1868 



Canadian Forcslri/ Journal, September, 1918 



Official Estimate B. C. Timber Losses 



By M. A. Grainger, Chief Forester, in a Letter to 

 ''Canadian Forestrij Journal.'' 



Victoria, B.C., Aug. 14: The For- 

 est Fire Season for 191(S has l)een, to 

 date, one of rather moderate fire 

 risks, with three weeks of extremely 

 hot dry weather, which created the 

 worst fire risk since 1910, breaking 

 into the season during the latter 

 part of June and first week in July. 

 This was attended, in the Coast and 

 Island District, with several severe 

 outbreaks of forest fires, so that during 

 one week alone there was destroyed 

 a large quantity of logging machin- 

 ery', camps, equipment and logs. 

 Several thousand acres were burned 

 over during this time of stress, which 

 was followed by a 24 hour rain thai 

 eased conditions, and allowed the 

 fire fighters to assume control of a 

 somewhat serious situation. 



The interior has had a fairly aver- 

 age fire season. Nelson has been 

 visited with an extraordinary number 

 of lightning fires (which do not 

 choose the most accessible ground 

 to start in) consequently the cost 

 of fighting some of these is quite out 

 of proportion to the acreage burned 

 over, and damage resulting. 



The total number of fires to date, 

 the greater majority of which come 

 under the heading of "no cost" fires, 

 is 444, the cost to the Department of 

 fighting these up to date is $22, 134.00; 

 the acreage of cost fires burnt over 

 is 37,836 acres. 8,700 M. feet of 

 merchantable timber has been burned 

 of which 3,200 M. feet are salvable. 



Taking it all round, the fire season 

 in B.C. has been one of average dam- 

 age, and the present weather gives rise 

 to the hope that the worst of the 

 danger is now over. 



The formation of a Lumberman's 

 Association in New Brunswick, 

 which will co-operate with the Crown 

 Lands Dei~)artment in the handling of 

 the forests of that Province marks 

 a new era in co-operation. 



WOOD FOR ONTARIO'S USE. 



The Ontario Government will have 

 shipped by the end of the present 

 month from Algonquin Park some 

 fifteen thousand cords of wood for the 

 use of the parliament buildings in 

 Toronto and the different provincial 

 institutions. The wood will be used 

 in the fall and early spring to conserv^e 

 coal. Some twelve municipalities in 

 Ontario availed themselves of the 

 offer of the government to cut wood 

 in Algonquin Park and have taken 

 about thirty thousand cords. It is 

 said that a cord of wood will give as 

 much heat as a ton of coal. 



WASTING THE VALUES. 



Saw-mill waste amounts to about 

 40 per cent of the original tree. The 

 finished lumber, on the average, re- 

 presents only from 30 to 35 per cent of 

 the tree. New developments in the 

 utilization of wood waste are being 

 made continually, but it is false 

 economy to handle waste unless the 

 by-product industries can be carried 

 on at a profit. EfTective utilization 

 calls for a variety of chemical and 

 mechanical processes which must be 

 adapted to the form, species and 

 quantity of wood waste available at 

 any point. — Dr. J. S. Bates. 



In the month of August, President 

 Wilson authorized a loan of one 

 million dollars to the Forest Service 

 for fire fighting expenses to meet the 

 serious emergency conditions in the 

 national Forests of the north west 

 and the Pacific coast States. The 

 loan was made from the special 

 defence fund of fifty million dollars 

 placed at tiie disposal of the President 

 by Congress. It is recognized that 

 the protection of the National Forests 

 is an important and essential war 

 activitv. 



