120 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



boundaries, and, as yet, there are only a very few. In the prairie 

 sections it is difficult to conform to this requirement, but not so in the 

 mountains. Preserves may be created on the East slope with practi- 

 cally their entire boundary on topographic lines, and it is only necessary 

 to decide what lines form the most desirable boundary. Two 

 topographic features may be selected, rivers and mountain ranges. 

 The value of these natural boundaries lies (1) in being plainly 

 delineated, and (2) in forming barriers to entrance into the preserve. 

 For the first purpose, there is but little choice between them. For the 

 second, mountain ranges are vastly superior. There are only three non- 

 fordable river§ in the Alberta Rockies. These are the North Saskatche- 

 wan, the Athabaska and the Smoky. By " non-f ordable " is meant that 

 they can only be forded at well defined points. All of them can, of 

 course, be crossed at the regular fords at any but flood stages. All 

 the other rivers may be crossed practically anywhere except during 

 floods, and then may be forded at numerous points. As a real barrier 

 to ingress, there is not over 75 miles of river in the Rockies that has 

 any value for a gan-.e preserve boundary. Stream line boundaries are 

 an intolerable nuis; nee if actually maintained, especially in such a 

 region as the Rockies, where all the main routes of travel follow the 

 rivers and where it is frequently necessary to swing back and forth 

 across the rivers a dozen or more times a day. They are not only a 

 nuisance to the casual traveler, but also to the big game hunter whose 

 wounded deer or elk or moose escapes across the river into the game 

 preserve, to the gam> guardian who is condemned to watch 50 miles 

 of creek bed that a man can wade across, and to those responsible 

 for fire protection on adjacent lands, who must keep a fire ranger 

 stationed over half a valley when he might just as well be guarding the 

 whole of it. 



The mountain ranges are in quite a different category. None of 

 these may be crossed except at certain well-defined passes. The main 

 crest, for instance, has only 15 practicable passes between the Inter- 

 national boundary and the Yellowhead in a distance along the range 

 of 450 miles, or an average of one every thirty miles. Some of the 

 secondary ranges are quite as inaccessible. For instance, the range 

 east of Maligne lake, part of which formerly was the boundary of 

 Jasper park, is inaccessible for 45 miles of its length. 



J, , Having in view the principles previously stated, the 



Mountain Forestry Branch of the Dept. of the Interior made 



Game Preserves ^ careful examination of the entire East slope south 

 of the Athabaska river, as well as a detailed study of the Rocky 



