Forest Preservation 57 



supply great national forests. Practically all the lands 

 unfit for agriculture are still in the possession of the various 

 governments. In the four older provinces and in British 

 Columbia these crown lands are owned and controlled by 

 the provincial governments. In British Columbia, how- 



FIG. 8. A Fire Ranger's Lodge. Lake Nipigon. 



e.er, a strip about 20 miles on each side of the main line 

 of the Canadian Pacific Railway, known as the " Railway 

 Belt," and the " Peace River Block " in the northeast 

 corner of the province, are under Dominion control. 



In the three prairie provinces the crown lands are still 

 owned by the Dominion and managed by the Department 

 of the Interior. In' Manitoba the swamp lands were handed 

 over to the province in 1885, but those which remained un- 

 sold were given back to the Dominion in 1912, when the 

 boundaries were extended to Hudson's Bay. This pos- 

 session of the forest areas by the various governments 



