1942 Canadian Foresliu JouiikiI. Xorcnihcr. /.'y/.S' 



dicatcs a progressive decline. Fires have taken a monsLrous loll of -what 

 originally was an endowment, of incalculable worth. To l)e sure, the cutting 

 of timber was not managed on a principle of continuous reproduction, but 

 (ires undoubtedly have been the chief degenerative factor. Had fires been 

 debarred by modern protective means and by cultivation of a conservation, 

 sentiment amongst persons who cause the fires, there is no doubt whatever 

 that lumber mills instead of reducing activities would have added to plant and 

 to number of employees, developing their to\\ns, providing new demand for 

 farm and fisheries products and taking more vigorous hold of export trade 

 opportunities. There is, of course, small satisfaction in basing a forecast 

 upon impossible premises. The original forest wealth of Nova Scotia has 

 largely been forfeited. Today not more than 100,000 acres of virgin forest 

 remain. Two-thirds of the forest area has changed from the precious pine 

 spruce and hackmatack, on which the modern mill exists, to the secondar\- 

 hardwoods which form a minor item of commerce. This is the unfortunate 

 situation of the permanent timber crop covering about eighty per cent, of 

 the entire provincial area. As that eighty per cent, is non-agricultural, the 

 greatest problem now facing the people of Nova Scotia is to block the forces 

 that are leading the main portion of the provincial estate to the edge of 

 ruin and then to institute such measures as will hasten its restoration. No 

 question that can possibly confront Nova Scotians has more than a fraction 

 of the urgency associated with this enterprise of repairing the forest founda- 

 tions that uphold the walls of prosperity. 



An Opportunity To Double The Timber Yield. 



"Here is a natural resource," states Dr. B. E. Fernow, director of the 

 Nova Scotia Forest Survey, "capable, under proper management, of forever 

 producing by annual increment, as interest, at least twice as much as is now 

 being cut from capital stock." 



The Forests of Nova Scotia, in Dr. Fernow's estimate, represent a poten- 

 tial capital of at least $300,000,000. And yes, "it is now largely in poor 

 condition and is being annuallv further deteriorated bv abuse and injudicious 

 use." 



This is Public Business! 



It is to the State we are compelled to look for initiative and continuity of 

 policy in the care of forest lands. The long time-element involved in the 

 maturing of timber crops is constantly at war with the natural human desire 

 for "present profits." The latter consideration, however, is properly divorc- 

 ed from the function of governments. In nearly all well-organized lands, 

 the public administrator is regarded as the natural custociian of the forest, 

 properties — most easily destroyed of all the material resources. The Nova 

 Scotia of 19~9 is to a considerable extent in the hands of the Government of 

 1918. If the forest possessions are not husbanded today, there will be no 

 tomorrow in which to husband them. 



What Other Governments Are Doing. 



What are other Governments doing to maintain their forests? 



New Brunswick last year created a new Forest Service, at the head of 

 which is a Provincial F'orester and a staff of technically-trained Foresters 

 and fire rangers. The service will cost New Brunswick about $100,000 a 

 year but will repay the cost many times over. 



Quebec has a F'orest Service, with a Provincial F'orester and more than 

 forty technically-trained assistants, besides a splendidly-organized set of 

 "forest protective associations" which are rapidly subduing the plague of 

 forest fires. 



Ontario has a Provincial F^orester, with more than a thousand fire rangers 

 and inspectors, costing $500,000 a year. And it pays! 



The three prairie provinces are under the Dominion Director of Forestry, 

 with a large staff of subordinates, engaged in fire prevention. 



