Canadian Forestry Journal, December, 1918 



1977 



ities is conditioned by the amount 

 of support they receive from the 

 general public. 



All those possessing any degree of 

 public spirit are interested in main- 

 taining unimpaired the sources of 

 national prosperity and you have 



now an increased solicitude towards 

 furthering that end. 



If you are already a member of the 

 Canadian Forestry Associat on it is 

 your duty and in your own interest 

 to secure other members. 



If not already a member you should 

 surely join without delay. 



A Forestry Mosaic of British Columbia 



The exhaustive investigation of the 

 forest resources of British Columbia 

 by the Commission of Conservation, 

 extending over a period of three 

 years, discloses the fact that of the 

 total land area of the province, 

 355,855 sq. miles, approximately 200,- 

 000 sq.m. is incapable of producing 

 forests of commercial value. About 

 145,000 sq. m. lie above the merchant- 

 able timber-line, and on 55,000 sq. m. 

 though below timber-line, the soil 

 is either too rocky or wet, or the 

 forests have been completely destroy- 

 ed by fire that there is no hope for 

 the natural re-establishment of forest 

 conditions for centuries to come. 



A great forest area. 



Of the remaining 155,855 sq. m. 

 which is capable of producing forests 

 only about 28,000 sq. m. — less than 

 one-fifth — carries sufficient timber to 

 be classified as statutory timberland. 

 (The Land Act defines "iimberland" 

 as that, which when situated west 

 of the Coast mountains, carries at 

 least 8,000 b.f. per acre; when east 

 of the Coast mountains, 5,000 b.f. per 

 acre.) In the interior of the province 

 there are areas of forest' land, aggre- 

 gating 23,800 sq. m. which, though 

 not reaching this standard, carry 

 between 1,000 b.f. and 5,000 b.f., 

 part of which may be utilized. Only 

 very meagre data have been obtained, 

 as yet, as to the area of land which 

 can be used for agricultural purposes. 

 It appears from our forest land 

 classification that somewhat over 

 5,000 sq. m. is grass land or very open 

 forest, some of which is suitable 

 for cultivation, but the greater pro- 

 portion is of value only for grazing. 



In addition, there is, perhaps, from 

 12,000 to 15,000 sq. m. cleared or 

 under forest which is, or may be more 

 valuable for agriculture than for 

 forest production. Deducting this 

 potential agricultural land, say 20,- 

 000 sq. m. from the land capable of 

 producing commercial timber, there 

 is 135,855 sq. m. of absolute forest 

 land which should be devoted per- 

 manently to forest production. 



The Record of Fire. 



The timber on about 100,000 sq. 

 m., or two-thirds of the land once 

 forested, has been totally destroyed 

 by fire, and on over half of the 

 remaining 55,8^5 sq. m. has been 

 seriously damaged. Using the timber 

 still standing as a basis, it is estimated 

 that the province has lost, through 

 forest fires, at least 665 billion feet 

 board measure. When one considers 

 that the total stand of saw material 

 in the whole Dominion probably 

 does not greatly exceed this amount 

 now, the seriousness of this loss, 

 which can be attributed very largely 

 to public carelessness, becomes ap- 

 parent. 



The total stand of saw timber 

 and pulpwood material, in British 

 Columbia, as ascertained by the sur- 

 vey of the Commission of Conserva- 

 tion, in 366 billion board feet. 



Of the species which are used in the 

 manufacture of pulp and paper (hem- 

 lock, balsam, spruce and cottonwood), 

 there is 170 billion feet, equivalent 

 to 243 million cords of pulpwood, 

 which may be increased to 250 

 million cords by utilizing smaller- 

 sized timber. In view of the fact 

 that the limited supply of pulpwood 



