PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Hon. R. E. Sommers, Minister G. P. Melrose, Deputy Minister of Lands
Report of the Lands Service
containing the reports of the
Lands Branch, Surveys and Mapping Branch,
and Water Rights Branch
together with the
Dyking Commissioner, Southern Okanagan
Lands Project, University Endowment Lands,
and the Coal, Petroleum and Natural Gas
Branch
Year Ended December 31st
1952
VICTORIA, B.C.
Printed by Don McDiarmid, Printer to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty
1953 pq O ^ O,
c rs
£ « *r cm" o .
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* O Victoria, B.C., January 30th, 1953.
To His Honour Clarence Wallace, C.B.E.,
Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of British Columbia.
Mm it please Your Honour:
Herewith I beg respectfully to submit the Annual Report of British Columbia Lands
Service of the Department of Lands and Forests for the year ended December 31st, 1952.
R. E. SOMMERS,
Minister of Lands and Forests.
Victoria, B.C., January 30th, 1953.
The Honourable R. E. Sommers,
Minister of Lands and Forests, Victoria, B.C.
Sir,—I have the honour to submit the Annual Report of the British Columbia Lands
Service of the Department of Lands and Forests for the twelve months ended December
31st, 1952.
GEO. P. MELROSE,
Deputy Minister of Lands. CONTENTS
Page
1. Introduction by the Deputy Minister of Lands 9
2. Lands Branch—
(a) Lands Branch 13
(\b) Land Utilization Research and Survey Division 26
(c) Land Inspection Division 34
(d) Land Surveyor 48
3. Surveys and Mapping Branch 53
(a) Legal Surveys Division 59
(b) Topographic Division 69
Surveys—
(1) North of Telegraph Creek 70
(2) Atlin Area 74
(3) Squamish Area 79
(4) Bella Coola Area 84
(5) Soda Creek Area 91
(6) Trout Lake Area 95
(c) Geographic Division 99
(d) Air Survey Division 108
4. Water Rights Branch 121
5. Coal, Petroleum and Natural Gas Branch 145
6. Dyking Commissioner 157
7. Southern Okanagan Lands Project 163
8. University Endowment Lands 169
9. Land Settlement Board 175
10. Mail and File Room 179 MINISTER OF LANDS AND FORESTS
(Hon. R. E. Sommers)
ORGANIZATION
BRITISH COLUMBIA LANDS SERVICE
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Victoria, B.C.
December, 1952
I
LANDS SERVICE
Deputy Minister of Lands
(Geo. P. Melrose)
I
Asst. Pep. Min. of Lands
(CE. Hopper)
FOREST SERVICE
Deputy Minister & Chief Forester
" (CD. Orchard)
Recorder(a/
(H.A. Tomalin)
Mail and File Room(a)Property Room(a)
(J.A. Grant) (S. Smith)
University Endowment Lands
Manager
(M.E. Ferguson)
Dyking Commissioner
(G.B. Dixon)
I
Asst. Comihissioner
Land Sales Fire Dept. Maintenance (J.L. MacDonald)
Director of Conservation
(D.B. Turner)
I
Accounting Division
Chief Accountant
Asst. Accountant
(S.G. Wilson)
Research Assistant
(D. Borthwick)
1
Land Settlement Board
Chairman
(G.P. Melrose)
I
Director
(CE. Hopper)
I
Secretary
(Mis s C. Ste phe ns on)
I
Inspector
(I. Spielmans-Nelson)
Southern Okanagan Lands Pro.ject
Pro.ject Manager
(D.W. Hodsdon)
I
I
Land Sales
Irrigation
Maintenance
BRANCHES
LANDS BRANCH
Superintendent of Lands
(R.E. Burns)
I
Asst. Supt. of Lands
(R. Torrance)
Land Inspection Division
1
Chief Ins
pector
(H.E. Whyte)
1
Land Ins
pectors
1
D.
Fraser
—Kamloops)
(D.
G.
Havard
—Smithers)
(F.
M.
Cunningham—Nelson)
(H.
L.
Huff
—New Westminster)
(D.
E.
Goodwin
—Pouce Coupe)
(0.
T.
W. Hyslop
—Prince George)
(w.
R.
Redel
—Quesnel)
(A.
F.
Smith
—Williams Lake)
(J.
S.
D. Smith
—Clinton)
Lands Surveyor
(P.M. Monckton;
Land Utilization
Research & Survey
Division
I
Director
(D. Sutherland)
I
Asst. Director
(N.T. Drewry)
Chief Clerk
(E.A. Walls)
Land Leases Land Purchases Crown Grants
(W.J. Holman) (C.P. Axhorn) (S.C. Hawkins)
SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
Director, of Surveys and Mapping
and
Surveyor General
(G.S. Andrews)
I
Asst. Dir,t of Surveys & Mapping
1 I i
Legal Surveys Div. Air Surveys Piv.
I I
Chief of Div. Chief Engineer
(D. Pearmain) (W. Hall)
I |
Ch. Draughtsman Asst. Ch. Eng-j-neer
(J. Macallan) (A.C. Kinnear)
Topographic Div. Geographic Div.
Chief of Div.
