CIHM Microfiche Series (■Monographs) ICIMH Collection de microfiches (monographles) Canadian Inatituta for Hiatorical Microraproductiona / Inatitut Canadian da microraproductiona hiatoriquaa 1 TMhniMi and BibHoirapMc NotM / NMM tMtmiqiMt at Tha Imtitiita hm attai w p t ad to oMain tiia bait ori|iiial copy avaUabla for fHmiitfl. Faaturai of this ao|»v wMah may ba bibliofraphieally uniqua. wMdi may altar any of tha ifiw|M in tha rapraduetion. or wMeh may ti9nif icantly chanfli tha UMMl mathod of f Ihnini. ara chackad balow. L'imtitut a microfihnA la i w atHa ur axampWra qu'il hii a M poHiMa da *a proeurar. Lat dMaUs da eat axamplaira ^ tont paiit-ttra unlqu ai dM point da «« WbUographitpia, qui pamant modif iar una imaia raproduita. ou qui pauaant axigar una modi f i ca tion dam la mAthoda normala da fi h naga aont indiq u p ■ «uMas i.r rt d ot foxed/ Pagas dieolortes. t v. .>1PPUmjMfQE_tw IIU CM M* MtmI (716) m-Mn-rv //-vT Commission of Conservation CANADA COMMITTEE ON FORESTJ^ Essential Features of a Successful Fire Protection Organization wmmm METROPOUT/Uri TORONTO CENTRAL UBRAR IC OF ICMI CM '•''C'Sm mission of Consei . \tion CANADA COMMITTEE ON FORESTS Essential Features of a Successful Fire Protection Organization By H. R. MacMillan Chief Fortsttr, Dtpartmtnt of Lands, BtUisk Columbia Reprintad from die Sixth Annual Report of dw ConMMHion of CooNrvuion OTTAWA-I9I5 n MAR231I72; Essential Features of a SuccessfU Fire Protection Organization MR. CHAIRMAN. ladiM and gntl«m«i : Jtitt prior to my d • pvtttn for Ottawa. Hon. Mr. Ron. Miniiter of Lands of the province oi British Cohtmbia, aaked me to cxprwe hte great regret to the Commiiaion that he is nnable to be pr ee ent . owing to the fact that tlw Prorindal Lqiislatare opens to-mornm. Before presenting the paper n^ich I have prepared, I may be permitted to refer to the remarks of Mr. MacTier and a few of t^ i important lessons we have learned in fire protection daring eueed- int^y bad seasons in British Columbia. The Crst important lesson was: that, dming the past season, it would be practically i m p ossi b i a for any organisation that could be supported from the money avail- able from any government to have hdd fire losses down to a reason- able minimum in a country such as that in British Columbia, nor- thern Ontario, northern Quebec, New Brunswkk or Nova Scotia, unless such organisation were founded with the means of controlling the lighting of fires. Where settlers are going in amongst the timber the -mly «ay to get control oi fires is by some permit system. If setuers are free to go into the country and light fires vrtteoever they think a fire will run best, without regard to timber, there must be danger. \<^th no supervision they certainly will bum the forests, and our only safety tiiis summer in southern British Columbia was the permit system. We had an eactremdy bad fire situatira this summer for two months, and, with one man to every 300,000 acres, the permit system was the only possible safety. _^ Every person wishing to build a fire for any prrpose ^*0^^y* had to get a permit £rom the Forest Bra -h. The result was we issued about 12,000 permits, and only 108 fires got away and none ot them did any damage. Public senti- ment on this question in British Columbia is excellent; everyone realises that timber districts have the saw-mill on <»ie ride and the poOT-house on the otlwr. That gives us an excellent sentiment. Agriculture is only posrible in maay valleys if the saw-mills are kept running. F w then we had 40 prosecutions. 