40. FOREST AND LUMBER IN DUSTRY. A great forest stretches across the Dominion of Canada from the Atlantic seaboard to Alaska and the Pacific Ocean, and may be roughly divided into a northern forest and a southern forest. The northern forest maybe subdivided into a sparsely wooded portion lying north of a line extending from the Strait of Belle Isle westward to the south ern end of James Bay, and thence northwest ward to Lake Athabasca and the Yukon River. South of this line lies a rather densely wooded portion separated from the southern forest by an irregular line running from Anticosti Island north of Lakes Saint John and Abitibi, south of Lake Nipigon, across the southern end of Lake Winnipeg, and northwestward to the head waters of the Athabasca and Liard rivers. With the exception of the greatplains region of southern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta, the southern forest extends as far south as the international boundary. Around the coasts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, along the Saint Lawrence River and in the southwestern part of Ontario it is largely cleared off for farming; while in Mani toba, Saskatchewan and Alberta there is a fringe of mixed prairie and woodland lying just south of the heavily wooded portion of the northern forest. In British Columbia is what is usually described as the Cordilleran forest. Along the Pacific Coast and on Vancouver and Queen Charlotte islands this forest has heavy stands of timber; in the southern interiorpart there is what is known as the °dry belt' forest; be tween the southern end of Kootenay Lake and Quesnel Lake lies the 'wet belt' forest; while all the rest of the province and the southern part of the Yukon territory is occupied by an interior mountain forest with extensive fire swept and grassland areas.
• Total Forest The total land area of the Dominion is 3,603,910 square miles, or 2,306,502,400 acres, but it is not known with degree of accuracy how much of this vast territory is covered with forest growth. The most reliable information available places it somewhere in the neighborhood of 7M,000,000 acres, which is approximately 30 per cent of the total area. The exact areas of the forest con taining timber of commercial sizes cannot be known until the Federal and provincial gov ernments complete the surveys now in progress. For the present we may safely assume that Nova Scotia has 5,000,000 acres; New Bruns wick 9,000,000; Quebec 100,000,000; Ontario 70, 000,000; Manitoba 1,920,000; Saskatchewan 3,584,000; Alberta 5,416,001; and British Colum bia 30,000,000 acres — making a total of about 225;000,000 acres or 9% per cent of the total • land area.
Control of Forest Lands.—In the prov inces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia the licenses to cut timber on specified tracts, known as *Tim ber Limits,)) are issued by the provincial gov ernments; while in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and in. the *railway belt') in British Columbia. (a strip ,of 11,000,000 acres extending 20. miles on each side of the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway) the Federal government, at Ottawa, controls the • lands and issues licenses and permits to cut timber on. "timber berths)) and forest reserves. These licenses are obtained by public competi tion and the sumpaid for the right to cut timber for a specified time is known as the *bonus price' In addition to the bonus price there is also paid a specified sum per annum per square mile (or per acre) known as the *ground rent? and when the timber is cut the °stumpage dues" arepaid at the rate of so much per M (log scate),. or per cord. These fees are the source of considerable revenue to the respective governments, which impose cer tain ((regulations') regarding, the methods of cutting and removing timber, protection against , fire, etc. In no case does the holder of a,' license or permit acquire a right to the land,. which reverts to the Crown as soon as his license expires or is canceled for non-fulfil- , ment of the existing timber regulations: Forest Reserves.— For many years both ' the Dominion and provincial governments have fallOwed the policy of setting aside forest re serves and national parks for the purpose of providing a permanent supply of timber, of maintaining conditions favorable to a. cOntinu ous water supply, and of protecting mammals, fish and birds within the boundaries of the reserves and parks.. The Dominion forest re serves. in Manitoba have an area of 2,941,600 acres; in Saskatchewan 6,748,954 acres; in Alberta 21,643,814 acres, and in the railway belt in British Columbia acres— making a total of acres. In British Columbia there are still 27,931,482 acres under provincial control while Ontario has 14,430,720 acres in forest reserves, and Quebec the huge total of 111,400,320 acres. Neither New Bruns wick nor Nova Scotia have, as yet, established forest while all the land in Prince. Edward Island has been alienated for farming purposes.