130 



Canadian Forestry Journal, September-October, 1912 



ests of Canada might last indefinitely if 

 the fire-fiend were conquered, but this was 

 not being done in any province. It seem- 

 ed likely that timber revenues would di- 

 minish from this onward and nothing was 

 being done to secure reproduction. The 

 fire-ranging systems, while extensive in 

 some provinces, needed the adoption of a 

 definite policy in order to get results. 



' To sum up, in the eastern and prairie 

 provinces, the supply of timber is decreas- 

 ing without adequate means being taken 

 to replace it; the Government revenues 

 from timber are declining and, therefore, 

 the ability to take proper means for sav- 

 ing the forest is decreasing, as the ne 

 cessity increases. When these provinces 

 awake to the need, they may find the fin- 

 ancial strain too great. The Dominion 

 Government while handling well the for- 

 ests in its own jurisdiction, might fairly 

 be asked to come to the helj) of the pro- 

 vinces, for forest assets are assets of the 

 wiiole country as well as of the provinces. 

 British Columbia is in the unique position 

 of having large areas of fine timber and 

 also a buoyant revenue. It is, therefore, 

 in a more favorable position than any 

 other j^rovince to inaugurate a good for- 

 est policy and it is a satisfaction to all 

 citizens of the Dominion to know this is 

 being undertaken in an adequate manner. 

 The good features of the system being or- 

 ganized are the following: — 



1. Advantage has been taken of expert 

 knowledge in the laying out of policy and 

 organization. 



2. The staff is being placed on a civil 

 service basis so that appointments will 

 be made on considerations of merit. 



3. A strong head-quarters staff has 

 been provided. 



4. Provision has been made for investi- 

 gating the conditions affecting the forests 

 and the timber industry. 



5. This organization will administer all 

 matters relating to the forests and timber, 

 and not, as in other cases, separate tim- 

 ber administration from forest conserva- 

 tion. 



Mr. H. K. Robinson, Assistant Forester 

 of British Columbia in charge of forest 

 surveys, pointed out the enormous worlv 

 of securing data regarding the forests on 

 an area 700 miles long and 400 miles wide 

 which comprised British Columbia, and 

 making timber maps of the same area. To 

 do this as rapidly as possible, a number 

 of parties were being sent out and ten 

 were now in the field. The forest service 

 of British Columbia was only three months 

 old, but no time was being wasted and 

 they were confident of completing the re- 

 connaissance survey by 1915. 



Mr. W. H. Breithaupt, C. E., of Berlin, 

 Ont., read a brief paper, illustrated by 

 diagrams, on 'A Lost Opportunity in For- 



est Conservation. ' The opportunity was 

 in the western peninsula of Ontario. Here 

 was a district with a rainfall of about 

 thirty three inches with forests and 

 swamps to retard the run-off and keep 

 the rivers, in equable flow. It has been 

 stripped, with the result that, while there 

 has been no appreciable change in precipi- 

 tation, the luctuation of the streams has 

 become so great as to destroy their use 

 for power purposes. He instanced a case 

 coming under his own observation in the 

 Grand Eiver, (Western Ontario) where 

 the flood flow was 20,000 cubic feet per 

 second, and the minimum summer flow 

 forty cubic feet ])er second. He asked 

 (vhether the destroying of rivers and for- 

 ests had been ])aid for by turning all in- 

 to cleared land when much of it was third 

 and fourth quality agricultural land and 

 some of it entirely useless. 



Resolutions. 



The Resolutions Committee reported 

 through Mr . Aubrey White, and, after 

 some discussion, the report was adopted 

 as follows: 



(1) Resolved, that the Canadian For- 

 estrv Association endorses the suggestions 

 submitted by the British Columbia Lum- 

 ber and Shingle Manufacturers' Associa- 

 tion in favor of the establishment of a 

 course in logging engineering in the new 

 British Columbia University. 



(2) Believing that actual working co- 

 operation between ])ublic and private for- 

 est management is essential to mutual un- 

 derstanding and complete success, we 

 urge upon Canadian lumbermen the study 

 and emulation of the lumber-owner's co- 

 operative fire associations of the Pacific 

 Northwestern States which are proving 

 of great value, not only in their own fire 

 control but also in bringing about closer 

 and better relations between all agencies 

 engaged in forest preservation. 



(3) Whereas, the proper disposal of de- 

 bris resulting from lumbering operation is 

 essential to the effective protection of for- 

 ests from fire, therefore resoluved, that 

 the association urges u]ion the Dominion 

 and Provincial Governments, the advisa- 

 bility, as soon as practicable, of adopting 

 measures to this end. 



(4) Resolved, that the Canadian For- 

 estry Association is of opinion that it is 

 in the public interest that squatting or 

 settlement should not be allowed on lands 

 that are chiefly valuable for their timber, 

 and that all non-agricultural lands should 

 be reserved ];ermauently for timl>er pro- 

 duction. 



(.5) Resolved, that the convention of 

 the Canadian Forestry Association desires 

 to call attention to resolution Xo. 3, pass- 

 ed at the last convention of the Associa- 