37 convictions, riz men in ' -l anA fines of 150 to 9300. •ip 4 COM .fItSION OF CONtBRVATlON I WM afraid tlMC* woold Iw A griat piMie eofl^iaiat aboot tht o brt ac iiw tra migltt to pladiif ia tto way ol laad lattkBMnt. tot ttora vaa ataahrtdar M aomplatel. PaopJa Ihrh^ la tfaabwr. facof- aiaad ttot ttoy nooM not to ai^oaad to tto rinliMBiM of ttofr aaighboafs aa ttoy voald to if ttora van ae pmrila. Aaottor tUag «Aidi I tova daddad aa toiac moat aoooomieal it ttot wa moat prataet all tiaitoriteada. Oae caaaot pidc ap a tody of toaqxinry aiaa. 400 or 500 ia tto q»iag. aad aiato ttom oi^lantaad wtot oaa waati ttom to protaet. Of eouaa notody wto tUaka tto litaatioa ovar waata to prataet aaly wwrtoataWa tiaitor ; itamataUtorrataeted.toeaMa.if aftna •laita ia aadvvroarth. or if H ia laft aloaa ai^ naetoa aodi M I aa to atkmck aMrdmatabla tuator. ttoa iriiaa it laa^aa tto ctoatablf) timtor it ia iaapoaaibla to flght it Wa taaUaa tltat. altlioagh wa tova tottar ooaditioaa ttoa ia tto ottor proviacea, with aKire atreoaia aad awoataias aad brolcea cooatry, tto oaly way te to diaeorer fina at tto start, to study tto liaaardi. aad to tato awatuma to fight tto fire whea it first breaks out. Tto first thiag we tove to do is to give lot«< of supervisioa. I am sore there is toon moaey wasted ia fire proi^ctioo to-day thaa is used enuioaiieally bacauae of lack of field supervisioa. Fire wardeos are nearly all temporary Bwa, aad if oae does aot give them supervision and traiaiag, aad doea act try to keep tto good maa from year to year one caaaot get tto results desired. Ia tto first &e protectioa services of Caaada. far aiore wankas were wasting mooay than were making good use of it. Unless we tove good permanent supervision of fire protectioa aad tove tto saaie mea as permanent raagers year after year we win not get tto good results because we tove large areas to protect with very small sums of aiooey. PtotoUy tto most importaat feature, aside from tto actual fighting of tto fires, is puUic education. Moat firea ttot occur are due to cardessness. Tto only fires ttot caaaot to absdut^ guarded agaiast are those caused by lightning and ttoy are not frequent. Moat fiius which we ara spen^Kag money to fight are started by resuleats of tto cooatry ia whidi they start. If thoaa people had tto situation put befora tham oonstaatty ttoy would aot start.tto firsa, and we tove fooad th- uat by education we hawe been able to seduce tto namber of ' . We have aioving-ptcture diika daowiag tto daagar of fiaaa, which were dKrmiu all- tto awviag-inctnretouasa. Wegaveamiy im mmmm FBATVftM or A f IftB rftOTBCTION O PWPM wnD BM piOMOWMI flMMOtt OO SMB. W9 m trjr g to frt thim to ■iUkwHiid that illi tMr tiariMr thU ttwy ' OB Bftt OrmaMJknnn o» Oi.oAintATioMi a Dn*mrAiiTAOB AnotiMr ifl^xirteat point >bott t fin protoctioii omufaMtfami \t that tlMto ihoald bo only oao otpaAmitioa in oodi p wwr in co . «soq»t> ing poMtbty in mdi omm m have drro i opo d in tho Ottatm ToOojr •ad tbe St. IfMtiioo votlojr. If flf« pgot o cUon it good policy for tho prorinco it idioqld tw nndor oao oontrol all oivor tho prarfaMO. It dooo not iKPpoar to havo boon food policjr to alkyir tho pononiHw owatin^or' a oortaia oor ^ *o doddo whothor or not it dMMld boprotoctod. itbinkfarbt .■fomltiafO'oeandwtaonthoboitntrj it troatod as a ^rbtde and tl .qioaditttro it madt by ono body. It nay bo oolloctor! from tba Innbomon. bat it dwuld bo onponrtaod by ono body to t>u-.i tho tinbor Uniti and tho adjofaiing Cnmn laadt ▼'i' iin bo pt te>A»d by tho Muno orgaaioatitm. Othorwin than nr JO two or^daisatioaa ovor tho arholo ooontry. ooo naa- agod by tho tinbor4ioenie holdan and the othor by tho Oovtmnont covering the Crown timber, or noiMtgricditttni laadt oorered with timber. Then it. that, fin protoc t ioa for timber Uoonted hmdi and no one protecting the ta mma d in g laadt. Sbnatoe BowAisa : Have yon the tame pottibOitiet of ro- {Mtoduction in British Columbia that then an in eastern Canada f Ma. MacM ILUIM : I tUnk wo have qoito tho saaw. Althoogli wo have not reoogniaed it, one of tho greatest assete wo have ir Canada in tho timhtf bwiintn is tho maaaor ia wfaidi our aati« forests reproduoo. Of ooono, in Mtiah C^ambia, {daating would bo oat d to diteois tho principles of ( sation of a Provincfal Forest Braadi. This is, of coorset a wry broad subject We have aot pr»> far ia '.lisa, bwiinssslilrB forest adauairtration ia ^s oouatry as aiigfat bo expected of a people eo depeadoat upoa forerte osweare. The reoLjn for our oonq>arative badnvwdaon is to be foaad ia public opathy— i^wthy i ouadod oa igaoraaoe ; ig aor aa c e of the importaaoo of tiM aatioaal i ater se ts at stake; igaoraaoe of the naeaae whidi should bo tahsa to maiataia foreet loads hi pro- dnctivitv. I ghft W; therefore, iWyww the nr^hlftn for a few n ifi iute i COMMISSION OF C0N8BR\ ATION from the educational rtandpoint, the standpoint front which it can best be attadced by this influential Commissidn. The development of a suflfcient forest policy depends upon the spread of three ideas : 1. That forestry represents a commercial and economical policy. 