168 



Canadian Forestry Journal, August, 1^15. 



:Siamond are burnly fiercely and be- 

 jond control, but the efforts of the 

 fire-fighting crews have been suc- 

 cessful with these exceptions, and 

 further damage averted. The wes- 

 tern divisions of the Island forest 

 -district reports no fires, but there 

 are several fires around Parksville, 

 one serious outbreak near Cour- 

 i;enay, and two on Denman Island, 



which are being fought. Fires on 

 the Islands between Nanaimo and 

 Ladysmith are under control. 



With the drying up of vegetation, 

 and the lack of rain, the fire hazard 

 is increasing, and only by dint of the 

 utmost care and precaution with fire 

 will destruction of life and property, 

 and heavy outlay by public bodies 

 and private individuals be avoided. 



Fish and Game Clubs Organize 



Laurentian Societies Unite to Fight Forest Fires-First Public 



Effort of the Kind in Canada. 



The idea of co-operative forest 

 ^guarding has taken a new direction, 

 and one which suggests boundless 

 possibilities. The Canadian Nor- 

 thern Laurentian Association put 

 into operation this summer a fire 

 protective branch, aiming to be of 

 service not so much to prevent des- 

 truction of the buildings within its 

 area as to protect the splendid for- 

 ests requisite for scenic beauty and 

 the delights of hunting and fishing. 

 This is said to be the first undertak- 

 ing of its kind in Canada. The mem- 

 bers have no lumbering or pulpwood 

 interests but regard the forest from 

 the point of view of health and 

 pleasure seekers. The motive ap- 

 parently is quite sufficient to create 

 a determined forest protective 

 branch to which contributions and 

 personal services have been devoted 

 without stint. 



The Canadian Northern Lauren- 

 tian Association is formed of affili- 

 ated clubs situated along the Mont- 

 fort branch of the Canadian Northern 

 Railway. The membership of these 

 various clubs is made up principally 

 of summer residents. Writing to the 

 Canadian Forestry Journal, the 

 President Mr. W. A. S. Ayerst of 



Montreal, spoke of the new activities 

 as follows : 



"Realizing the damage that is be- 

 ing done annually from forest fires, 

 we feel that the fire protective 

 branch that we have organized is 

 bound to become the most important 

 part of our association. We have 

 already had this season one bad fire 

 to contend with, which was checked 

 after a stubborn fight with the loss 

 of only one summer home. If it had 

 not been for the organization of our 

 fire fighting branch, there would 

 likely have been several houses des- 

 troyed. We, of course, realize that 

 the loss of the summer home is the 

 smallest part of the damage that can 

 be done by forest fires, as we can 

 protect ourselves from this damage 

 by j:arrying fire insurance, but what 

 we most fear is the destruction of 

 the natural beauty of the surround- 

 ing forest and shrubs which would 

 spoil any. particular spot for future 

 building for a great many years, and, 

 of course, we cannot insure against 

 this except by organizing ourselves 

 along proper lines. We also realize 

 that with the destruction of the for- 

 est by fire, the fishing and hunting 

 of the country in which we are in- 



