1710 



Canadian Forestry Journal, Maij, 1918 



all the other provinces. Life is safe 

 and the people are gradually forget- 

 ting the limes when forest fire horrors 

 were conliniially before their eyes. 



Inviting Another Horror 



Since 1 came to Alberta, I have 

 seen those same Ontario conditions 

 of the days before the fire duplicated 

 in almost every detail. We have the 

 settlements in the tree-covered coun- 

 try of the north. In fact nearly all 

 the new farmers are homesteading 

 in more-or-less timbered territory. 

 We have to use fire to burn off our 

 slash and we have been doing it just 

 like Ontario used to do — with a strong 

 invitation to a wholesale waste of 

 life and property. 



I'm a farmer^ — couldn't earn my 

 living at anything else — but I can 

 see beyond my farm gate when the 

 good of the Province of Alberta iS 

 at stake. I can see that Alberta can't 

 get along on merely bare land and a 

 set of strong muscles. We need coal 

 to keep us warm, wood for buildings, 

 posts and implements; we need towns 

 and cities to provide a near-by mar- 

 ket, and we need all the manufac- 

 turing industries w^e can lay hands on. 



There's none of these things can 

 come to, or continue in. Alberta, un- 

 less we all join in saving the forests. 

 The coal mines are no good to us 

 without wooden pit props, and if pit 

 props get scarce up goes the price 

 of coal. There's not much use hav- 

 ing water powers unless they have 

 something to bite on. They must 

 have raw materials, like wood, to 

 turn into products. 



What good is cheap land if fence 

 posts and lumber are too dear to 

 purchase? What hope is there for 

 industries in Northern Alberta unless 

 they are forest industries.. 



A neighbour told me the other day 

 that there was no room for the forest 

 in northern Alberta, that every acre 

 would soon be under crops. 



"Crops?" I retorted, "what crops? 

 When I tell you that not twenty acres 

 in a hundred in northern Alberta can 

 grow wheat or support stock, I'm not 

 basing my talk on an ignorant opin- 

 ion. Look at this!" And I unfolded 

 a Dominion Government Report 



proving that only about one acre in 

 five in our part of the country was 

 any good for field crops. "What be- 

 comes of the four-fifths?" said I. 



He didn't know. 



A Western Desert 



"Will it be a desert waste of black- 

 ened stumps and useless soil, or will 

 it produce timber? Will it fetch pulp 

 and paper industries into this country, 

 with their busy towns and pay lists, 

 or will it be a No Man's Land for- 

 ever? Will it keep the settlers sup- 

 plied with cheap fuel and building 

 materials, or must we import them 

 at high prices from British Columbia^' 



Do you wonder that I have no 

 use for forest fires? Every time I 

 see one, I see a cloud of trouble. I 

 see higher cost for farm necessities, 

 and a poorer chance of making Alber- 

 ta prosperous for my children. 



Personally, I never start a clearing 

 lire unJl every precaution has been 

 taken. I pile my slash fifty to a 

 hundred feet from the standing bush. 

 I burn only in safe weather, usually 

 ■n the evening, and keep watch on 

 the operation all through. I consult 

 the fire ranger and follow his instruc- 

 'ions. 



The rangers are not policemen, I 

 take it. They are the best friends 

 the settler has. Some of these ran- 

 gers have been telling me that the 

 Alberta staff have set out this year 

 to keep Alberta clear of forest fires. 

 They want the personal help of every 

 man, every woman, every boy and 

 girl who lives anywhere near timber. 



Every good citizen this year is to 

 look on himself as a deputy fire-ranger. 



Watch every kind of fire — but 

 above all, keep a tight rein on the 

 slash burning. 



That's all that your country asks. 

 You'll see to it, won't you?" 

 ♦ — ■— • — — • — - — " — + 



PHILIP T. COOLIDGE 



FORESTER I 



I 

 Timber Estimating and Mapping. 



Supervision of Lumber Contracts. 



Surveying. 



Forest Planting. 



STETSON BLDG., 31 CENTRAL ST. 



BANGOR, MAINE. 



