Annual Report British Columbia Forest Branch 



The report for the year eiideil Dec. 31, 

 1913, of the Chief Forester of British Co- 

 lumbia, Mr. H. E. MacMillan, to the Hon. 

 W. E. Boss, Minister of Lauds, is a most 

 important document. 



rorest Revenue. 



In addition to the usual letter press of 

 such reports, there are a fiumber of dia- 

 grams which help to enforce the points of 

 the report. One of these diagrams shows 

 that the forest revenue of British Colum- 

 bia amounts to $6.63 per head, whereas 

 that of Ontario is only 79c per head, and 

 Quebec 77c per head. Another diagram 

 .shows that royalties from timber cut in 

 British Columbia during the twelve 

 mouths amounted to $489,377, whereas 

 those of Ontario amounted to $1,339,957, 

 and those of Quebec to $1,173,393. In 

 spite of financial stringency during the 

 past year, the branch collected, during 

 the twelve months ending December 1st, 

 a revenue breaking all previous records, 

 and amounting to $2,832,788, which is 

 $229,669 greater than the revenue for the 

 twelve months ending December 1st, 1912. 



The total forest revenue, including taxa- 

 tion on Crown-granted timber lands, for 

 the twelve months ending December 1st, 

 was $2,999,579. The estimated expendi- 

 ture for the branch for the fiscal year 

 ending March, 1914, is $245,754. 



The forest protection fund, to which the 

 government and the timber owners con- 

 tribute equal sums, is estimated, for the 

 year ending March, 1914, at $350,682. 



Importance of the Lumbering Industry. 



Even today, with the trade undeveloped, 

 except with the Prairie Provinces, lumber- 

 ing constitutes the financial backbone of 

 British Columbia. Half the industrial 

 capital of the Province is embarked in 

 lumbering, and half the pay roll and 37% 

 of the production come from the same 

 source. The report looks for great de- 

 velopment with the opening of the Pana- 

 ma Canal, the development of eastern 

 markets, and of the general over seas 

 traile. 



Says the Eeport: 'In the collection of 

 forest revenue the returns of the Forest 

 Branch show a cut of 1,457,000,000 feet, 

 board measure, for the year 1913, an 

 amount which is nearly equal to the com- 

 bined output of the Provinces of Ontario 

 and Quebec for the previous year. If the 

 large amount of material used in railway 

 construction during the year be included, 

 British Columbia's total cut would ap- 

 proach 2,000,000,000 feet. The number of 

 saw and shingle mills exceeds 425. ' 



Logging Inspection. 



There were 794 logging operations in 

 progress during 1913 on timber lands, on 

 which a royalty, or tax, had been reserved 

 to the Crown. The product of these opera- 

 tions for the calendar year 1913 was, ap- 

 proximately, 1,348,000,000 feet of logs, 

 82,805 cords of shingle-bolts, 3,030,010 

 lineal feet of piling, 35,000 minimg-props, 

 15,500 cedar ^Josts, and 5,093,718 lineal 

 feet of cedar poles. The report states that 

 there are few cases of intentional tres- 

 pass. Absence of clearly marked survey 

 lines and duplicate unofficial surveys ac- 

 count for most of them. 



Clean Logging. 



It is admitted that clean logging will 

 depend upon the lumber market, for when 

 there is no market for low-grade lumber 

 the logger will feel disposed to leave low- 

 grade logs in the woods. The general 

 study which has been made up to date 

 shows, however, that even under the mar- 

 ket conditions, which have governed dur- 

 ing the past few years, a great dael of 

 material has been left to rot which could 

 have been taken out profitably. The 

 Forest Branch is working to reduce this 

 waste. 



Forest Insect Damage. 



During the past two years timber own- 

 ers have reported instances of destruction 

 of merchantable timber by insects. In- 

 vestigations in the Pacific States have 

 shown that insect depredations can be con- 

 trolled economically, and, with this end 

 in view, arrangements were made last year 

 with Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt, Dominion 

 Entomologist, for a co-operative study of 

 forest insects. Mr. J. M. Swaine, Ento- 

 mologist for Forest Insects, spent the sum- 

 mer in British Columbia. His report has 

 already appeared in the Canadian Forestrtf 

 ■Journal. 



Export of Forest Products. 



The Eeport notes that the life of the 

 timber industry of British Columbia de- 

 pends upon profitable export, because the 

 local population uses less than one-fifth of 

 the timber production of the Province. 

 The chief markets are the Prairie Prov- 

 inces, the United States and Eastern Can- 

 ada, and the sea-borne cargo trade. These 

 are discussed at length, and measures for 

 their development indicated. 



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