Forests and Mines 



A. Lakes, Ymir, B.C. 



The only redeeming features of the 

 great forest fires in a mining way are, 

 that after them if the plant has survived, 

 there is less danger of another fire and 

 the burning off of timber and brush makes 

 the following of leads on the surface and 

 prospecting more easy. But these com- 

 pensations are incomparable with the ir- 

 reparable loss of necessary timber and the 

 protection the growing timber affords 

 against the miner's worst enemy, the 

 snowslide. 



The burning off of the country has a per- 

 nicious influence on the storage and 

 equable dstiribution of water necessary 

 for all kinds of mining. The baring of a 

 mouutan-itop and its denudation of soil, 

 trees and bushes, causes the water it re- 

 ceives to gather so quickly that it will 

 discharge in torrents into the river below, 

 washing out flumes and filling reservoirs 

 with silt and gravel, whilst forests grow- 

 ing on mountain summits and protecting 

 water-sheds, not only collect and retain the 

 moisture and snow, but let the water out 

 gradually and advantageously in the sea- 

 son when most needed. 



The rapid thawing in spring of a great 

 fall of snow accumulated during the win- 

 ter, so far from being advantageous to the 

 mines, and especially the placer mines, 

 and supplying them with an abundance of 

 water, may be detrimental, and often after 

 destroying flumes leaves the area dry and 

 waterless or nearly so. 



The writer who has passed some winters 

 in the mountains of British Columbia near 

 Nelson, has had ample opportunity of 

 noting the influence of forest fires in or- 

 iginating and promoting snow slides and 

 of standing timber in preventing and ar- 

 resting them. Snow slides great and small 

 are very common on either slope of Wild- 

 Horse Creek. The entire valley has more 

 than once been swept by forest fires, leav- 

 ing patches of timber here and there, us- 

 ually a thousand feet or more above the 

 river, that next to the river having been 

 burnt out. Above this standing timber 

 some high peaks rise for another thou- 

 sand feet. Snow slides abound on the 

 latter but rarely reach the valley, being 

 arrested by the standing timber in the 

 intermediate zone. Nearly all the slides 

 of a damaging nature to mining works, 

 start from bare places immediately below 

 the timber but not from within it, al- 

 though snow there lies deep. In a recent 

 wide slide that skimmed off the snowy 

 crust of a hill for a width of half a mile 

 and a downward length of 1,000 feet, it 

 was noticeable that when the great sheet 

 started it broke off invariably at points 



just below the standing timber in an 

 irregular line. The great sheet left this 

 line of parting in a well-defined bench five 

 to ten feet high all along the hill side 

 resembling an irregular brush fence and 

 rolled down into the valley and river in 

 a mass of foaming snow. On the opposite 

 mountain our mine has ben troubled by 

 small slides rolling down from the timber 

 above. These would at times block the 

 entrance to the tunnel and separate it 

 from the blacksmith shop. Larger slides 

 in an adjacent gulch frequently disturbed 

 our pipe line supplying power to the com- 

 presser. Sections of flumes were carried 

 away causing power to be shut off for a 

 day or more. The difference such annoy- 

 ances made in mining was shown in the 

 drilling returns and progress of the tunnel. 

 During the summer months the average 

 cost was about $12 per foot. In March 

 (the worst .snow-slide month) it was 

 $30.00. Many small slides descending from 

 the slopes on either side obstructed our 

 wagon-road to town and train for mail 

 and supplies. These slides had to be dug 

 through for the x^^ssage of teams and 

 sleighs. Winter expenses due largely to 

 snow slides, directly or indirectly are us- 

 ually far in excess to those of the summer 

 months. Tlie existence of these slides is 

 almost entirely due to the burning off of 

 the timber. Before the great fires, slides 

 were few and confined to well-known 

 gulches. Since the fire they have appeared 

 in every direction as much on the open 

 face of the hills as in the gulches. Some- 

 times the whole snow face of a hill will 

 slide off bodily, in other cases, the slopes 

 are literally channelled by them and at 

 times there is an epidemic in which the 

 hills are said to 'rain slides' only a few 

 yards apart. From our cabin window you 

 can count thirty slides within the space 

 of a mile. Whilst the burning off of tim- 

 ber has removed further fear of fire to the 

 camp and has exposed some prospects on 

 the opposite hill side such could not be 

 worked in winter through fear of slides, 

 whilst those being worked on the other hill 

 are constantly annoyed by them. The aim 

 should be to prevent fires and to stop snow 

 slides from forming by leaving timber to 

 stand and grow at least above the mine. 

 A miner would be very foolish to clear the 

 timber back of and above his mine and 

 use it because it was 'handy' thereby ex- 

 posing himself and his men and mine to 

 the snow slide. On the other hand it is 

 advisable to clear a certain space around 

 the plant in view of a possible forest fire. 

 In felling such timber all branches should 

 be cut off and piled away and burnt by 

 themselves as 'Slashings' are fire traps 

 and common starter of fires. 



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