34 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



seven cords of poplar pulpwood per acre. Of this area, 175,000 acres 

 have been burned or, in other words, 1,225,000 cords of pqtential ptilp- 

 wood. This at maturity, say in 25 years, would be worth one dollar a 

 cord on the stump, or $1,225,000. The present value of, $1,225,000 

 due in 25 years with interest at 4 per cent per annum, is $559,090. 

 It is stated in the table on page 63 of the report that 75,000 acres 

 within the Trent watershed contain on the average 30 yoimg pine per 

 acre. At least 50,000 acres of this tj^e of land were burned by the 

 recent fires. Had the young pines not been HUed, they would have 

 jdelded 3,000 feet per acre at maturity, 50 years hence, or, in other 

 words, 150,000 M feet. Reckoning the dues at $2 per M and the 

 stumpage value at $7 per M, the value of this timber would have been 

 $1,350,000. The present value of $1,350,000 due in 50 years at 4 per 

 cent interest is $189,945. It is also shown in the table referred to 

 above, that approximately 390,000 acres contain on the average 6 

 young pine trees per acre. Of this type 100,000 acres were burned. 

 They would have yielded at maturity, 75,000 M feet of pine lumber with 

 a value in dues and stimipage of $675,000. The present value of this 

 sum due in 50 years with interest at 4 per cent per annum is $98,972. 



It wiU be seen by the above estimates that the fires in the Trent 

 valley last summer, destroyed young pine worth nearly $2,000,000 at 

 maturity, and pulpwood worth nearly $1,000,000 at maturity. The 

 present value of these sums is $848,000. This must be charged to the 

 fire accotmt, for the present capital stock of the forest in the Trent val- 

 ley has been reduced by that amount. This reduction of future forest 

 values by fire goes on without apparent abatement, yet the future sup- 

 ply of timber must come from these cut-over lands, which at the present 

 time are without fire protection. 



As stated above the croA?m lands containing merchantable timber are 

 efficiently protected, but under the present system the cut-over lands are, 

 as a general rule, entirely neglected. There are two causes of this condi- 

 tion of affairs. In the first place, there is the wide-spread belief that the 

 cut-over lands are worthless, a belief that may be readily proven erron- 

 eous by anyone who studies the rate of reproduction of pine and poplar on 

 such areas. Secondly, the timbei -limit holder has no vital financial inter- 

 est in his cut-over areas because they will eventually revert to the Crown. 

 In fact it is not just to the limit holder that he should be required to pro- 

 tect the lands under this condition. Therefore in any far-sighted policy 

 of forest administration it is essential that some method be devised ade- 

 quately to protect the cut-over lands from fire. Forest fires can never 

 be entirely eliminated, any more than can the fires in a town, but like 

 the fires in a town, experience proves that they can be reduced to a 

 minimum, even in a dry season. They must be reduced to a minimum 

 if there is to be an adequate supply of forest products in the future. 



