

anadian Forestry Journal, October, iQid 



759 



Better Forest Protection for N. B. 



The New Brunswick Government is 

 preparing plans for the reorganization 

 of the whole forest protection system. 

 That the provincial forest possessions 

 of over 18,000 square miles merit the 



most modern and effective safeguards 

 against fire goes without saying. The 

 notion that forests can be left to take 

 care of themselves has been abandoned 

 by nearly every government on earth 

 having authority over timber lands. 

 Once the responsibility for forest pro- 

 tection is admitted, it behooves a gov- 

 ernment to build up the most economi- 

 cal and up-to-date patrol service. The 

 maintenance of New Brunswick's for- 

 est industries depends absolutely upon 

 the elimination of destructive fires. In 

 1912, before the slump in the lumber 

 trade was under way, New Brunswick 

 produced nearly $7,500,000 of lumber, 

 shingles, pulp wood and lath, not 

 counting fire wood, fence posts, etc. 

 The New Brunswick Government re- 

 ceives an average of about $500,000 a 



year from forest operations and thou- 

 sands of workmen owe their living to 

 the same source. A very substantial 

 part of the business of our merchants 

 and manufacturers is accounted for by 

 the annual wood harvest. 



To th"ose who wonder if New Bruns- 

 wick can be freed from serious forest 

 fires, it may be pointed out that a pri- 

 vate association of Quebec Province, 

 the St. Maurice Forest Protective As- 

 sociation, patrolling two-thirds as much 

 territory as the whole forest area of 

 New Brunswick, have reduced forest 

 fires to an extent hitherto regarded as 

 impossible. This was accomplished 

 by good organization, close inspection 

 of rangers, and authority to regulate 

 the clearing fires of settlers. New 

 Brunswick has done much already in 

 the way of forest protection, and can 

 enjoy similar immunity by taking 

 similar measures. Lacking them, no 

 Government can hope to preserve in- 

 valuable timber assets against the rav- 

 ages of fire. 



The repeated cries for "more produc- 

 tion" in order to enhance the wealth 

 of Canada are apt to cloud the fact that 

 prevention of waste by Governments 

 themselves is the most direct and ob- 

 vious means of filling the country's 

 purse. 



When one knows that the Govern- 

 ments issuing the admonition are 

 themselves fully empowered to elimi- 

 nate waste in such assets as agricultu- 

 ral and forest lands, the proposition to 

 fill a leaky pail loses some of its rea- 

 sonableness. 



Ontario's forest fires this year repre- 

 sented a straight loss of 3 to 5 mil- 

 lion dollars in the Claybelt alone, 

 counting only the immediate property 

 damage. The fires in Quebec cer- 

 tainly will show a substantial financial 

 injury. Were all the provinces and 



the federal government to add their for- 

 est fire debits, after a complete and 

 frank survey of destroyed areas, the re- 

 sult would illustrate the awkwardness 

 of trying to make an extra million out 

 of wheat and at the same time tossing 

 away its equivalent in preventible for- 

 est fires. 



The growing forests represent the 

 easiest money Canada ever will lay her 

 hands on. No less than seven and a 

 half millions a year are paid into pro- 

 vincial and federal treasuries each year 

 from timber operations. Five thou- 

 sand industries look to living forests 

 for their supplies. Our mines, fisher- 

 ies, agriculture, are helpless without 

 the co-operation of a cheap wood sup- 

 ply. When we abandon the guardian- 

 ship of this precious pillar of our pros- 

 perity to the fire fiend himself, we be 

 tray the interests of present and future. 



