Forest Devastation 33 



compared with the whole timbered region of the four 

 provinces. 



In 1909, the forest rangers over the whole region from 

 Lake Winnipeg to the Athabaska River, the eastern slope 

 of the Rocky Mountains and the railway belt in British 

 Columbia, were asked to ascertain and report the percentage 

 of each district which had been burned over within forty 

 years. Replies were received from sixty-nine rangers 

 whose ranges lie mostly beyond the limits of railways and 

 settlements. The following results, with comments, are 

 taken from the report : 



''Area reported on 203,300 square miles 



Area of merchantable timber .... 34,484 square miles 

 Area burned over within 40 years . . . 54,700 square miles 



"The whole territory of 203,300 square miles bears abundant 

 evidence of having been originally heavily forested, excepting 

 for the small proportion occupied by muskegs, lakes, and water- 

 ways. But within the past one hundred years, fires have 

 wrought such havoc that now only about 17 per cent or 34,484 

 square miles are reported to be covered with the original stand 

 of merchantable timber." 



Such examples as to the prevalence and injury of fires 

 might be multiplied many times. One stops, not for lack 

 of evidence, but from the feeling that a case has been es- 

 tablished ; that to go further would be to dwell needlessly 

 upon what is quite clear. 



Fires do not come as a judgment from heaven. They are 

 the result of the carelessness of man, and the causes need 

 to be known if the results are to be prevented. Every fire 



