Canadian Forestry Journal. December, igi6 



853 



Ontario Adopts a Forward Policy 



Government Announces Reorganization of the Forest Pro- 

 tective Service, Under New Department, and 

 Control of Settlers'* Fires 



Reorganization of the forest protec- 

 tion service of the Province of Ontario 

 has been decided upon by Hon. G. H. 

 Ferguson, Minister of Lands, Forests 

 and Mines- Announcement of his 

 plans was made before a delegation or- 

 ganized by the Canadian Forestry As- 

 sociation which discussed the subject 

 with the Minister at Toronto on Tues- 

 day. November 28th. 



The announcement, far from being 

 a "promise to consider," gave a specific 

 outline of reorganization to which the 

 Government is pledged to adhere. Ed- 

 mund J. Zavitz, Provincial Forester, is 

 appointed head of a new forest protec- 

 tion department which includes, as 

 well, all work relating to forestry. The 

 Minister gave assurance that the new 

 department, which will be under his 

 own general supervision, will be given 

 every facility to work out a compre- 

 hensive and effective system. The 

 matter of additional appropriations, he 

 said, could be arranged without diffi- 

 culty. 



To Take Care of Settlers. 



Under the new forest protection 

 chief, there will be developed a scheme 

 of issuing "permits" for the burning of 

 settlers' slash, which the Department 

 recognizes as the great source of dan- 

 gerous forest fires. Under the system 

 proposed, settlers will be allowed to 

 burn ofif their debris only under proper 

 weather conditions and by personal di- 

 rection of a fire ranger. There will 

 also be worked out a plan for applying 

 to forested country such modern im- 

 provements for fire detection as look- 

 out towers, telephone lines, trails, and 

 other equipment. In presenting this 

 excellent programme, the Minister 

 clearly emphasized that his decisions 

 were the result of much consideration 

 and the study of protective systems in 



other parts of the country. His public 

 announcement had been withheld until 

 the deputation could appear before him 

 and present its views. It was his in- 

 tention to have Mr. Zavitz proceed 

 with the new work without delav so 

 that the season of 1917 would witness 

 part at least of the new plans in effect. 

 Mr. Ferguson said that his depart- 

 ment had not been slumbering in for- 

 est protection duties, but had employed 

 in some seasons 1,000 rangers. With- 

 in the Reserves, permanent improve- 

 ments had been carried on on an exten- 

 sive scale. Reforestation had been 

 taken up, and in many parts of the pro- 

 vince old limits were being cared for 

 with a view to their future value. The 

 patrolling of the Claybelt country, in 

 particular, was a difficult proposition, 

 for the influx of settlers in recent years 

 had developed special problems of fire 

 control. 



Faults of Present System. 

 The delegation which the Canadian 

 Fore^ry Association brought before 

 the Minister to talk over the forest pro- 

 tection problem was an uncommonly 

 strong and representative body of men. 

 Lieut. -Col. J. B. Miller, President of 

 the Association, briefly introduced the 

 subject of the interview and called 

 upon the Secretary, Mr. Robson Black, 

 to read a memorandum. The latter 

 document contained a detailed criti- 

 cism of present organization of the for- 

 est service of Ontario on both licensed 

 and unlicensed lands, the absence of 

 skilled management of rangers, the lack 

 of inspection and consequent poor re- 

 sults. The need of a settlers' permit 

 law and the construction of fire detec- 

 tion and fire fighting aids, such as tele- 

 phones, trails, etc., was plainly dis- 

 cussed. 



