Canadian Forestry Journal, March, 1917 



1013 



so that in many places the lower branches of the trees rested directly on the 

 ground. Though the orchard was not destroyed it was so injured that it will 

 be necessary to reset the buried area. Four acres of bottom land which had 

 been cleared the year previous to the fire for planting to lemons were so cover- 

 ed with gravel and bowlders as to be completely ruined. Local residents 

 state that while the precipitation that winter was heavy, they do not believe 

 it was worse than in many other years. One owner expresses the opinion 

 that there has been more damage from erosion in the 3 years since the fire 

 than in the 22 years before. 



Effects of Destructive Lumbering 



All cutting, of course, changes to some extent the character and amount 

 of the soil cover and therefore disturbs more or less the natural balance be- 

 tween rainfall and run-off. If the cutting is properly regulated, however, 

 this effect may be so slight as to be practically negligible. It is nearly always 

 possible to leave sufficient cover on the ground to prevent any ill effects from 

 the opening up of the stand, and if fire is kept out this is soon supplemented 

 by other vegetation which effectively protects the soil from erosion. 



Unfortunately, past cuttings have not in all cases been properly regulated. 

 Considerable unnecessary erosion may be laid to destructive lumbering carried 

 on without regard to the future welfare of the forest itself or of the interests 

 dependent on its protective cover. Clear cutting has been practiced on 

 steep slopes where at least a part of the stand should have been left. Roads 

 have been so located as to be subject to serious erosion. Deeply gouged skid 

 trails, formed by dragging many logs down the same rut, have been left un- 

 protected to wash out after every heavy rain. Worst of all, fires have been 

 allowed to burn uncontrolled on the cut-over areas. The dry mass of twigs, 

 branches, and other inflammable material left after all lumbering operations 

 adds to the fury of the flames and enables them to expose the bare soil to the 

 mercy of the other elements. 



About Saskatchewan 



Saskatchewan covers some 

 one hundred and sixty-one mil- 

 lion acres of territory, one-fifth 

 of which is water and two-fifths 

 available for cultivation. About 

 one-half of the Province is now 

 surveyed, the remainder of the 

 area is mostly unagricultural. 

 The forest area covers some six 

 million acres equal to the area 

 of wheat crop in the Province 

 during the year 1915. There- 

 fore, the forest reserves and 

 their resources are not a small 

 factor in influencing the pros- 

 perity of the people. With pro- 

 per protection and management 

 their products can be made just 

 as valuable to the community as 

 the farmers' wheat. Excellent 

 forage and hay are also available 

 and several stock associations 

 are being organized for the pur- 



pose of utilizing the grazing. 

 Numerous timber and cordwood 

 operations are being carried on 

 throughout the district this win- 

 ter. 



A shortage of labour has been evi- 

 dent all season with a heavy snow 

 fall and a considerable spell of 30 to 

 50 degrees below zero weather, dur- 

 ing January and February. 



Acting Supervisor Geo. S. Smith of 

 the Big River Forest Reserve re- 

 cently visited this office and reports 

 considerable activity by the Ladder 

 Lake Lumber Company who are run- 

 ning seven camps this winter logging 

 timber on their limits in the vicinity 

 of Big River and cutting small tim- 

 ber sales on the Forest Reserve. One 

 operator is cutting cordwood on an 

 extensive scale, some burned timber 

 on the limits. 



A. B. Connell, Supervisor, Pasquia 



