BULLETIN NUMBER TWO 53 



that there were plenty of sheep to the south. In actual 

 experience, however, I did not see one living mammal, and 

 Mr. Stevens' discoveries in this line were limited to a sin- 

 gle porcupine. Even the lakes were largely destitute of 

 fish, as they had been dynamited by the railroad construc- 

 tion gangs, who had also done much damage to the game, 

 and had burned the forests in every direction. I had al- 

 ways supposed that the Canadians were more advanced in 

 matters of conservation than we are, but the condition of 

 fishing, game, and above all, of the forests along this new 

 line of the Grand Trunk R. R. and the Canadian Northern 

 R. R., which parallels it at this point, removes any such 

 impression. Every effort is now being made, however, to 

 repair the damage. 



It was distressing to see the damage which was done in 

 the immediate vicinity of the railroad station at Jasper. 

 This is the headquarters of the Jasper Park Forest Re- 

 serve, which has recently been enlarged by the Canadian 

 government so that it now comprises the enormous area of 

 4:,400 square miles. 



The virgin timber had been quite massive, as shown by 

 the stumps, and had it been standing, the Valley of Atha- 

 baska, some four miles broad at this point, would unques- 

 tionably have been considered one of the most picturesque 

 and beautiful spots on the North American continent. As 

 it was, the entire valley, through which the railroad runs, 

 is burnt and scarred. Near the Jasper station, it was 

 pathetic to see the efforts of man directed at restoring tree 

 growth from the ravages of fires occasioned by human reck- 

 lessness or carelessness. In an open stretch of several 

 hundred acres, saplings had been planted, of ridiculous size 

 when contrasted with the gnarled and blackened stumps of 

 trees that had been monarchs of the forest a few short 

 years before. The lapse of even fifty years will not bring 

 these artificially planted trees to the same degree of beauty 

 and dignity possessed by the natural forests which had been 

 so ruthlessly hacked and destroyed. 



I do not know whether we are sufficiently advanced in 

 civilization in this country to profit by these experiences 

 of our northern neighbor, but unless we do, we shall have 

 exactly the same, or possibly worse, experiences in the con- 

 struction of the new Alaskan railroad from the coast to 

 Fairbanks. 



The remedy, in such cases, is much more easily applied 

 than in the ordinary administration of game laws. The 



