— a)

a ————

BEES

a5

were located in more compact blocks. Production costs, by com-
patison with other timber producing regions, are also high; there-
fore it is evident that forest products manufactured in these northern
regions will have to be marketed locally or await the possibility
of refinement into products that can stand the cost of transportation
to markets. The final conclusion then is that the size of the forest
industry in these northern territories will be directly dependent on

local demand.
None of the.timber in these regions is classified as
accessible timber although a small proportion is traversed

by the Alaska Highway.

As stated above, the forests of this northern portion of
the interior plateau are considered as an extension southward
of the Yukon forests, which are a continuation of the
great forests that spread northward and eastward across
the Rocky Mountains to join the sub-Arctic forests of the
Mackenzie Valley. Over the whole broad area, these
forests of the interior plateau consist of about 59 per cent
spruce and 27 per cent hemlock (the latter confined to
Cand D divisions), the remainder being lodgepole pine and
balsam. It will be noted that cottonwood is not included
in general estimates of merchantable timber. The occur-
rence and utilization of cottonwood as a forest resource
are discussed elsewhere in this chapter.

In the north, the spruce is Picea Canadensis of typically
small growth and low volume per acre. Toward the
south it is replaced by Englemann spruce (Picea Engelmanni).
Spruce and lodgepole pine are mixed with aspen and birch.
Repeated fires have converted large areas into grassland
and barrens, with scanty growths of tamarack.

Typical of the forests of these northern areas are those
of the Fort Nelson River Valley (south fork of the Liard
River) with its tributaries, and the west section of Liard
Valley, both of which are accessible in some degree from
the Alaska Highway. As good a picture of forest condi
tions in these valleys as can at present be presented is
furnished in the report by H. L. Holman, of the Dominion
Forest Service, who visited the area in the summer of
1943, and whose remarks are quoted below:

This area includes not only the Fort Nelson River but also
its tributaries, the Sikanni Chief, the Fontas, the Prophet and
Muskwa, all rivers of considerable size. The highway traverses
the area on a high ridge which runs parallel to the Prophet River,
crosses the Muskwa near Fort Nelson and then turns west along
the Muskwa to cross a high divide into the Toad River which empties
directly into the Liard itself. From the top of the high ridge near
the Prophet River a good view is obtained of all the intervening
country between the Prophet and the foothills of the Rockies as well
as much of the country to the east between the Prophet and the
Fontas.

Much of this country is very poorly drained and there occur
extensive muskegs between the rivers which support no timber of
any commercial value. Interspersed between the muskeg areas are
narrow pine ridges which, even if they do at times yield timber of
merchantable size, are so isolated and inaccessible as to be valueless.
Where good drainage is obtained along the streams and rivers there
are many thrifty stands of white spruce, lodgepole pine and poplar
and merchantable patches are not infrequent in such areas. Spruce
stands were examined on the Miniker, the Prophet and the Muskwa
Rivers, some of which ran as high as 25,000 board feet to an acre

[52]

with some trees attaining a height of more than 100 feet and a
diameter of more than 20 inches. A stand of balsam poplar near
the Muskwa Bridge on a flood plane of the river, had 104 mainstand
trees to the acre with an average diameter of 23 inches at breast —
height and an average height of 124 feet. None of the mainstand
trees had any branches below the 55-foot level. The largest tree.
was 42 inches in diameter at breast height and was 127 feet high.)
The timber appeared to be sound.
Excellent spruce stands were also observed along the Sikanni.
Chief, where the road crosses it, and others have been reported
along the Fontas and its tributaries. It seems reasonable, therefore,
to draw the conclusion that merchantable stands of spruce occur)
at frequent intervals along the valleys of all these rivers and that,
considering the hundreds of miles of river valley involved, there is a,
tremendous reserve of timber here which is of good quality and)
easily accessible. It would be folly to hazard a guess as to how
much merchantable timber there might be in the watershed, without |
a far more intensive examination, but it is certain that conditions
along the road do not give a correct impression of timber owed
of the area as a whole.
A fire started during the road building operations in 1942 is |
still burning in the Fontas River area and it is reported to have
covered a tremendous area in this valley. It is visible from the |
air but looks rather insignificant from the road.

The West Liard Area

Included in this area would be that part of the Liard watershed
west of Nelson Forks, which lies within the Province of British
Columbia. 5

Our knowledge of this area is admittedly sketchy, being gleaned
mostly from observations along the Highway. The Highway, on
leaving the Muskwa Valley, cuts across the headwaters of the
Toad through mountainous and rather poorly timbered country,
until it again hits the main Liard at what is known as the “Lower
Crossing. At this point it crosses the river and runs along river
benches as far as Lower Post, where it enters the Yukon Territory.

While the valley of the Toad may contain merchantable stands
of spruce and lodgepole pine for some distance up from the Liard
(as one would expect) such stands do not appear in the upper reaches .
of the river where it is traversed by the Highway. The river rises
in the Rocky Mountains and runs through mountainous country
for most of its length. The valleys appear to be lightly timbered
with lodgepole pine but many of these stands are not of merchantable
size and the timber values of the area appear to be negligible.

Between Lower Crossing and Lower Post, a distance of over |
100 miles, the Highway follows the main Liard River on the north,
or left, side, keeping to the river benches for the most part. The
forest along the route is by no means uniform. On the river bottoms
and lower benches, as well as in all valleys, it is often exceptionally
heavy, almost rank and luxuriant in some places, and many good
stands of merchantable spruce can be found in such locations. On
the other hand, there are long stretches, usually on the higher
benches, where the soil appears to be dry and sandy and where the
forest is poor. Usually pine occurs on these locations but it is
seldom of merchantable size. Good poplar-birch mixtures occur on
the upper benches and also a peculiar mixture of spruce, pine,
poplar and tamarack. The latter species seldom occurs on dry
benches in other parts of Canada, but here it seems to develop well
on such sites. There are not many muskeg areas along the route
and those that occur are small in extent.

. The bulk of the merchantable timber reserves in this area will
be found on islands and bends in the larger rivers and in the smaller
side valleys. One stand measured at Contact Creek ran 12,000
feet per acre with dominants 115 feet high and 15 inches in diameter
at breast height. Many such stands occur along all water courses

and better stanas should be found closer to the Liard though none
were examined by us.