original forest. About 700,000 acres contain mature tim-
ber consisting of approximately 40 per cent. lodgepole
pine, 38 per cent. Engelmann spruce, 17 per cent. silver
fir (balsam), 5 per cent. Douglas fir. In reforested areas
poplar aggregates 40 per cent. The timber stand is
computed at 5,660,000,000 board-feet ranging in density
trom 5,000 to 15,000 board-feet per acre.

The area lying between the west shore of Babine Lake
and the Canadian National Railway is partly contained
within the boundaries of the Babine Provincial Forest.

FISH, FUR, AND GAME.

In earlier years Stuart Lake was noted for sturgeon, and
in recent years was fished and specimens up to 700 Ib.
taken. Whitefish, trout, char, and ling occur in all lakes.
Salmon, not occurring in Stuart Lake system, occurs in
Babine and Morrison Lakes. Fisheries are utilized to
some extent to supply food for Indians. Other than the
sturgeon fisheries to a limited extent there has been no
commercial development. Indians and some of the few
pioneer settlers trap and hunt, notably for beaver and
muskrat, and in some areas fox, mink, marten, and fisher
are also trapped successfully. Big game includes moose,
deer, occasional caribou in small mumbers in certain
localities, black and grizzly bear. Game birds include
grouse and fool-hen in plenty, ptarmigan and blue grouse
in mountains, and a few prairie-chicken.

SCENIC AND HISTORIC INTEREST.

Scenery throughout the district is remarkably beautiful
and excellent fishing and good hunting is found. The
Northern Interior Plateau, even in more featureless parts,
has peculiar beauty, especially in fall, when great stretches
of yellow poplar and orange cottonwood contrast vividly
with dark green of spruce and pine. Where the plateau
merges with more rugged country northward it combines
with lake, island, and mountain to form another type of
scenery. Although mountains bordering Middle River and
Takla Lake are not comparable in height with the moun-
tain regions, they afford many climbs and a remarkable
background for the rest of the scene, especially the white
mass of Mount Blanshet, which, viewed from Middle
River, appears as though floating on Takla Lake, arms of
which run on either side. The few hills near Stuart and
Trembleur Lakes are comparatively low, rising about 2,000
feet above the water, but the view from them gains
greatly in character from the number and size of lakes
seen. From Mount Pope, near Fort St. James, no less
than forty are seen on clear days. Sunsets viewed from
Fort St. James are grand, and a succession of wonderful
Panoramas are seen during the trip up the great waterway,
which, studded with islands and everywhere abounding

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