(A.G. Slocomb)
Asst. Chief
(W.R. Young)
Chief of Div.
(W.H. Hutchinson)
I
Asst. Chief
(A.H. Ralfs)
COAL, PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS BRANCH
I
Controller
(T.B. Williams)
WATER RIGHTS BRANCH
Comptroller of Water Rights
(E.H. Tredcroft)
Asst. Pet. & Nat. Gas Contr.
(J.D. Lineham)
I
Chief, Sample Laboratory,
and Asst. Pet. Eng.
(S.S. Cosburn)
Chief Chemist
(K.G. Gilbart)
I
Asst. Chemist
(R.R. McLeod)
Asst. Coal Contr.
(N.D. McKechnie)
Chief Engineer
(A.F. Paget)
(a) Also functions for Forest Service.
r —\ 1
Ch. Hydraulic Engineer Pro.ject Engineer District Engineers
(T.A.J. Leach) (j.p. Miles) j '" """'
(M.I. Zuril —Kamloops)
(R. Pollard —Nelson)
(W.A. Ker —Kelowna)
(C. Errington—Victoria)
Solicitor
(A.K. Sutherland)
1
Administrative Assistant
(K.R.F. Denniston)
l j 1
Ch. Draughtsman Ch. Clerk
(G.R. Ford) (A.G. Sargent) REPORT OF THE BRITISH COLUMBIA
LANDS SERVICE
Geo. P. Melrose, Deputy Minister of Lands
Land and water developments in British Columbia during the year 1952 marked
the greatest surge of economic and industrial activity in the history of the Province.
Giant enterprises were being carried through, particularly in the fields of forestry and
water power, and in their wake came a multitude and a variety of applications for land.
This spectacular activity has resulted in new records being set in the operations of the
branches of the British Columbia Lands Service, the Lands Branch, the Water Rights
Branch, the Surveys and Mapping Branch, and the Coal, Petroleum and Natural Gas
Branch.
The details of the work done and the increased service rendered to the public are
presented, through the reports of the branches and divisions, in the pages following but
there is point here in noting a few examples which are indicative of the general advance
made over the Province as a whole in respect to land and water and associated resource
developments.
The Lands Branch dealt with nearly twice as many applications to purchase as were
handled in 1951. Of 2,797 formal applications, 2,415 were approved, comprising
128,715.33 acres. The Peace River District, the Cariboo, and the Northern Interior were
most active.
Of the 202 reservations made of land and foreshore, 101 were specifically for the
use, recreation, and enjoyment of the public.
The technical divisions of the Lands Branch, Land Inspection, and Land Utilization
Research and Survey have made special efforts to cope with the accelerated activity in the
disposition of Crown land.
Extension of the Peace River survey to lands north of the Peace River and the land-
use and water surveys of Doukhobor Community lands between Nelson and Grand Forks,
mainly along the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers, are well worth noting among the
accomplishments of the Land Utilization Division during 1952.
The Water Rights Branch surveys added measurably to the inventory of potential
water usages in British Columbia. Such data, secured over the years, are indispensable
to industrial, agricultural, and other Provincial developments. This is illustrated by
recalling that because hydro-power possibilities were known in detail for the major
western watersheds of the Province, the Aluminum Company of Canada had little
difficulty in choosing locations for the huge Alcan project, presently in construction
phases.
In 1952 the Water Rights Branch investigated Grand Canyon, a site east of Prince
George, and Moran, a site near Lillooet, to determine hydro potential, and Harrison
River, at the outlet of the lake, was examined in connection with possible flood-control
works.
The Surveys and Mapping Branch contains four survey divisions—Legal, Geographic, Topographic, and Air. These surveys produce the framework within which the
relationships between man and his environment can be established on a sound, permanent
basis, and upon which can be built the orderly development of a province and its people.
The following examples illustrate the scope and extent of survey work conducted by
the Surveys and Mapping Branch during 1952.
Legal Surveys Division: Field-notes, to the number of 363, were received from
seventy British Columbia land surveyors. These surveys, all duly checked, plotted, and V 10 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
indexed, covered 217 under the "Land Act" and 146 under the "Mineral Act." In
addition, 160 plans were approved under the " Land Registry Act." From data and
maps based on field surveys, it is possible to give the present status of any parcel of
Crown land anywhere in the Province.
Geographic Division: The principal work of this Division is to produce and distribute lithographed maps of British Columbia, and the total demand increases yearly.
The 1952 distribution went beyond the 45,000 mark.
For the first time in its history the Geographic Division conducted field work, to
obtain culture data for the new 2-mile National topographic sheets.
The new Geographical Gazetteer for British Columbia, prepared by this Division, has
been submitted to the Canadian Board on Geographical Names in Ottawa. It is hoped
that the Gazetteer will be printed before the end of 1953.
Topographic Division: This Division's yardstick of accomplishment is the map-
sheet, and the number of these completed in a year represents their production. If the
weather is unfavourable, operations from the mountain-tops, which is the topographic
surveyor's milieu, suffers. Snow, late-lying in the summer and early-arriving in the fall,
severely curtailed the efforts of several parties. Nevertheless, a total of seventeen and
one-half map-sheets were controlled, with a combined area of 5,700 square miles, and,
in addition, one party completed 110 miles of main triangulation. Over-all production
for the year was down 10 per cent.
