CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION 79 



It is then simply these three things in one that we want ; a management 

 of the public forest property for continuity, which involve protection against 

 destruction of the young growth and cut over lands from fire ; segregation of 

 agricultural lands before cutting begins ; and a change of methods of disposal 

 which will give control to the government over the manner of cutting and 

 of leaving the timber limits. 



How far have governments responded to these demands? 



There is legislation regarding forest fires in each province and lately 

 also more and more efficient organization to carry it into effect, although 

 this is very variable from province to province, from British Columbia, 

 where less than a handful of incompetent fire rangers attempt to protect 

 a territory nearly as large as the whole of France and Germany combined, 

 to Ontario, which has lately spent 150 to 160 thousand dollars on its protec- 

 tive service. 



It is not likely that even a large, annually newly recruited army of 

 incompetent, inexperienced men, appointed through political influence, even 

 if a sprinkling of competent woodsmen is added, will successfully cope with 

 the evil. Thorough organization of smaller groups of continuously 

 employed, experienced men, which may be assisted by some less experienced 

 during the dangerous season, and thorough continuous inspection while they 

 are at work is necessary. This nucleus of permanent foresters should be 

 directed by active superiors in charge of this special service and in sympathy 

 with the broader policies which are to follow the effective fire protection. 



I believe the Dominion Government and the Province of Quebec have 

 the feeble beginnings of such an organization which only needs to be further 

 elaborated. These two governments have inaugurated what would appear 

 to be the first requirement, namely, separate government agencies to take 

 care of the forest interests, and only an extension of their means and func- 

 tions is necessary for further development. 



What none of the governments have realized, not even the Dominion 

 Government is, that a supreme effort is necessary to break away from the 

 established usages, which a century of accumulated momentum carries over 

 any feeble attempts to interfere with them. 



A mere tinkering with the problems with little detail prescriptions will 

 not remedy anything, broad and farsighted plans of action are needed. 



There is no thorough realization of the seriousness of the situation, in 

 fact, there is still doubt as to -whether it exists. 



The certainty as to whether we are really as close to the end of this 

 resource as it appears, and that its condition is as dangerous as we claim, 

 might perhaps stimulate the governments to a change of attitude and to a 

 more decided advance towards positive improvement in their methods rf 

 management. 



We do not know positively what the amount of timber standing actually 

 is, but we can. make a fair probability calculation. 



The commercially valuable timberlands of the Eastern Provinces are 

 and were always confined to the portions south of the Height of Land with 

 an insignificant overflow along the headwaters of the northern river courses. 

 This area, which circumscribes the limits of the White Pine, does not quite 

 cover 200,000,000 acres. It is from this area that some 25 million acres 

 have been cleared for farms at the expense mainly of the most valuable 

 hardwoods, and that during the last 40 years the above stated values for 

 export and home consumption were derived, not to speak of the longer but 

 comparatively lighter drain of the period before confederation. If we were 



