28 The Canadian Forestry Journal. 



does grow more slowly in our northland than in the "Sunny 

 South?" By catering to the wants of tourist and hunter we 

 need suffer no pecuniary handicap. The Land of Evangeline, 

 the Laurentian continent and the Rockies are rapidly assuming 

 the role of summer playgrounds to this continent and beyond. 

 It is for the forester to take every advantage of this fact. The 

 fishing, hunting, trapping and camping facilities must be per- 

 fected, the supply guaranteed and, in short, every effort made 

 to place the game and fish, as well as the forest that shelters 

 them, on a permanent paying basis. 



It is a big question, and, much as we may wish it, can hardly 

 be kept out of politics, imless, indeed, as in New York State, 

 the whole oversight of the forest and its creatures be placed 

 in the hands of a strong and independent commission. Mean- 

 time, let us study ways and means to secure the cheapest and 

 most efficient protection, wise legislation, and, above all, a 

 public opinion sympathetic and appreciative, because more 

 intelligent. It is high time that sentiment, which has so long 

 been the false guide and basis of opinion in all matters affecting 

 game and forestry, should be exorcized. Canadians generally 

 must waken up to the fact that our game preservation and 

 exploitation stands, a business proposition, four-square to every 

 argument. Exactly as in the case of timber, it rests on permanent 

 and profitable use, based on adequate protection and reproduc- 

 tion. 



On the Riding Mountain reserve in Manitoba is one of the 

 finest herds of elk on the continent. During the past three 

 summers I have had the pleasure of travelling through all parts 

 of this, the largest and most important of our federal forest 

 reserves. One may meet the wapiti almost anywhere, but they 

 seem to prefer the large brule and semi-prairie tracts of the 

 upper plateau, especially in the west end. The moose, on the 

 other hand, enjoy shelter and prefer the more heavily timbered 

 east end, or the Duck Mountains to the north. Sad to say, the 

 elk are dwindling. The greatest danger to the future of this 

 herd is probably not the settler, with his occasional victim 

 throughout the year, but rather the horde of outsiders who scour 

 the woods in the open season, shooting at everything that 

 moves (and even at the stumps!) 



What, then, it will be asked, is the simplest step that can 

 be taken to overcome this danger? The suggestion is made that 

 the policy be adopted — both on this reserve and on others — 

 that has proved so successful in the case of Algonquin Park in 

 Ontario. There the deer have come to appreciate the situation, 

 and, as the rangers will testify, from the surrounding highlands 

 of Ontario they make for its friendly shelter every fall when 

 the open season begins. British Columbia, too, has seen the 

 value and wisdom of this step; her excellent game guardian 



