664 



Canadian Forestry Journal. August, ipid 



between a million and a half and 

 two million dollars annually. Dur- 

 ing 1903, 1904 and 1905, due to the 

 extensive sale of new timber limits, 

 they ran well over two million dol- 

 lars annually. Since Confederation, 

 in 1867, and up to October 31, 1915, 

 the total revenue which the provin- 

 cial treasury received irom Crown 

 timber has been upwards of $52,- 

 850,000, an average for 48 years of 

 more than $1,100,000 annually. 



In order to hold up provincial 

 timber revenues, it is essential that 

 new areas of timber suitable for cut- 

 ting be constantly available, to re- 

 place areas surrendered as cut out. 

 To safeguard this situation, it is 

 absolutely essential that there be an 

 adequate system of fire protection 

 on unlicensed Crown Lands as well 

 as on those under license. Any 

 other policy will mean an ultimate 

 decrease in the provincial timber 

 revenues, as well as shortage of sup- 

 plies for the many hundreds of 

 wood-using industries in the prov- 

 ince. 



Yet, notwithstanding the above, 

 we find, according to the report of 

 the Department for 1915, that only 

 107 fire rangers (paid by the prov- 

 ince) were assigned to the protec- 

 tion of the 50 million acres of un- 

 licensed and unreserved Crown 

 Lands containing merchantable 

 timber, as. compared with 286 men 

 (paid by the licensees) for the pro- 

 tection of the 10 million acres of 

 land under license. That it is im- 

 possible for this relatively small 

 body of men to afiford even partial 

 protection on more than a small per- 

 centage of such a vast area goes 

 without saying. 



Thorough-going Action. 



The situation in Ontario calls 

 urgently for a complete reorganiza- 

 tion of the whole fire-ranging sys- 

 tem along modern and up-to-date 

 lines, with adequate attention to the 

 protection of unlicensed Crown 

 lands as well as forest reserves and 

 parks and lands under license. The 



Department of Lands and Forests of 

 Ontario is entitled to the credit of 

 having been the first governmental 

 agency in Canada to recognize the 

 necessity for an organized system 

 of forest fire protection. In 1885, a 

 beginning was made in the organi- 

 zation of a fire-ranging service on 

 licensed lands, and in succeeding 

 years this organization has been de- 

 veloped and extended. However, on 

 the whole, the organization has not 

 kept pace with modern develop- 

 nints in some of the other sections of 

 Canada or in the United States. 

 The lack is very largely one of or- 

 ganization and supervision, both in 

 the head office and in the field. The 

 amount of money now being ex- 

 pended is sufficient, if handled ac- 

 cording to modern business stan- 

 dards of organization, to provide a 

 very much better degree of fire pro- 

 tection than is now secured. H. R. 

 MacMillan, Chief Forester of British 

 Columbia, has stated that more 

 money is wasted in fire protection 

 today than is used economically, be- 

 cause of lack of field supervision. 

 The fire protection situation in On- 

 tario is an illustration of this unde- 

 niable fact. 



Holders of Burning Permits Liable 



In the State of AVashington the 

 holding of a burning permit does 

 not relieve responsibility in case the 

 fire spreads beyond control and en- 

 dangers the property of others. On 

 June 13, Culliton Brothers who are 

 constructing three miles of th«» 

 Scenic Boulevard near Everett, losi 

 control of a slashing nre which d** 

 stroyed a 600-foot logging chute b — 

 kmging to the Flaybrook Lumber 

 Co. The county commissioners and 

 engineer have decidtrd to withhold 

 $1,714.04 from the contract price of 

 the road. An amicable understand- 

 ing was reached by the fire warden, 

 state officials and Culliton Brothers 

 at a meeting in Everett on June 23. 

 Settlement was made without ex- 

 pense to the state. 