Air Surveys Division: As with Topographic, the abnormally unfavourable photographic conditions of 1952 handicapped operations, yet basic cover obtained was but
slightly lower than that of 1951, the record year.
A new record of 150,000, however, was set in production of standard 9- by 9-inch
prints, and a total of 24,000 square miles of mapping was compiled.
The 1952 requests by the Forest Survey Inventory Division of the British Columbia
Forest Service for base maps and duplicate photos strained the resources of the Air Survey
Division almost beyond capacity. This heavy and unexpected demand was due to the
expansion, at short notice, of the programme that arose from Federal-Provincial
agreement.
The Coal, Petroleum and Natural Gas Branch has had a busy year, with the rate of
exploration for, and the development of, petroleum and natural gas accelerating
dramatically.
Considerable development in the Fort St. John area is recorded for 1952 as a result
of a drilling programme that has continued since the first well in that area was discovered
in November, 1951. The Federal Director-General of Scientific Services has stated that
the gasfield discovered at Fort St. John, with an estimated reserve, as of August 31st,
1952, of 1,585,000,000,000 cubic feet of gas, is the largest in Canada. It should be noted
that these figures do not include the estimate for the adjacent and much larger part of
the field, the Peace River gas-producing area in the Province of Alberta. There the
volume is estimated at 921,000,000,000 cubic feet. The total volume for the joint British
Columbia-Alberta field would thus be 2,506,000,000,000 cubic feet of gas.
The construction of the trans-mountain oil-line from Edmonton to Vancouver is
well under way.
Permission for the building of the West Coast Transmission Company's gas-line
from the Fort St. John area to Vancouver has been granted.
The British Columbia Lands Service is a complex organization, and confusion often
exists about its component parts. To assist in clearing up whatever doubts may exist,
a series of five notes will appear, commencing with this Annual Report, describing the
functions of the major authorities in the Lands Service. The first note deals with the
Lands Branch, and it appears facing the report of the Superintendent of Lands.
Details of the operations of each branch of the British Columbia Lands Service are
in the following pages. Notel
THE LANDS BRANCH
At the time of the Fraser River gold-rush in 1858 the demand for land in British
Columbia was greatly intensified and pre-emptions predated surveys. Within four years 254
pre-emptors had taken up more than 50,000 acres of land. To facilitate the transfer of real
estate and provide for the registration of titles, the "Land Registry Act" was passed in 1860.
The Government of the Province of British Columbia was now in the real-estate business in
a big way; the more than 366,000 square miles of land and water that constitutes British
Columbia was the real estate in question.
With the entrance of British Columbia into Confederation in 1871, the demand for land
quickened to a rush, and over the next thirty years the land-settler (and the promoter) succeeded the gold-miner in importance. Railroads were built and land grants passed, cities came
into being, and companies became established. Land was at the core of all developments.
The task of land administration became very heavy and necessitated the formation of
a Department of Lands in 1908. In 1912 a Forest Branch was included in the Department of
Lands. To-day the Department of Lands and Forests exercises control of more than 90 per
cent of the surface of British Columbia.
How does the Lands Branch fit into the total organization of the British Columbia Lands
Service of to-day? The relation may be expressed briefly. The Lands Branch has jurisdiction in matters pertaining to the disposition of Crown land, and is charged with so administering and disposing of the land that the general welfare, present and future, of the
Province must be protected at all times.
When an individual, or group, desires to purchase or lease Crown land, the application is
directed to the Superintendent of Lands, head of the Lands Branch. His authority governs
the following matters:—
Sale, lease, and pre-emption of Crown lands for such purposes as agricultural, industrial, commercial, and home-sites.
Preparation and issuance of Crown grants under the " Land Act," the " Mineral Act,"
and the " Taxation Act."
Preparation and issuance of right-of-way easements for power, telephone, pipe lines,
etc.
Reservation of suitable Crown lands and foreshore for national defence, use and
enjoyment of the public, forestry experimentation, fisheries research work, highways, etc.
Granting railway rights-of-way under various Statutes.
Protection of historic sites from alienation.
Reservation and conveying of Crown lands for such purposes as school-sites, cemeteries, and fair grounds.
Leasing of land and foreshore for such varied purposes as wharf-sites, booming-
grounds, canneries, oyster and other mollusc fisheries, and for boat-houses,
quarry-sites, cattle-ranching, trappers' cabins, ship-building, and aircraft bases.
To perform these and other functions efficiently, the Lands Branch works in close co-operation with a great number of other agencies, such as municipal and city administrations, town-
planning authorities, the British Columbia Forest Service, the Branches of Water Rights, Surveys and Mapping, and Coal, Petroleum and Natural Gas within the British Columbia Lands
Service, and all the departments in the Government of the Province, notably Public Works,
Education, and Attorney-General.
Outside the Provincial departments there is much business transacted with Federal departments, such as the Department of National Defence, the Veterans' Land Settlement Act administration, the Public Works Department, and the Indian Affairs Branch of the Department of
Citizenship and Immigration.
