Canadian Forestry Journal, November, ipij. 



257 



FROM THE RANGER'S STANDPOINT. 



Incidents of the Fire Guardan's Life. The Reason for Lightning 



Bolts — A Poster-Eating Porcupine. 



Gradually we are building up in 

 Canada a body of men and also a 

 body of knowledge in connection 

 with our forest protective work. 

 When men devote their attention to 

 any subject, even such a difficult one 

 as fire-fighting in forests at a dis- 

 tance from water, it is wonderful 

 what an amount of information is 

 acquired as to the best methods of 

 work. In some of the Dominion 

 Forestry Branch districts the ran- 

 gers get together once a year to talk 

 over their work and suggest means 

 for making it more effective. 



Ore Drazvs Lightning. 



One of these meetings was held at 

 Revelstoke, B.C., recently. Here a 

 discussion took place as to the fires 

 caused by lightning which are a 

 serious feature of that district — the 

 chief rangers' reports indicating that 

 50 per cent, of the fires come from 

 this source. 



One of the rangers advanced the 

 theory that lightning struck in the 

 mountains in regions underlain by 

 iron ore, mostly iron pyrites. 



As to the long continuance of fire 

 danger one ranger told of a hollow 

 cedar log which had smouldered all 

 winter under the snow and broken 

 out into fiame in the spring. 



Rocks Spread Fires. 



One way in which fires spread in 

 the mountains, it was stated, was by 

 burning logs and hot rocks rolling 

 down the steep hillside and setting 

 fire to the forest lower down. 



Good results were noted from the 

 burning of settlers slash under the 

 "permit" system by which no slash 

 may be burned except upon a permit 

 given by a fire ranger. 



Flunters and Boy Scouts. 



One of the rangers suggested that 

 the provincial government which 

 has control of the issue of hunting 

 licenses be asked to print a warn- 

 ing in regard to forest fires on the 

 back of the license tag which must 

 be carried by every person hunting 

 or shooting. 



Another ranger suggested that 

 forest rangers give Boy Scouts and 

 school children practical demonstra- 

 tions in proper methods of making 

 and extinguishing camp fires. Still 

 another suggestion was that short 

 stories embodying the points of for- 

 est protection be read by the school 

 teachers to the pupils on Friday af- 

 ternoons. 



Fire Notices Valuable. 



There was quite a discussion on 

 fire notices and on every hand the 

 opinion was express that these no- 

 tices, contrary to opinion in some 

 quarters, had a very educative effect. 

 It was noticeable that there were 

 numerous requests for fire notices 

 containing extracts from the fire 

 laAvs of the province in which the 

 ranger district is situated. Busy 

 men in cities fancy that no one will 

 stop long enough in front of a poster 

 to read a part of a fire law but these 

 rangers pointed out that these no- 

 tices were posted up on prospectors' 

 and hunters' cabins, at camping 

 places, at lumber camps and the like 

 where men are forced to spend much 

 time. They have plenty of time. 

 They are anxious to know the law 

 and this is the only opportunity 

 many ever have of knowing the pro- 

 visions of fire acts. 



