supports the 75-year old pole-sized stand. Ass its rate of growth is
generally fairly good, it may be expected that a large proportion of
this stand will reach saw timber size in from 40 to 50 years.

To sum up, it may be said that the Liard watershed contains
sufficient reserves of timber to furnish an exportable surplus to
northern areas in the event that transportation facilities are improved
to the point where this becomes feasible. Further, the general
growth rate throughout the area is such that, taken into consideration
with its present rather considerable reserves, it will not easily be
depleted as the result of cutting.

This area is well worth the expense°of a stocktaking survey
and the inauguration of a fire protection organization.

NortTHERN ALBERTA

Only rough estimates of the timber resources of the
section of northern Alberta lying within the North Pacific

Region are possible. As shown on the accompanying
S [ g

“map, the greater portion of the forested areas lies within a

block roughly between the 55th parallel of latitude and the
northern boundary of the Province, and between the
114th and 120th Meridians. Within this area of over
85,000 square miles, some figures on which a general estimate
may be based are available. These figures—with some
interpolations — indicate that there may be about

5,600,000,000 board feet of merchantable timber in this
block.

The area between the southern boundary of the above
block and the Athabaska River has been estimated to
contain 2,000,000,000 ft.b.m. For the remainder, com-
prising the lower Athabaska Valley and the area around
Lake Athabaska, a figure of 2,400,000,000 ft.b.m. would,
it is thought, be conservative. These estimates thus
indicate a total for that portion of the North Pacific Region
within Alberta of 10,500,000,000 ft.b.m. of merchantable
timber. Of this total, it is not considered that more than

-2,000,000,000 ft.b.m. can be regarded as accessible.

These figures do not take into account timber other
than coniferous species. Referring to the district under
discussion, the Director of Forestry for the Province of
Alberta expresses the opinion that “there is far more
poplar and birch than pine and spruce”. This would
indicate that there are at least 10,000,000,000 ft.b.m. of
poplar and: birch within the district. If it be assumed that
one-third of this total consists of birch, there would be
indicated more than 6,000,000,000 ft.b.m. of poplar.
Observations in sections of the area familiar to the writer
would suggest that there may be twice this amount of
merchantable poplar in the North Pacific section of northern
Alberta. Technological advances in cellulose chemistry,
coupled with increasing use of the aspens in plywood and
other wood-using industries, suggest the possibility that
the present generation may see the poplar forests of northern
Alberta approach or equal in economic importance the
conifers in that region. Here is, perhaps, the greatest
source of poplar, for whatever employment. its future may
hold, on the North American Continent.

Returning to conifers, mention might be made of a
few individual localities. In the central portion of Block
No. 1 west of Lesser Slave Lake, there are some fairly
extensive forest areas within which it is estimated that
about 750,000,000 ft. b.m. of pine and spruce are ready for
cutting. In the western portion of Block No. 3, there is
considerable timber north of the Clear Hills as well as
one large block immediately east of the Alberta-British
Columbia boundary. It is estimated that 790,000,000
board feet could be cut in this area. In the eastern section
of Block No. 5, considerable coniferous timber is réported
along the Wabiskaw and Mikwa Rivers. No definite
figures can be given, but, since 200,000,000 ft. b.m. is the
rough estimate for the less favourably reported western
section, a figure of 300,000,000 is suggested as a minimum
for the eastern section. Similarly, in area No. 6, reported
as the most heavily timbered of all the blocks, there is
no information on the eastern section beyond reports of
considerable timber in the Cariboo Mountains. However,
the contiguous central section is reported to carry more
than 2,000,000,000 board feet, so that it is fair to assume
for the eastern section at least parity with the western
section, estimated at 200,000,000 ft. bm. This raises
the estimate for Block No. 6 to 2,517,000,000 ft. b.m.

Tasie IV*
Block Thousand ft. b.m. Total ft. b.m.
East Centre West
i acetece 350,000 750,000 100,000 1,200,000.
De Sates 100,000 190,000 50,000 240,000
Deceenieecss 250,000 40,000 790,000 1,080,000
Lt aoe 100,000 50,000 186,000 336,000
Sas 300,000 25,000 200,000 525,000
(Sea wie 200,000 | 2,117,000 200,000 2,517,000
Hy faye No estimate, taken as minimum
proba blest hisses yee nae ne 200.000
6,098,000
Say, 6,100,000
(4) Area south of these blocks to the Athabaska
IRA Cine tye BOER Lae nea CCRC a EN eRe Scere 2,000,000
() Area east of these blocks in North Pacific Region . 2,400,000
(?) Total coniferous in North Pacific section of
PA ber tatrrrcec sateen mri sate kee imi moses Rees es) 10,500,000
RO platen y traits reat aa ns meee ees Rte ah 6,000,000
(1) Prorated with estimates for contiguous areas.
() Well informed opinion is that this estimate is low.

Mackenziz District

The Mackenzie Walley country is characterized by
poor drainage almost to the river banks in most localities,
and does not support timber of high merchantability.
Although patches of merchantable spruce are found along all
the larger rivers in the southerly part of the district, there
are only two localities where such strips or patches are
reported as occurring with sufhcient frequency and density

*From Report of the Director of Forestry, Alberta Department of
Lands and Mines, with prorations as noted.

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