forest shall be assured. 



The reservation of the land for forest purposes, does not in 

 any way interfere with the development of mines within their 

 boundaries, but on the contrary, the supply of timber being 

 produced in the vicinity will greatly facilitate mining operations. 



The value of maintaining forests at the headquarters of 

 streams used for irrigation and water power is most important, 

 and this is the chief object of those reserves which have already 

 been set aside in British Columbia. 



It is absolutely necessary, if the country in the interior of 

 British Columbia and on the east slope of the Rocky Mountains, 

 is to develop along agricultural lines, that a forest cover may 

 be maintained on the watersheds to protect and regulate the 

 streams which will bring wealth and prosperity to an otherwise 

 unproductive waste. If the forests are removed it will cost 

 millions of dollars to build dams and reservoirs to control the 

 spring freshets and conserve the water for the use of the crops, 

 and in the end they will not be so effective as a good forest cover. 



Not least among the objects of these reserves is the preser- 

 vation of game in the forests and the fish in the waters within 

 the reserves. By maintaining the forests about the headwaters 

 of the streams, the spawning beds of the salmon and other fish 

 will be protected. It is lamentable to see the rapidity with which 



