171.S 



Canadian Forrslri/ Joum'iL June, /.''/a 



Claybelt Settlers Join Hands With 



Rangers 



The ])eopIe of Ontario, whose con- 

 cern over forest fires \vas greatly 

 stimulated by the 1916 Claybelt dis- 

 aster, may rest assured that the pres- 

 ent efficiency of the Forest Protection 

 Service bears a cheering comparison 

 to that of previous years. The build- 

 ing up of a protective service is no 

 small undertaking and there remains 

 much to be done before the machine 

 can be said to be complete, bul the 

 procedure of the Department of 

 Lands and Forests has been along 

 right lines and the results are bound 

 to give general satisfaction. 



The Secretary of the Canadian 

 Forestry Association recently covered 

 part of the territory in the heart of 

 the district that gave greatest trouble 

 in 1916 — Mathcson, Porfjuis .Junc- 

 tion, Iroquois Falls, Cochrane, and 

 Hearst. This is now well organized 

 under a vers- competent superinten- 

 dent, Mr. E. R. Poole of Cochrane, 

 who has equipped his division with 

 lookout towers, canoes, speeders and 

 other aids in travel and observation. 

 Perhaps the most heartening conclu- 

 sion in one's visit to the Cochrane dis- 

 trict is that settlers are co-operating 

 with the rangers in safeguarding their 

 land-clearing fires. A very few sum- 

 monses were issued as a guarantee of 

 the (iovcrnment's sincerity in apply- 

 ing the ])ermit law. With that as a 

 reminder, the rangers proceeded in 

 their work \\'\i\\ a maximum of tact 

 and consideration, realizing that the 

 control of settlers in an unorganized 

 country is a most difficult proposition 

 and that unless their goodwill is gain- 

 ed the issue of permits and control 

 of fires becomes practically impossible. 

 For that reason, the personal qual- 

 ification of the rangers assumes first 

 importance. Xo man should be re- 

 tained in the Service who bullyrags or 

 antagonizes the decent settler or 

 tries to tie him up with red tape. 

 The importance of the district super- 

 intendent's duties cannot be over- 



emphasized, for it is he who knows his 

 settlers personallx' and knows the way 

 they should be handled. For the 

 same reason, there can be no cast-iron 

 rules fastened upon all parts of the 

 forested region, for what will suffice 

 with one district and one class of set- 

 tlers is not precisely applicable to 

 other conditions. 



In the Cochrane district very little 

 trouble with settlers fires has been 

 experienced. Permits are being ap- 

 plied for regularly and the Forest 

 Fires Act is taken with due serious- 

 ness. High prices of pulpwood, of 

 course, act as a further damper 

 to needless destruction. The soldier 

 colOtiy at Kapaskasing appears to be 

 a model in its observance of the Fire 

 Laws and in all the heavy burning 

 this year on soldiers' lots, normal pre- 

 cautions have been taken and the 

 ranger's advice sought on many oc- 

 casions. 



WASTED WOOD IN B. C. 



The indiscriminate cutting of con- 

 venient shore timber by hand-loggers 

 in British Columbia results in the 

 injury of many good logging sites; 

 for, as the hand-loggers are not allow- 

 ed to use steam power, the\' fail to 

 get to the water a large proportion 

 of the trees they cut down. It is 

 estimated that at least 40 per cent, 

 of the trees cut by hand-loggers are 

 wasted in this way," says a pamphlet 

 on "Forest Resources in British (>ol- 

 umbia," issued by the Commission of 

 Conservation. 



"Since these workings are nearly 

 always situated at the foot of a 

 mountain and at the water's edge, 

 where a destructive fire is most 

 likely to start and gain headway, the 

 resulting debris products a fire menace 

 of the worst kind. 



"It is extremely doubtful whether 

 the advantages gained in forest 

 utilization bv this mrvins, or the 



