to comprise any considerable reserve. One of these is the
lower Liard Valley, from below Nelson Forks to Fort
Simpson, and the other is along the Slave River betw
Fort Smith and Great Slave Lake.

The lower Liard Valley has been described by observers
as appearing heavily wooded, with sizable blocks of merch-
antable timber, (spruce, aspen, and black poplar) noted
particularly along the bends and on islands in the river.
The topography of the Liard Valley between Nelson Forks
and the Nahanni is broken and hilly and, since the drainage
is well developed, it is likely that some of the timber observed
in the tributary valleys and ravines is also merchantable.
Some good timber is reported in the lower South Nahanni
Valley. Timber drawn from the lower Liard section may
be floated downstream to Fort Simpson and transported
thence to downriver points.

Of the section along the Slave River, J. Lewis Robinson,
Geographer of the Northwest Territories and Yukon
Administration, in a paper prepared for the Interdepart-

mental Committee on Agriculture in Northwestern Canada,
wrote:

een

Some of the chief stands of merchantable timber in Mackenzie
District are found along the Slave River. There are also many
young stands of high potential value which make the strip an import-
ant one for future development. Most of the timber used at
Yellowknife and Fort Resolution has been cut in this area and
floated downstream. Future land use practices will undoubtedly

maintain many of these good agricultural soil areas for reserve
timber.

Small patches of timber occur along practically all the
Tivers within the areas that support the growth of trees
of economic size. In the Mackenzie Lowland between
Fort Simpson and Fort Norman, patches of merchantable
spruce sufficient for local use occur along the banks. There
are aiso some stands of aspen poplar. In the great hinter-
land of muskeg, rock, and scrub, the sparse forests yield
little except wood for the uses of trappers and the aboriginal
population, and their main value lies in the fact that they
are vital for the conservation of game, fish, and fur.

An empirical figure of 500,000,000 ft. b.m. has been
allotted in the estimates for the Mackenzie District. This
figure includes timber of a class not regarded as merchantable
in lands of forest plenty, such as the lower Liard, South
Nahanni, and Slave Valleys.

On this point, it is pertinent to suggest that the lower
Liard forest, with its extensions up the valleys of the Liard
and Fort Nelson Rivers in British Columbia and tributary
valleys in Yukon, is a vital factor in the future economy of
the Mackenzie Valley. The mineral development of this
district, with its expected consequent growth of population,
will be accompanied by a demand for forest products
that the lower Liard forest and its extensions are well
situated to serve. Indeed, these forests are the only
substantial nearby source of timber for the lower Mackenzie
basin. Their conservation and development should be
one of the first responsibilities of the State in the Mackenzie
District.

[56 }

TABLe V
NORTH PACIFIC REGION

Total Merchantable and Accessible Merchantable Timber

by Forest Districts or Territories :

— ~ Total
Meee ase Accessible
2 Merchantable

(Thousand Board Feet)
Prince Rupert District (within North

PacihcsRe pion) sae ence eee ee 44,874,000 20,923,000
Fort George District; .........-. ane 32,910,000 8,395,000
Northern British Columbia:

eEpiontACe A pone e 587,200
Resion: Bee eee eee 941,000
INS Ce soc so esades. 1,954,400
ING yo Doe ohana sues ae 614,900
4,097,500 | say 4,100,000
Total British Columbia (within North a
PaACihics RESion) apa een 81,884,000 29,318,000

say, 29,300,000

NorthernsAllberta 94.0... 90-8 oe ee 10,500,000 2,000,000
SYA On ee eae Se omc eine 2 5/,00L000 5 |e eee
MackenzienWalleyar sees ease ee 500:000)|ss4 eee

31,300,000

| 98,584,000

In addition, it has been indicated that.there are at least
6,000,000,000 board feet of aspen, variously styled “poplar”,
“balsam poplar’, “cottonwood”, etc., in the section of
northern Alberta that lies within the Region, and it is
the opinion that there is at least as much more in the com-
bined northern British Columbia, Yukon, and Mackenzie
Valley sections. It would thus not be unreasonable to
suggest 12,000,000,C00 board feet as a fair figure for the
merchantable aspen of the North Pacific Region. As this
class of timber is generally regarded as too heavy for

“practical stream driving, perhaps less than 10 per cent—

say, 1,000,000,000 feet—may be taken as presently accessible.

Tt is concluded that of the more than 98,000,000,000
board feet of merchantable coniferous timber in the North

Pacific Region, about 67,000,000,000 feet is at present
inaccessible.

It will be noted that in the above discussion more
detailed reference has been made to the more remote forests
of the Region, in the far northern section of British Columbia,
in northern Alberta, and in Yukon, than to the extensive
and largely accessible forests in the coastal and interior
sections of British Columbia. These latter forests are
comparatively well known and estimates of their potential
are definite. It is felt that apart from whatever of interest
may be found in this discussion of the forests of the North
Pacific Region, its chief value lies in its attempt to furnish
some picture and make some appraisal of the little known
forests of the Canadian northwestern frontiereea