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mountain range on the south side of the Nanaimo lakes has 
been completely destroyed by fire, leaving nothing but a few 
blackened stubs as sentinels of the destruction that has taken 
place — both timber and soil gone. 
On the mainland coast opposite Texada island, the country 
has been logged over and fire has followed with its deadly 
work. Here it has burnt off everything down to the gravel 
subsoil, and left a dry, gravelly, dreary waste for several miles, 
where nothing will grow until nature has had time to re- 
cuperate. 
British Columbia has been very dilatory in the matter of 
establishing forest reserves. , 
Extensive reserves should be placed over the gathering 
grounds or water sheds of our larger streams and the forest 
covering held inviolate for all time. These reserves to also 
serve as asylums for game. 
The imperative necessity of creating forest reserves has 
been a burning, question for governments all over the world, 
and in many cases large areas have been bought back again 
to be created into reserves. 
France has had a notable experience in this respect; also 
the United States, as in the Adirondacks. 
It is now well recognized that a forest covering not only 
greatly lessens evaporation, but also increases the rainfall and 
checks the rapid descent of water from the higher levels. It 
is especially important in a hilly country like Vancouver 
Island, that these upland forests should be preserved against 
the inroads of the axe and fire. Generally, the timber is not 
commercially valuable, as the best timber is usually below the 
2,000 foot altitude. 
I understand that the Dominion Government has estab- 
lished forest reserves in the railway belt on the mainland, but I. 
am not aware of any forest reserves yet created by the Pro- 
vincial Government. 
A Provincial bureau of forestry is urgently needed, to 
supervise all matters relating to our forests. 