Direct service to the people of British Columbia is the first duty of the Lands Branch and
this takes the bulk of the time of the Lands Branch personnel. Associated with this prime
duty is the important function of the maintenance of the records, which in many cases are the
only ones in British Columbia, showing the correct legal status of the surface of the Province. LANDS BRANCH V 13
LANDS BRANCH
R. E. Burns, Superintendent of Lands
The returns of the operations of the Lands Branch for the year 1952, as set out in
the statistical tables herewith submitted, show continued activity in the disposition of
Crown lands and an increase in the general work of the Branch.
While the total number of land sales consummated for 1952 shows an increase over
1951, with a total value in excess of $700,000, the number of applications to purchase
which have been approved amount to 2,415, being almost double the number for 1951.
A total of 2,797 formal applications to purchase was received and dealt with during 1952.
The acreage of lands disposed of by purchase, comprising 128,715.33 acres, is more than
double the figure of 58,895.89 acres for 1951. The greatest demand for acreage has
been in the Peace River District, the Cariboo, and Northern Interior.
Thirty-two auction sales of town lots in various localities were held during the year,
and 179 lots were disposed of, at a value of $40,865. The total number of town lots
sold, including those sold at auction, was 2,456, compared to 1,647 in 1951, with a
value of $307,835.41, compared to $172,597.67. At Prince George 1,064 lots were
sold, at a value of $176,869, and at Smithers 350 lots were sold, at a value of $18,475.
In the University Endowment Lands area, sales of nine lots have been reported, of a
value of $51,313.25.
The number of new leases issued shows a slight decrease from 1951, and the acreage
of same is less, due to the large number of former Dominion leases comprising large
acreages which were renewed during 1951 following expiry. Temporary tenure leases
renewed during 1952 total 115, involving an acreage of 4,938.34 acres.
The number of pre-emption records issued (87) compares favourably with the year
1951, and nothwithstanding the reduction in the land available for pre-emption by reason
of zoning in the Peace River District, the largest number of pre-emptions acquired was
in this district. The number of certificates of improvement issued, totalling 69, is slightly
less than the year 1951.
During 1952 there were 1,872 Crown grants issued, comprising a total acreage of
98,602.84 acres, compared to 1,740 Crown grants in 1951, totalling 77,516.18 acres.
During the year a total of 202 reservations of land and foreshore were established
for various purposes, 101 of which were for the use, recreation, and enjoyment of the
public.
In accordance with recommendations of the Land Utilization Research and Survey
Division, twenty farm units were set up and made available for immediate sale in the
office of the Government Agent, Pouce Coupe. By reason of a reserve which was placed
over an area considered suitable for possible development as a community pasture, three
of these farm units have been withdrawn from the market. Sales have been completed
covering six units, leaving eleven units standing available for disposition. The Land
Utilization Research and Survey Division has suggested the establishment of a further
thirty-five farm units, and these are at present being processed through the records of
the Department.
Considerable progress has been made in connection with the granting of easements
required in the construction of the oil pipe-line by the Trans Mountain Oil Pipe Line
Company. During 1952 seven final easements were issued and five right-of-way clearing
permits were granted. In addition, various easements have been granted for rights-of-
way of the British Columbia Power Commission, British Columbia Electric Company
Limited, B.C. Telephone Company, etc.
Particularly around Prince George, a number of old subdivision surveys were found
to have deteriorated on the ground, to the extent that it was necessary to cancel existing
plans and to resurvey the areas before the land could be offered for sale. It will be V 14 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
appreciated that this is often a long and complicated procedure, particularly when negotiations have to be carried out with absentee owners who may live in distant parts o£
the world.
The Lands Branch prepares all Crown grants to mineral claims acquired under the
provisions of the Mineral and Taxation Acts, and, in addition, all applications to lease
reverted mineral claims are cleared through the Lands Branch. The issuing of these
Crown grants and clearances involves a considerable amount of research work to determine accurately mineral and surface availability. During 1952, 401 Crown grants of
mineral claims were prepared and 514 clearances of reverted mineral claims were issued.
The Lands Branch also provides a central recording depot for conveyances and
titles to lands acquired by the Public Works Department, Attorney-General's Department,
Liquor Control Board, and other Government departments. The Branch attends to the
drawing-up and registration of conveyances in the Land Registry Office, to transfers of
properties obtained by the Forest Service for such purposes as Ranger stations, lookout
sites, tool-sheds, and garages. Conveyances recorded during 1952 total 159.
During 1952, 32,321 items of correspondence were received and dealt with by the
Lands Branch. This figure does not include circular letters, such as Assessors' reports,
Land Registry clearances, inspection reports, etc.
The report of the Land Inspection Division submitted shows a continued increase
in volume of work, and the Inspectors in the course of their duties furnish information
to intending settlers and render assistance on matters relating to the acquisition of Crown
lands for various purposes.
The report of the Land Utilization Research and Survey Division shows continued
progress in the work of classifying and mapping lands in certain portions of the Province.
Two new projects were undertaken in South-eastern Vancouver Island and the North
Thompson Valley. The project in respect to the Doukhobor Community lands was
completed, and the Peace River survey was extended to lands north of the Peace River.