2. That an non-agricultural land should be considered a public asset. 3. That each Government owning timbered or non- agricultural land should maintain one (H|;anization charged to study the possibilities oi those lands, and to protect and adminis- ter them accordingly. There are an astonishing number ot people in this nSSSLoi^ country who minnterpret the term forestry, and oppose any extension oi forest administoation be- cause of that mistnterpretation. Such people bdieve tiiat forestry is a conceit of sentimental persons who derire to protect woodlands, to pndubit the cutting of trees ; that it has its place only in parks, where commercial operations are not contemplated. Or they may bdieve sincerely that forestry involves the expenditure of a great deal of Government money in the planting or cultivation of forests, expenditore which could never be repaid either as to capital or interest. Still another misconception of forestry exists in the minds ci many persons connected with the lumber industry, who believe that a forest department would import from Europe or elsewhere absurd regulations requiring the {danting oi a tree to replace every one cut, or of hedging logging operations about with IdlUng restric- tions. Such conceptions are of course founded on misinformation. They are neverthdess prevalent, and are responsible for the fact that Canada is now, oi all the countries dependent largdy upon forest industries, doing the least for the protection ci the timber-lands. These false interpretations of the term "forestry" must be met and overthrown if public support is to be secured for a forest policy. The arguments with which they can be met are the arguments tlutt appeal to th? business man. Timber must be cut whemver and wherever there is a market for it, wherever and whenever the cutting of it employs labour and supports profitable industries. No expenditure should be made on fire protection or forest administration, which will not be returned both as to prindpd and interest by the produce ply, and their estimated cost is allowed for in setting the prke for the sale of the timber. The cost of the r^uktion falls npon the puUic in the case of such timber sales, iHiich is of course proper, as the rqiulations are designed for the public benefit. The logger or timber owner, there- fore, has nothing to fear from forestry. Canada DsPBHDBirr on PouBsntr The proper interpretation of forestry, and what it actudly means to Canada, cannot be stated too frequentiy. The future of this country depends upon our making every acre productive. Broadly speaking, the earth's surface can be made productive in two ways ly> by producing i^cultural or timber crops. South of tlw 6(Hh parallel, about 69 per cent of the area of Canada is unsuited for agricultural crops. A very large proportion of this non-agricultural land is suitable for the production ci merdiantable timber. The production of forest products has been and will always be one of our chief industries. At the present time forest industries supply 12 per cent of our foreign trade, 16 per cent ot our railway traffic, and equal in value our annual whmt crop. We have a choice to make. Shall we let these valuable ind\istries perish for want of raw material, or shall we perpetuate them by protection of our present mature timber from fire, by protection at the young forests on our non- agricultural lands, and by the logging of our forests in such a manner as to encourage the reproduction of valuable