434 



Canadian Forestry Journal, March, ipi6. 



Boards of Trade Back Forest 

 ^^^^ Protection ^^^^ 



Twelve of Ontario's Leading Bodies Give Support to Association's 



Appeals — Two Reforms Asked. 



"The Board of Trade of the City of 

 Toronto. 



Toronto, Feb. 9, 1916. 



The Hon. G. H. Ferguson, 



Minister of Lands, Forests and 

 Mines, 

 Parliament Buildings, Toronto. 



Dear Sir: 



"The Council of this i5oard, hav- 

 ing carefully considered the subject 

 of forest conservation and the pro- 

 tection of same from fire, desire to 

 place themselves on record as being 

 in favor of the Government adopt- 

 ing a rigid policy covering control 

 of settlers' fires and the supervision 

 of the work of the forest rangers. 



"The enormous loss annually 

 from reckless forest fires should 

 warrant immediate action by the 

 Government and the Board respect- 

 fullv suggests that the matter be 

 given due consideration at the forth- 

 coming session of the Legislature. 



Yours faithfully, 



F. G. MORLEY, Sec'v." 



Although the Canadian Forestry 

 Association began its campaign 

 only about two months ago to inter- 

 est Boards of Trade in the forest 

 protection movement, the fruits of 

 the efforts are already showing. 

 Quickly discerning the importance 

 of forest conservation, once the mat- 

 ter was demonstrated as a business 

 proposition, the officers and mem- 

 bers of the Boards have not hesitat- 

 ed to take up with their govern- 

 ments several long-needed reforms. 



Twelve of the leading Boards of 

 Trade in Ontario dealt promptly and 

 sufficiently with the proposals of 

 the Association, and other Boards 

 are quickly following their example. 



Two points alone were dealt with 

 in the initial effort : The need of 

 some form of control over settlers' 

 fires in the forested districts of On- 

 tario; the necessity of reorganizing 

 the forest protection service so as to 

 bring about adequate field supervis- 

 ion and inspection of rangers. 



After careful consideration of the 

 evidence submitted by the Associa- 

 tion in support of these contentions, 

 the following- made direct appeal to 

 the Hon. G. H. Ferguson, Minister 

 of Lands, Forests and Mines stat- 

 ing the Boards' endorsation of these 

 reforms .'^nd requesting action along 

 the lines ipiicated: Toronto, Hamil- 

 ton, London, Belleville, Kenora, 

 Fort AVilliam, St. Catharines, Pres- 

 cott, Bracebridge, Smith's Falls, 

 Chatham, and Berlin. Others will 

 be heard from at meetings which 

 are soon to be held. 



That the keenest men in twelve 

 communities would with such 

 promptness endorse a movement 

 for better protection of the forests 

 of Ontario speaks volumes for the 

 growth of conservation sentiment 

 in Canada during recent years. The 

 representations of the Boards are 

 now in the hands of the Minister of 

 Lands and Forests at Toronto and 

 it is believed that his agreement to 

 the proposals will not be delayed 

 unduly. 