The land surveyor of the Branch, in his report, sets out in detail the work carried
out in various parts of the Province, consisting chiefly of subdivision of lands at important
centres following industrial expansion in these localities, and also the re-establishment
of survey posts in old subdivisions and special inspections of lands on Vancouver Island
and the vicinity.
STATISTICAL TABLES
Collections
Table 1.—Summary of Recorded Collections for the Year Ended
December 31st, 1952
" Land Act "—
Land sales $619,303.11
Land leases, rentals and fees 303,925.30
Coal, petroleum, and natural gas 1,390,148.63
Sale of maps and air photos 32,827.38
$2,346,204.42
" Soldiers' Land Act "—
Southern Okanagan Lands Project $100,655.86
Houses, South Vancouver 360.00
101,015.86
" University Endowment Lands Administration Act " 289,347.74
Refund and votes 24,584.76 LANDS BRANCH
V 15
CHART 1. SOURCES OF COLLECTIONS 1952
Table 2.—Summary of Total Collections for Ten-year Period
1943-52, Inclusive
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
$576,228.02
595,117.61
846,456.33
992,201.70
1,770,413.49
975,772.41
1,045,969.03
1,159,988.86
1,692,737.85
2,761,152.78
Total
$12,416,038.08
Ten-year average, $1,241,603.81. V 16 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Table 3.—Sundry Revenue for the Year Ended December 31st, 1952
Collections under " Land Act "—
Leases, land-use permits, fees, etc. $224,887.65
Crown-grant fees 21,285.00
Occupational rental 3,632.71
Improvements 492.10
Royalty 7,975.25
Reverted mineral claims 12,123.31
Sundry 33,529.28
$303,925.30
Collections under " Coal and Petroleum Act "—Leases and Fees .. 1,975.65
Collections under " Coal Act "—Licences, leases, and fees 2,409.30
Collections under " Petroleum and Natural Gas Act "—
Leases, permits, and fees $1,383,832.23
Sundry 1,931.45
1,385,763.68
Total $ 1,694,073.93
Table 4.—Summary of Sundry Revenue Collections for Ten-year Period
1943—52, Inclusive
$173,251.99
182,782.73
199,042.61
207,696.63
262,760.93
288,901.91
322,683.92
387,435.19
916,338.98
1,694,073.93
Total $4,634,968.82
Ten-year average, $463,496.88.
Table 5.—Miscellaneous Collections, 1952
Collections under " Houses, South Vancouver "—
Principal
Interest $360.00
Administration
Taxes
Insurance
$360.00
Refunds—
Advances $19,993.01
Votes 4,591.75
24,584.76
Total $24,944.76 LANDS BRANCH
V 17
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Table 7.—Country Land Sales, 1952
Surveyed Acres
First class 16,345.40
Second class 34,938.77
Third class 39,685.80
90,969.97
Unsurveyed 37,704.10
Repurchases, section 135, " Land Act " 41.26
Total 128,715.33
Table 8.—Certificates of Purchase Issued, 1952
Land Recording District Number of Sales
Alberni 25
Atlin 3
Cranbrook 27
Fernie 28
Fort Fraser 69
Fort George 454
Golden 13
Kamloops 45
Kaslo 24
Lillooet 37
Nanaimo 48
Nelson 47
New Westminster 37
Osoyoos 15
Peace River 101
Prince Rupert 94
Quesnel 82
Revelstoke 36
Similkameen 48
Smithers , 122
Telegraph Creek
Vancouver 99
Victoria ;
Total
Table 9.—Town Lots Sold, 1952
Alberni
Athalmer
Atlin
Brackendale —
Barriere
Beaverdell
Burton
Castlegar
Camborne
Coombs
Cranberry Lake
1,465
Id, 1952
Number
Value
81
$1,241.00
80
80.00
3
150.00
2
175.00
4
100.00
7
175.00
3
60.00
5
2,225.00
13
85.00
2
200.00
3
300.00 LANDS BRANCH
V 19
Table 9.—Town Lots Sold, 1952—Continued
Number
7
2
2
5
4
10
7
6
2
21
18
45
19
6
48
41
66
2
45
9
23
1
4
1
7
53
6
31
Prince George __ 1,064
Cranbrook
Edgewater
Engen
Eric
Ferguson
Fernie
Fort Steele
Fraser Lake
Gibsons Landing
Golden
Hansen Lake
Hazelton
Houston
Kaleden
Kitchener
Lardeau
Masset
Merritt
Midway
McBride
Nanaimo
Nelson
New Hazelton
New Westminster
Ocean Falls
Port Alberni
Port Coquitlam
Port Edward
Prince Rupert
Queen Charlotte City
Quesnel
Retallack
Revelstoke
Smithers
Squamish
Stewart
Telkwa
Terrace
Topley
Trail
Trout Lake
Tulameen
Vananda
Vancouver
Vanderhoof
Westbridge _1
Westview
Ymir
Zeballos
Miscellaneous
University Endowment Lands
17
33
8
18
11
350
10
3
5
10
3
3
40
10
22
2
48
8
11
14
6
57
9
Totals 2,456
Value
339.00
100.00
50.00
75.00
80.00
567.50
55.00
175.00
285.00
255.00
2,015.00
445.00
565.00
190.00
940.00
385.00
2,090.00
600.00
1,565.00
975.00
1,980.00
300.00
25.00
750.00
805.00
580.00
1,868.94
5,679.00
176,869.00
6,110.00
700.00
9,175.00
180.00
185.00
18,475.00
1,100.00
425.00
125.00
2,110.00
65.00
1,800.00
355.00
480.00
805.00
1,750.00
1,630.00
400.00
3,110.00
632.72
300.00
1,210.00
51,313.25
$307,835.41 V 20
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Table 10.—Land-sales Collections, 1952 (Collections under
"Land Act " (Principal and Interest))
Country lands—
Reverted $201,175.61
Crown
269,962.90
Pre-empted lands
Town lots
Special regulations
Surface rights of mineral claims
Former Dominion
Indian reserve cut-off
$471,138.51
53.96
145,530.72
394.05
2,145.90
Total
$619,263.14
CHART 2. SOURCES OF LAND SALES COLLECTIONS 1952
SEE TABLE 10 FOR DETAILS . LANDS BRANCH
V 21
Table 11.—Summary of Land Sales for Ten-year Period
1943—52, Inclusive
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
$202,458.04
215,409.40
294,034.56
368,088.19
811,752.23
379,650.48
375,254.88
366,458.62
382,256.61
619,263.14
Total $4,014,626.15
Ten-year average, $401,462.62.
