Cunudiun Forcslry Journal, Dcccrnhcr, 1^)17 



Guarding Ontario's Northland 



By E. J. Zavitz, 

 Provincial Forester of Ontario. 



Thirty-Five Districts Created, 85 Towers 

 Erected, Over 1000 Rangers Employed. 



1425 



The Forest Fires Prevention Act 

 passed by the Legislative Assembly 

 of the Province of Ontario in 1917 

 places the administration of forest 

 fire protection under the Forestry 

 Branch of the Department of Lands, 

 Forests and Mines. 



Without going into the details of 

 this new Act it is of interest to point 

 out the new features which are added 

 to Ontario Forest protection. Con- 

 trol of the setting out of fire within 

 forest regions is given through Regula- 

 tions passed by Order-in-Council. 

 It is necessary between the 15th of 

 April and the 30th of September to 

 obtain a written permit in order to 

 set out fire for the disposal of slash 

 or other debris. This written permit 

 is issued by theTire ranger or other 

 duly authorized official and contains 

 certain restraining conditions. The 

 ranger is given special instructions in 

 reference to the conditions under 

 which the Permit is issued. For 

 example, the ranger may find it 

 advisable to name the exact hour at 

 which burning shall start or that some 

 special protection be provided while 

 burning is being done. The issuance 

 of the permit rec[uires the personal 

 inspection of the ranger. 



Another feature of the new Act is 

 the provision for the disposal of fire 

 hazards. Wherever conditions exist 

 which are a menace to life or property 

 the Act provides for definite action 

 by which such danger may be re- 

 moved. 



Field Organization 



The forest region of Ontario, sub- 

 ject to the Forest Fire Act, is divided 

 into 35 Districts, each of which is in 

 charge of a Chief Fire Ranger. Dur- 

 ing the past season we have had 34 

 Deputy Chiefs assisting the Chief 

 Fire Rangers where areas were large 

 or difficult of access. 



The maximum number of rangers 

 for any one period of the past season 

 was 1039. 



In addition to the above organiza- 

 tion we have had 12 Railway In- 

 spectors, whose duties were to carry 

 out the provisions of Order 107 of the 

 Board of Railway Commissioners for 

 Canada. 



For inspection purposes the forest 

 region was divided into three In- 

 spectoral divisions with a Superin- 

 tendent in charge of each division. 



To sum up, during the past season 

 the entire force required in the field, 

 for the carrying on of this work, was 

 1123 men. "You will readily under- 

 stand that with a territory so large it 

 will require time and experience to 

 work out the most satisfactory field 

 organization. 



85 Towers Erected 



Forest fire protection cannot rely 

 alone on the ranger or patrol system. 

 The 1000 men in the field as rangers 

 are helpless if not backed up by 

 modern detection methods. 



During the past season the look- 

 out tower on high points has been 

 introduced into nearly all of the dis- 

 tricts. The Nepigon Reserve had 

 previously adopted this method and 

 found it a great assistance in the 

 detection of fire. During the past 

 season 85 towers have been built at a 

 cost of over $10,000.00. These 

 towers are permanent structures 

 located so that communication niay 

 be had by telephone with outside 

 assistance. 



In addition to the permanent tower, 

 rangers are instructed to clean out 

 trails to high vantage points. These 

 observation points frequently com- 

 mand the view over vast areas and 

 are of great assistance in locating 

 fire. 