forests ? The per- petuation of these industries and their source of raw material by the investment of such expenditure as the anticipated crop will warrant is forestry. Ja. COMMISSION OF CONSBRVATION OptimiMk as w» havs ben la this oonntry, w« i to have been imaUe to lee aay ytia» worUi oafing for in oar mon-agricolttiral lands. Oar viskm was broad enoogh yean ago, niwn ive heard of agrkoltoral hads in the Peace River ^ndky, to recognise that such lands, viliile onnsed at the tame, would within a decade or two grow crops and support a population. We can lode across the future to the time when our far northern mineral deposits, though inaccesaUe and incapable of devdopment at the pr ese nt time, will develop centres of industry. But we travd daily, across the non-agricnltotal, logged areas and burned-over lands which surroui^ maay of our most densely settled oommunities and lie across our transcontinental railways and we see in such lands no asset. This attitude is both dangerous and unfair to the country. We must realise that our present stands of mar* chantaMe timber cannot support our growing industries inde&iitdy. The growing American demand for forest products, to which in a very few decades will be added a much greater market in Europe than now exists, will very rapidly wipe out our eastern merchantable forests. Even now. New Brunswick, speeded up by foreign markets, is cutting each ytax from Grown lands more than the annual forest growth. This is a problem vrtiich must Ve faced squardy by every province. The future forest industries, wUdi are almost the onlyindustries possible on three-fifths of the area of Eastern Canada, must be supported by the timber grown on the logged-over and burned-over non-agricultural lands. Looking at these lands we should see, not wastes, holding no promise for the future, but productive lands, needing only protection from fire to enable them to support logging camps, pulp mills, rural and industrial commiudties of a type v^ch has done much for Canada. If the young forest growth on the non-agricultural lands of Eastern Canada had been protected from fire during the past twenty years, railways would not now be importing railway ties, and saw-mills in Western Ontario, each the centre of a thriving community, would now be supplying the markets with lumber, which, because of lack of forest protection in the past, is being supplied from British Col- umbia and the United States. Many instances may be quoted which show that care of the young forest on non-agricnlt . ral lands is not only a duty we owe to posterity, it is an insurance of timber industries which affects the prosperity of Canadians to-day. Evan agriculture will benefit by such a poUcy, for scattered through our non-agricultural r^iioos an very many small areas of agrtcultural and semi-agricultural land which can only be developed if some- PBATUKBS OF A PIEB PROTBCTION OKOANIZATION t iriMn in the nrigiihwiriiood ths famw om find Ktdi a aawlnt for labonr and pcodnot M tlM timlMr indoitry Aiofids. The rxmntimunen of iaTMt^tkim, rimihtf to the ttiidy of the Traat Valley watmhed, by the Com* miwinn of Coaeervation, will have andoubted effect OB the popoler vahiatioa of oar non-acncnltitfal holds. Whn it is ihown that meh taadi ariU in 70 yean produce a timber crop worth •96.00 per acre, provided a fraction of a CMt per acr^ per year ie expended in fire protection, the public will readfly wappati the fire prote^ion policy. Paopoanoini or NoN-AoaicvLTUBAi. Lamdb The importance of timber induitriee to Canada, and the oer^ tahtty that sndi induetriae cannot be permanent tmleiB the growth of another crop of timber ie amared. makee the praetioe of forestry imperstive as an economie measure. Every section of the C^madian. pubUe is interested. Roughly, the proportioo of non-agricultttral land in Canada soutii of the 60th peiallel is : Nova Scotia, 81 per cent ; New Brunswidc, 72 p« cent ; Qudbec, 76 per cent ; Ontario, 64 per cent ; Dcmunion Lands^ 51 per cent ; British Cofambia, 85 per cent. Some of these