Leases
Table 12.—New Leases Issued, 1952
Number Acreage
Hay and grazing 131 39,095.82
Agriculture 18 3,268.10
Quarrying—sand, gravel, etc 12 372.75
Home-site 11 136.40
Booming and log storage 35 888.27
Oyster, clam, and shell-fish 10 102.61
Cannery 4 45.24
Foreshore—miscellaneous 33 165.74
Miscellaneous 47 1,035.79
Totals 301 45,110.72
Table 13.—Temporary Tenure Leases Renewed, 1952
Number
115
Acreage 4,938.34
Table 14.—Land-use Permits Issued, 1952
Number
Acreage
14
70.88
Table 15.—Licences of Occupation Issued, 1952
Number 21
Acreage 2.307.90
Table 16.—Easements Granted, 1952
Number
._ 19
Power and telephone lines, etc.
Oil pipe-lines 7
Right-of-way clearing permits 5
Miscellaneous 4
Total
35 V 22
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Table 17.—Sundry Lease Collections ("Land Act")
Leases, land-use permits, fees, etc. $224,887.65
Occupational rentals 3.632.71
Royalty 7,975.25
Total $236,495.61
Table 18.—Summary of Home-site Lease Collections for
Ten-year Period 1943-52, Inclusive
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
$1,921.75
2,162.11
2,751.67
2,109.86
2,932.25
2,265.74
1,926.99
2,040.33
2,123.65
1,398.80
Total $21,633.15
Ten-year average, $2,163.31.
Table 19,
Pre-emptions
-Pre-emption Records, 1952
Land Recording District
Pre-emption Records
Allowed
Pre-emption Records
Cancelled
Certificates of Improvements Issued
Number
Ten-year
Average
Number
Ten-year
Average
Number
Ten-year
Average
4
10
1
5
2
49
13
1
2
0.3
0.4
0.1
7.3
13.4
3.4
4.8
17.6
0.9
0.3
2.4
1.4
78.2
0.6
21.1
0.8
2.5
2.2
1.1
1
1
10
13
1
6
14
6
8
34
1
21
1.0
1.0
0.1
8.6
26.6
2.6
8.4
22.0
2.0
1.0
7.2
1.8
46.4
0.1
21.5
3
3
1
6
6
2
1
33
2
9
2
1
0.1
Atlin
0.1
0.7
0.1
7.0
12.6
1.7
7.4
Kaslo
0.1
9.7
1.1
0.6
4.2
3.0
54.9
0.7
13.7
...... 1
2.5
1
6
4.9
2.0
2.5
1.6
2 2.9
1 ■
1.5
..____ |
0.3
87 1 158.8
125 1 160.1
69 1 126.1 LANDS BRANCH
V 23
Crown Grants
Table 20.—Crown Grants Issued, 1952
Purchases (other than town lots)_
Town lots
Pre-emptions
Mineral claims (other than reverted)_
Mineral claims (reverted)
University Endowment Lands
" Public Schools Act "
" Veterans' Land Settlement Act "_.
Home-site leases
Supplementary timber grants
Pacific Great Eastern Railway
Miscellaneous
Total-
Certified copies of Crown grants issued, 4.
679
567
97
170
231
18
13
8
14
7
34
34
1,872
Table 21.—Crown Grants Issued for Past Ten Years
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
Total
Ten-year average, 1,840.
1,421
1,528
1,817
2,203
l 2,577
2,063
1,602
1,580
1,740
1,872
18,403
Table 22.—Total Area Deeded by Crown Grant, 1952
Acres
63,239.77
14,456.05
6,564.45
9,229.54
33.85
706.16
2,826.77
863.30
181.92
501.03
Purchases of surveyed Crown lands (other than town lots)
Pre-emptions
Mineral claims (other than reverted)
Mineral claims (reverted)
" Public Schools Act "
Supplementary timber grants
Pacific Great Eastern Railway
" Veterans' Land Settlement Act "
Home-site leases
Miscellaneous
Total.
