Canadian Forestry Journal, January, jpi6. 



371 



Dean Adams on Forest Preservation 



At a recent meeting of the Mon- 

 treal Forum, Dean Adams, of Mc- 

 Gill University, spoke very strongly 

 about the need of safeguarding our 

 forests. This is a subject which has 

 been brought to the attention of the 

 public so much in the past that 

 doubtless a considerable number are 

 weary of it, but there seems no other 

 way to arouse public opinion than 

 by this process of reiteration. The 

 question is too important to leave to 

 individual effort. A progressive 

 firm or individual here and there be- 

 comes so impressed with the nation- 

 al danger that action is taken, but 

 the great mass of those concerned 

 do little or nothing in the matter. 

 It is just for these that Dr. Adams' 

 warning is published. 



After showing that our forest 

 areas were being depleted at a rapid 

 rate, he went on to point out that 

 the forests in the Northern belt were 

 not of such value as those in the 

 Southern belt, but in the latter the 

 really good timber was seriously de- 

 pleted. One-half of the total timber 

 in the Dominion was located in Bri- 

 tish Columbia. There had been 

 enormous destruction of forests in 

 the past, the lumbermen having cut 

 out the trees in such a way that the 

 latter contributed to he spread of 

 fire, and more imber had been burn- 

 ed down than had been cut by the 

 lumbermen. In some instances the 

 fires had so seriously affected the 

 soil that replenishing was out of the 

 question. Dr. Adams referred to the 

 methods of the St. Maurice Forest 



Protective Association, and of the 

 Lower Ottawa Association, to guard 

 against fire, and said their efforts 

 were examples of what could be 

 done to resist fires. 



It was supposed by some that the 

 northern forests were inexhaustible ; 

 surveys, however, showed that this 

 was a mistake, and it was possible 

 that our forest wealth could be ex- 

 hausted. How could we conserve 

 our forests? We could protect them 

 from destruction by fire, and he was 

 glad to note that in British Columbia 

 efforts were being made to this end. 

 AVe must also replant our forests^ 

 and follow the example of European 

 countries, where reafforestation had 

 proved successful. He suggested in 

 particular a scheme for conserving 

 the forest resources in the northern 

 belt, so that the country would have 

 a permanent source of supply which 

 would bring in a large annual rev- 

 enue. The reason why such a 

 scheme was not carried out was to 

 be found in the changing character 

 of governments, who preferred to 

 pass it on from time to time rather 

 than incur the great expense. A 

 strong public opinion was needed in 

 order to force a government to take 

 up this question; it was only in this 

 way that any government could be 

 compelled to make the necessary 

 expenditure. 



One thing is certain. Our forests 

 are not inexhaustible, and further, 

 there is little or no concerted action 

 on the part of the authorities to safe- 

 guard and preserve them. Action is 

 needed. — (Pulp & Paper Magazine.) 



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