Canadian Forestry Journal, March, ipi6. 



Sf. Maurice Protective Association 



439 



The St. Maurice Forest Associa- 

 tion, Limited, held their fourth an- 

 nual meeting recently at the Place 

 Vig-er Hotel, Montreal. The report 

 of the president, Mr. S. Laurence de 

 Carteret, stated that the scope and 

 influence of the association had in- 

 creased materially during the past 

 year, and the introduction of new 

 methods have raised the degree of 

 efficiency attained. 



Most satisfactory advances have 

 been made in eliminating indiscrim- 

 inate slash burning on farmers' lots 

 in clearing land. Use of burning 

 permits in an experimental way dur- 

 ing the season of 1914 gave such en- 

 couraging results that in 1915 a 

 widespread effort was made 

 throughout the territory of the asso- 

 ciation to have all slash in clearings 

 burned under the supervision of fire 

 rangers in conjunction with burn- 

 ing permits. 



No forest fires occurred from 



burnings conducted in this manner, 



and these results have carried much 



weight with the Department of 



Lands and Forests when the desira- 

 l)ility of the use of burning permits 

 throughout the province has been 

 under consideration. 



It has been suggested that the 

 members of the association issue 

 written instructions to their woods 

 employees advising them that pre- 

 venting and extinguishing fires is 

 their first duty, and the president 

 suggested that a standard set of in- 

 structions to employees pertaining 

 to forest protection, for use by all 

 the members of this Association 

 should be drawn up. 



During the past fire season the 

 total number of fires was 27 per cent. 



less than during that of 1914, while 

 the number of fires requiring extra 

 labor was reduced 20 per cent. Sev- 

 eral hundred miles of portage and 

 trail had again been cut and cleared, 

 making communication easier and 

 quicker. Nine more lookout sta- 

 tions were constructed, making a 

 total of twentv-three. 



Good trails had been cut to all 

 these stations with the intention of 

 connecting them to the nearest tele- 

 phone lines. 



The financial statement showed 

 receipts of ^37,757.45 and expendi- 

 tures of $36,509.52, leaving a bal- 

 ance of $1,247.93. The regular as- 

 sessment for patrol and general ex- 

 pense Avas a quarter of a cent per 

 acre, totalling $19,731.94. On De- 

 cember 2nd a special assessment of 

 one-tenth of a cent per acre was 

 voted for general uses, principally 

 to cover the expenses incurred in 

 fighting fires. The area patrolled 

 held by members of the Association 

 was 7,892,776 acres, to which must 

 be added the settled districts adjoin- 

 ing, but from which no income is 

 derived, and Government lands not 

 under license. The expense in fight- 

 ing fires during the past season was 

 only 56 per cent, of that during the 

 season of 1914, and a large percent- 

 age of the timber killed by fire in 

 1915 is so located that it can be log- 

 ged during this and next winter. 



The following officers were elect- 

 ed : President, Mr. Ellwood Wilson, 

 Laurentide Company, Limited ; 

 vice-president, Mr. Robert F. Granti 

 St. Maurice Lumber Company'; 

 directors, Messrs. Joe. M. Dalton' 

 St. Maurice Paper Company, Limit- 

 ed ; Charles LeBrun, Belgo-Can- 

 adian Pulp and Paper Company, 

 Limited; S. Laurence de Carteret' 

 Brown Corporation; J. H. Danse- 

 reau; secretary-treasurer and man- 

 ager, Mr. Henry Sorgius. 