98,602.84 V 24 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Reserves
Table 23.—Reserves Established, 1952
Use, recreation, and enjoyment of the public 101
British Columbia Public Works Department (rights-of-way,
gravel-pits, warehouses, etc.) 45
Dominion Government (defence purposes, wharf-sites, etc.) 25
Miscellaneous (Forest Service Ranger stations, road access, reforestation, etc., Game Commission, water-power projects) 31
Total 202
Sundry Collections, 1952
Collections under the "Soldiers' Land Act "—Southern Okanagan Lands Project
Principal $ 17,760.76
Interest 2,939.41
Lease rentals 1,498.06
Realization 5,640.92
Water rates—
Oliver domestic $15,164.82
Irrigation 57,651.89
72,816.71
Total $100,655.86 LANDS BRANCH
V 25
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r- V 26 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
LAND UTILIZATION RESEARCH AND SURVEY DIVISION
D. Sutherland, B.S.A., P.Ag., Director
The year marked continued progress made in the task of classifying and mapping
lands in important regions of the Province for their relative suitability for agricultural
settlement and development. The staff members, with the assistance of six University
students, of whom four had previous experience, undertook four projects. Two of the
projects were in new areas; namely, South-eastern Vancouver Island and the North
Thompson Valley. The others were the completion of the Doukhobor Community lands
begun in 1951 and the extension of the Peace River survey to lands north of the river.
The accumulated experience of all members yielded the anticipated returns of more work
accomplished of an increasingly higher standard per man.
By sending out two members of the draughting staff with field parties, it was possible
to expedite the work of transferring field data to the base maps. Work in completing
reports and maps is well advanced, and these should be available for consultation by the
early spring. Purchase of a rectoplanograph enabled the more speedy and exact transference of air-photo detail to the base maps. Field work in general was greatly helped
by the excellence of the large-scale photographs supplied by the Air Survey Division of
the Lands Service.
During the field season, time was spent with each of the field parties. Opportunity
was taken of making an exploratory visit to Graham Island, in company with the Provincial Field Crops Commissioner, to appraise its possibilities for agricultural settlement.
Reference should be made to the noticeable impetus to travel and general development being furnished everywhere through the great improvements made to the main
Provincial highways in recent years.
The four reports which follow summarize the field work accomplished. Final compilations have not progressed as yet to the stage of being able to furnish the exact acreage
figures for the land separations in all of the areas. However, the reports show that, in
the regions mapped, important acreages exist of excellent soils, though mainly under
private ownership, which remain to be developed for agricultural use by clearing, irrigations, or drainage.
SURVEY OF DOUKHOBOR COMMUNITY LANDS
Neil T. Drewry, B.S.A., P.Ag., Assistant Director
A small party, co-operating with the Doukhobor Research Group of the Consultative
Committee on Doukhobor Problems, this year completed the field work for the project
initiated in 1951. The objectives of the survey were to make a valuation of all buildings
and to make a classification of the land which could be used in making recommendations
for its agricultural rehabilitation, in making a land valuation, and in. making subdivision
and water-distribution plans.
The lands surveyed are situated in the Kootenay and Similkameen Land Districts
in the vicinity of Nelson and Grand Forks. There are sixteen separate communities or
colonies scattered throughout the valleys of the Slocan, Kootenay, Columbia, and Kettle
Rivers and their tributaries. The total area examined is slightly less than 19,000 acres.
The population of the Doukhobors is a subject of much speculation. Those on Government-owned land occupy 700 buildings classed as dwellings of which a number house
more than one family.
The compilation of a report from field work is still in progress. The valuation
of buildings is complete, and reference is made to it later in this Report. The field classi- LANDS BRANCH
V 27
Land Utilization Research and Survey
Potatoes and orchard flourish under
irrigation at Grand Forks.
Formerly orchard, now eroded
and idle land, could produce with
irrigation from Slocan River. V 28 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
fication of the soils is complete, and a summary of land-use capability, an interpretation
of the soil classification, is included. Field-mapping of present land use likewise is
complete and is reported in detail. Still to be completed are valuations of the land and
exact determination of the irrigable acreage. The valuation can be achieved by applying
values, already decided, to the land classes when it is known just which lands can be
irrigated. The precise determination of irrigable acreage will be made with the aid of
information being compiled by the Water Rights Branch. Their field work is not complete, and their results are not yet available. When the engineering survey is completed,
a final collaborative effort will be needed to determine positively the land area which can
be irrigated.
Condition and Value of Buildings
The systematic appraisal and valuation of the community buildings was undertaken
in 1951 by W. P. F. Green. The system of measurement and basic values was set out,
and a method of systematic depreciation adopted. The method was continued in 1952,
when the survey was completed, by R. E. M. Gordon, Land Inspector with this Division.
When it is realized that 700 houses and three times as many outbuildings were examined,
the importance of a systematic approach will be apparent.
There were many difficulties to be dealt with by the appraiser on this job. Among
the special problems were the novel design of many of the buildings and the unique
disarrangement of the villages.
