Part VI 



Report of the Committee on Forests, 

 Commission of Conservation, 1912 



(Presented at Annual Meeting at Ottawa) 



Undoubtedly, the two most important accomplishments of the 

 Commission of Conservation along forestry lines in the past, have been 

 the establishment of the Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve and the Gov- 

 ernment control of the railway fire situation through the amendment of 

 the Railway Act and the issuance of appropriate regulations by the 

 Board of Railway Comanissioners. 



Aside from the forest survey in Peterborough and Haliburton 

 counties, Ontario, carried on last summer imder the direction of Dr. 

 B. E. Femow, and the conclusion of a study of forest taxation in Canada 

 by Mr. A. Donnell, the principal activities of the Committee on Forests 

 during the past year have been in connection with the various phases 

 of the forest fire problem. The Forester for this Commission was also 

 appointed Chief Fire Inspector for the Railway Commission, and his 

 chief efforts have necessarily been in connection with the field organiza- 

 tion of the railway fire work. However, some of the general phases 

 of forestry work have been considered and are covered in the following 

 report. For convenience of discussion and consideration, the report 

 has been divided into several separate sections, as indicated. 



The Railway Fire Situation 



I. Lines Subject to the Railway Commission 



The issuing of Order No. 16,570, by the Board of Railway Com- 

 missioners, May 22nd, 191 2, was the beginning of a new era in railway 

 fire protection in Canada. 



The origin of this action was the request made in 1909 by the 

 Government of British Columbia that provision be made by the Board 

 for the prevention of forest fires along railway lines in that Province, 

 in addition to the existing requirements for the use of fire-protective 

 appliances on locomotives, which, while essential, were not wholly 

 adequate, __ 