Governments already have foreetry de> partments ; none can afford to be without some forestry organiaa- tioa, cherged with the stt^y, jmifteetian end administration of ttea* bered end non-agricultural Crown lands. Smdi lande should be studied in order that the protective end administrative measures adopted may be decided with a fun knoeriedge of the vahie of the products to be expected from the land. In this way e^Mnditnre ia avoided on inaccessible and non-productive land which win not yidd returns, and the investment is made on thoee lands where qiuHty end situation guarantee a profitable crop. In each province the area of timberJand is very great. The conditions of forest growth, of fire hasard. of utilisation, are so variable that no rule of thumb methods may be safely adopted. The Poreet Branch must indnde men trained to, and free to study, eadi of theee pnMems, in order that loes ol revenue may be pre^nmted, and the meet economical possible scheme of administration and protection woricsd out for each section of the country. Our experience in British Columbia has been that »*• the best results ere secured at the leesteaqiense where the one organisation, catt it "Foreet BreBdi" or "Timber Depsrtment." is rssp >n8ible for the neces sa ry fore stndiee in &e protection as weU as the rotttine, but hiiMytedhnicai,. riHi M COMMISSION OP CON8BRVATIOK of timber admiiiiitmtUm. Then an Mvwal advaatagw in nidi a oonaoUdation of trade The Unt ii the rednetioa of ov«r- headooet. The head (^Boe kxrici after aU week. One fidd organisa- tion lervee all porpoeee. Frequently oae man in a diitrict performs various dntiee as ranger, in diarge of scaling, supervision of logging, or fire protection. This form of organisation coi n cides with the season>>l character of forest work. The rangers who supervise logging in the winter are at the same time becoming acquainted with the fire hasard^ in their districts, and are, therefore, the best men available to supervise patrd and fire protection work in the summer. It is thus posiAde to give good men permanent employment end to (^er them incentives for doing good work in a manner whidi would be imposnble if the men were employed for summer work only. This increase of trained, permanent men, whidi is economically possible only where the one organisation handles the protective and administrative work, is the important feature of our present work in British Cohtmbia. Other obvious advantages expert forest ranger, a man experienced in the timber business oi his district, in scaUng. fire protection and fire fighting, without whom no efiSdent '-met administrative organisa- tion can exist. I bdieve that everything that I have said here is sdf-evident. The man on the street would come to the same condusion if he had the facts bdore him and gave a few hours to thinldng them over. The trouble has been that the man on the street, the Canadian at his buoness, has not been worrying over the raising of another crop on our timber-lands. The Commission of Conservation is in an exodlent position to start him thinking and I am confident that this Commission, together with the various Forest Branches in Canada, need only make a few studies and place the rituation in concrete form before the public to ensure that, in a few years, public timber-lands will be studied, protected and administered in sudt a way as U, .maintain their productivity, and to gua atee to Canada permanent forest indus- tries. I wish to take this oppwtunity ci expreaang my appreciation of the valuable assistance which the Coinmission of Conservation MMtUok to VWHfO VBATVRB8 OF A WIRE PROTBCTION OaOANISATION 11 hM fendered to the ^ritidi ColoiiiUa FOmt Bnndi, in tuldiit I»rt in a f onst mmrey o 3ittkh woimnMa, and in rtadyfag tlie ngtmr - ation of th* fomt on the logged-ovw and bamedKvver hwdi of t* ^ CoMt^ttricta. Theoo-opamtireiiriiit, iHiidi^'JiComniiMionhMi diown, has been A oomtant inflnenca in fdnning pnbHe Mntimant and in tecarh^ the information which most be the oairii of wiM foiest •dministimtiaci. i. rtta