The Dominion Forest Reserves 9 



go out to the 100-acre farms, and to the numerous small villages 

 and soon have a force of men to put it under control. But in 

 the Northwest the population is scarce, railroads are not so 

 numerous, and telephonic communication is not so good. In 

 that country we cannot count much on putting out forest fires 

 and so we have to be all the more diligent to see that fires do 

 not get started. 



The reserves are under constant patrol, summer and winter. 

 During the danger periods the rangers lay aside all other duties 

 and guard the forest against fire. In 1908, we had only two 

 fires of any consequence, one in the Pines Reserve which burned 

 over 22 square miles destroying no merchantable timber, and 

 one in the Turtle Mountains, extending over 28 square miles, 

 mostly covered with grass. In each of these fires, however, 

 large areas of young reproduction growth was destroyed. 



Last year we began a practice which we know saved the 

 reserves several fires. It is a well known fact that, in the early 

 spring, the fields become bare and the grass dry before the snow, 

 is all gone from the woods. While such conditions existed 

 the forest rangers burned the meadows along the reserve 

 boundaries. Fires, coming in from the prairie, met this wide 

 fire line and died out for want of fuel. Around the Riding 

 Mountains the meadows were burned for ninety miles, around 

 the Duck Mountains for forty-two miles, and around the Por- 

 cupine Mountains for thirty miles, all these in the most dan- 

 gerous places. It is the intention to extend this practice to all 

 the reserves wherever it is practicable, and to carry it out upon 

 an extensive scale. 



Plowed fire guards also will be made around and across 

 some of the reserves. The forest ranger on the Cypress Hills 

 has instructions to plow a guard of four furrows entirely around 

 the reserve, and outside of this four rods distant from it a 

 second guard. Then, on calm days, with the help of two or 

 three men he is to burn the grass between the two guards. 

 On the Spruce Woods Reserve several guards will be plowed, 

 one of which will run along each side of the Canadian Northern 

 Railway which crosses the reserve. 



Roads along the boundaries and through the reserves are 

 being constructed to aid in fighting fire. One hundred and 

 fifty miles was made this year. In certain places these roads 

 are very much needed. For instance, I noticed in my inspec- 

 tion of the Turtle Mountain Reserve that the roads all run 

 north and south. There is no way of going promptly and con- 

 veniently east and west. The fires mostly come in from Dakota 

 which lies to the south. Therefore, to facilitate the fighting 

 of fire the forest ranger was instructed to make a road follow- 



