TIMBER CONDITIONS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



WITH RELATION TO EXTENT, REVENUE AND LEGISLATION. 



By Hon. R. F. Green, Chief Commissioner of Land 

 AND Works. 



It is very gratifying for me to have the honour and pleasure 

 of meeting such a representative gathering of patriotic Canadians 

 as are assembled here to-day in the commercial Capital of British 

 Columbia, for I look upon the work undertaken by the Canadian 

 Forestry Association as patriotism of the highest quality. Your 

 work, gentlemen, as it presents itself to my mind, is essentially a 

 labour of love, in which self interest has no place, your sole aim 

 being the protection and perpetuation of the forests of Canada 

 for the use and benefit of future generations. Prior to the 

 foundation of your Association, a few individuals, scattered 

 throughout our broad Dominion, devoted their time and energy 

 to the subject of forestry, but it was only after many dishearten- 

 ing failures that these enthusiasts succeeded in arousing public 

 interest, and were at length rewarded by witnessing the crystaliz- 

 ation of their ideas in the birth of the Canadian Forestry As- 

 sociation. It is unnecessary for me to trace the progress of the 

 Association or to enlarge upon the good work which it has ac- 

 complished, for the results proclaim themselves from the pages 

 of the statutes of every Province from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

 The earnestness, patience, and pertinacity shewn by the As- 

 sociation throughout its campaign for reform in the laws relating 

 to forestry, and the methods of lumbering, cannot be too highly 

 commended. The task undertaken is a gigantic one — the 

 awakening of a whole people to the realization of a danger 

 which, to the thoughtless majority, seems so remote as to be 

 imaginary — and like all great movements for the betterment of 

 humanity, complete success can only be achieved by such cease- 

 less and untiring effort as will win the weight of public opinion, 

 and the sympathy and co-operation of the whole population of 

 Canada, to the objects of the Association. 



I have alluded to those enthusiasts on the subject of forestry, 

 who made it a study long before forestry became a live issue in 

 the public mind of Canada, and my thoughts are drawn to a cen- 

 tral figure in the agitation which resulted in the fonnation of 

 this Association and the subsequent good work accomplished — 



