280 



Canadian Forestry Journal, December, ipij. 



The Relation of Forestry To 

 Irrigation — 



Western Canada's Irrigation Requirements are Linked Insepar- 

 ably to Preservation of the Western Forests. 



By R. D. Prettie, 



Superintendent of Forestry, Department of Natural Resources, C. P. 

 CaUarx, Alta.; Director, Canadian Forestry Association. 



R; 



Water is the common property of 

 all and on it depends the ultimate 

 basis of all land values. Its equit- 

 able administration is a primary 

 necessity in furthering the welfare 

 of the community. By its influence 

 vast desert wastes have been re- 

 claimed to enrich the world, and 

 populous agricultural communities 

 estabhshed and given the opportun- 

 ity to become prosperous and inde- 

 pendent — the reward for intelligent 

 labor. The student of economics 



recognizes 



nothing more clearly 



than the close relationship existing 

 between the country's various indus- 

 tries and its dependence upon a 

 normal development of the natural 

 resources. This is very apparent in 

 regard to the inter-dependence of 

 irrigation and forestry as auxiliaries 

 to industrial progress in sections of 

 the country where irrigation is of 

 primary importance in agricultural 

 development. 



The irrigation policy in Western 

 Canada and its relation to the forest 

 is inseparable: it is to bring under 

 cultivation and increase the produc- 

 tion on lands which receive insuffi- 

 cient rainfall for the profitable pro- 

 duction of crops. The dependence 

 of western agriculture upon irriga- 

 tion is of great importance and de- 

 mands that we must conserve the 

 forests that store the water. ^ 



This is the gaunt product of a moun- 

 tain-side fire in British Columbia. Every 

 fire on the watersheds destroys a natural 

 reservoir for water. And without water, 

 large sections of Western Canada must 

 remain forever a barrens. 



The effect of forest agencies on 

 rainfall, regulation of moisture, and 

 preserving humidity has been re- 



