suggested.
be offered.

The physiography and climate of a large part of the
North Pacific Region, excluding the sub-Arctic sections,
make it substantially a forest country, potentially one of
the greatest in a world of rapid forest depletion. While
it is not practicable, at this time, to attempt to bring these
far-flung forest reserves under full management, it is imper-
ative that they should be protected in both merchantable
stands and forest areas under natural regeneration.

In the chapter dealing with forests some lines have been

suggested along which federal and provincial forces might
collaborate.

Tere again, federal assistance might reasonably

1. Mapping of the forest areas and areas capable of
reforestation based on air photographs in con-
junction with a program of spot surveys and
samplings.

2. Concurrent federal and provincial conferences to
determine the directions along which extended
co-operation might proceed.

3. Provision of suitable aircraft with specially trained
crews, with operations based on selected and
developed landing points during the season of
fire-hazard. This work might be co-ordinated with
training and other operations of the Department
of National Defence. Fire patrol and protection

might be integrated with the frontier work of the
military services.

4. The establishment and servicing of a comprehensive
system of lookout stations throughout the North
Pacific Region.

In this connection a suggestion might be added
that, since these are entirely summer functions,
undergraduates or other students might be
selected competitively for this work and estab-
lished at these posts after briefing on the ground.
There will be a great number of students shortly
available for summer work and many may, as a
result of such experience, be led to enter per-
manent forest work. It would appear that the
educational effect of such a program across
Canada would be profound.

5. Finally, the reservation of forest areas in the Liard
and tributary valleys, in agreement with the
provincial and territorial authorities concerned, for
the preservation, protection, and ultimate per-
manent forest management of these areas as a
national reserve of timber for the future develop-
ment of the Mackenzie Valley.

Agriculture

From the viewpoint of agriculture, the North Pacific
Region of Canada might be considered in two zones:

The southern zone, including the Peace River area

in Alberta, the Peace River Block and contiguous areas

[14]

‘in British Columbia, and the developed belt along the
Canadian National Railways in British Columbia.
The northern zone, including the main Mackenzie
Valley, the Liard and tributary valleys, and southern
Yukon.
In a separate category might be mentioned the potential
agricultural areas in the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Southern Zone-—Agriculture is well-established in the
sections of the southern zone accessible to transportation.
Soil surveys have proved that with rail and highway ex-
tension this zone is capable of greatly expanded agricultural
development. Wide tracts of good land are available, but,
except for some sections north and south of the Peace River,
most of the zone is to a greater or lesser extent wooded.

Some excellent agricultural lands are still available in
settled localities accessible to transportation.

The best vacant lands, in unsettled sections that are
relatively accessible to present means of transportation,
lie on the north side of the Peace River atid south of the
Clear Hills from Hines Creek westward to Fort St. John.
Another area of some agricultural potential is the section
south of the Peace River from Spirit River westward to
Dawson Creek. These areas are reported to contain the
largest acreage of high-quality agricultural land known to
remain unsettled in Canada.

There are good agricultural areas west of the Peace
River from Grimshaw to the Notikewin section and in
the Vermilion section on both sides of the Peace River;
also in the upper Hay River country. These belong
properly to the southern zone and would be tributary to
any future rail extension from Grimshaw northward to
Great Slave Lake.

The valleys of the Parsnip and Finlay Rivers in the
Rocky Mountain Trench, with their tributary valleys,
notably the lower reaches of the Manson Valley, offer
promise, not only because of the known favourable soil
and climatic conditions of the former and some evidence
of agricultural possibilities in the latter, but because they
lie along a natural channel of future access to vast interior
areas, whose natural wealth can only be surmised.

Northern Zone.—In the vast expanses of the northern
zone, climatic, physiographic, and geological conditions
control the immediate possibilities of agriculture. Con-
flicting reports, some over-optimistic and based frequently
on casual observation, have been circulated. The fact
is that agriculture throughout most of the northern zone
has, so far, been confined mainly to gardening, and any
future expansion will be dependent on the development of
local demand for agricultural produce. The long hours of
warm, summer sunlight compensate somewhat for other
unfavourable factors, among which are a low rainfall and
the existence, in the more northerly sections, of a perman-
ently frozen subsoil.

The major part of the District of Mackenzie lies beyond
the limit of promising agricultural development; only in