Forestry Matters before the Commission of 



Conservation. 



Forestry Leaders Deal With Diderent Aspects of the Subject. 



The sixth annual nieetinjj of the Coni- 

 niission of Conservation of Canada was 

 held in the offices of the Commission, Ot- 

 tawa, January 19 and 20, 1915. with most 

 of its mointtors from the <litt'erent pro- 

 vinces in attendance. 



Sir Cliflford Sifton, Chairman, presided 

 and delivered the opening address. In be- 

 ginning he noted that Dr. lieland, M.P., 

 one of the mendiers of the Commission, was 

 taking an active part in caring for the 

 wounded^ in Belgium and was at that date 

 a prisoner in the hands of the enemy. Re- 

 ference was also made to the fact that 

 Col. Jeffrey Burland, of Montreal, who was 

 a member of the Town Planning Com- 

 mittee of the Commission, had died sud- 

 denly in England, where he had gone as 

 Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Red 

 Cross Association. His place had been 

 taken by Dr. Hodgetts, Chief Medical Ad- 

 viser of the Commission, and his work in 

 Canada had temporarily to be abandoned. 



Sir Clifford Sifton 's aildress dealt with 

 town planning, agriculture survey, illustra- 

 tion farms, minerals, power survey, fish- 

 eries, game and fur-bearing animals, use 

 of western coal, game preservation, in ad- 

 dition to forests. 



It was noted, however, that much of the 

 work of the Commission this year related to 

 forestry showing the growth in importance 

 of this subject, ami synopses of several of 

 the addresses delivered will be found 

 below. 



Sm CLITFORD SIFTON. 



The Chairman Shows Where Progress is 

 Being Made. 



Sir Cliflford Sifton began with the as- 

 sertion that the fire season of 1914 was the 

 worst since 1910 and liad it not been for 

 the protective organizations, established 

 during the last three years, the loss might 

 have approached the dimensions of a 

 national disaster. Larger appropriations 

 were needed to make the service still more 

 eflFective. Fire protection must be re- 

 garded, not as an expense, but as an in- 

 vestment, which would pay high dividends 

 in the future. 



A general stocktaking of Canada's for- 

 est resources was urgent in order to pro- 

 vide for intelligent conservation. This 

 work, liegun in British Columbi;i and Sas- 

 katthewjm in 19].'{, had been continued. It 

 was lioped another year wouM complete 

 the survey when a report would be pub- 

 listieil. The low <'Ost of the work, onlv six 



Sir Clifford Siftou. 



cents per square mile, was explained by 

 the large amount of data obtained from 

 the Dominion, Provincial and C. P. K. J"'or- 

 estry Branches, an<l many limit holders. 



It had, so far, been shown that in the 

 27,000 square miles of Saskatchewan, ac- 

 cessible by ]>resent logging o|)erations, 

 there are 2,100,000,000 feet, boanl meas- 

 ure, of spruce saw timber. Incomplete 

 data for the other .'{.3,000 square miles in- 

 dicate a total stand of 1,200,000.(100 feet. 

 Adding to these another 88,000 square 

 miles, north of the Churchill river, the 

 rough total for the whole of Saskatchewan 

 might be given at 3,500,000,000 feet. Tak- 



21 