Use and Condition of Land
There are six main uses under which the land use has been classified. They are
irrigated, cultivated, cultivated pasture (formerly or occasionally cultivated), rough pasture, land occupied by buildings, and forest and wild land. Small areas devoted to
special uses were so specified. Each of the classes reflects the dominant feature of the
use only. An example will make clear that several uses are commonly combined. Irrigated land is almost invariably cultivated, and conceivably could be used for pasture.
Its use here simply distinguishes land to which water is applied from land to which it is not.
As water is the key to production in the Kootenay-Boundary region, this is the separation
which has the greatest significance to present production. The main crops grown under
irrigation on the communities are garden produce and hay. Only one orchard of about
25 acres is under irrigation. Much of the irrigated land does not receive enough water.
There is a tendency to spread the available supply over the largest possible area rather
than to irrigate adequately a smaller acreage. This presumably is because everyone on
a community has an equal claim to water for their allotment of land.
Cultivated land is that which is regularly cultivated without irrigation. In general,
it indicates areas of good soils or favourable moisture conditions. It may be a stage in
the regression from irrigation to abandonment. Much of the community land was formerly under irrigation. Most of this has since been left without water, but there is
a tendency among occupants to persist in cultivation without water as long as any harvest
is obtained.
When cultivation is no longer feasible, the lands are used for pasture in normal
years. In years of above average rainfall the forage may be harvested for hay. This
pattern of use persists for a further period of years, during which the stands of grass,
which were established under irrigation and perhaps maintained under cultivation, become
depleted and weed-infested. The only possible use is then for seasonal pasture. The indeterminate stage between cultivation and total abandonment is classed as cultivated
pasture.
Rough pasture embraces the non-arable lands devoted mainly to grazing, on which
some improvements may have been effected. It includes natural grass land, forest land LANDS BRANCH
V 29
cleared for pasture, and some considerable acreage of unsuitable soil which the Doukhobors cleared and brought under cultivation. This latter represents a great waste of
human effort and might account in part for an attitude of unrewarded endeavour among
some individuals.
Land occupied by buildings refers to land occupied by buildings in concentration
where a measurable area is involved.
Forest and wild land (including some miscellaneous waste land) makes up the
balance of the Doukhobor lands. The forest land represents the ultimate in bad management. Most of it is severely overcut to provide for community requirements of fuel,
poles, and rough building materials. Grazing by live stock tends to prevent natural
regeneration.
The following tabulation shows how the land is divided among the several uses.
Because of the distinct geographic separation between the Kootenay and Boundary areas,
these two sub-totals are shown.
Use
Kootenay
Boundary
Total
Acres
Per Cent
Acres
Per Cent
Acres
Per Cent
Irrigated
Cultivated _
375
1,375
2,585
880
150
8.160
3
10
19
7
1
60
130
730
1,000
1,550
100
1.800
2
14
19
29
2
34
505
2,105
3,585
2,430
250
9,960
3
11
19
13
1
53
Totals. .
13.525 I 100
5,310
100
18,835
100
Included in the total figures of present land use listed above are 1,285 acres of
abandoned orchard. Much the larger part, 1,045 acres, is on communities in the Kootenay District, the balance being in the Grand Forks area.
As these orchards are not now producing fruit, they are classified according to the
use made of the ground under the trees. It is usually cultivated pasture or cultivated
land. Sometimes portions of these orchards are irrigated, but in most cases this is not to
increase the production of fruit from the trees, but to benefit the garden or forage crops
being grown between the rows.
Land-use Capability
The intricacies of genetic soil classification will be by-passed in coming directly to
the point of the acreage of land in the former Doukhobor communities which could
be irrigated, if water can be provided economically. The soil classification, conducted
jointly by the writer and A. L. van Ryswyk under the counsel of Dr. C. A. Rowles, Associate Professor of Soils at the University of British Columbia, is the basis of the land
classes established.
Class 1 land is suited to intensive cropping under irrigation. It comprises the well-
drained soils of medium texture, having no severe limitations.
Class 2 land is suited to cultivation with irrigation but having moderate limitations,
such as unfavourable topography, stoniness, or excessively drained profiles.
Class 3 land is not recommended for irrigation as an economic proposition, though
portions may be irrigated under special circumstances. Limitations may consist of hilly
topography, excessive drainage, or stoniness, alone or in combination.
Soils not requiring irrigation or definitely unsuitable for cultivation with or without
irrigation make up the balance of the area. V 30 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND
Thus classified, the land area is divided as follows
FORESTS
Kootenay
Boundary
Total
Acres
Per Cent
Acres
Per Cent
Acres
Per Cent
1,780 13
3,635 27
800 j 6
7,310 | 54
500 9
925 17
400 | 8
3,485 | 66
2,280 12
4,560 j 24
1,200 6
10,795 | 58
13,525
100
5,310 100
18,835 100
The land values established will necessarily have to be adjusted following subdivision of lands, whenever this is undertaken, to make allowance for road-frontage,
water-frontage, location, etc. In general, they are on the conservative side of the prevailing local land values. A more complete report is in the process of compilation. Most
of the factual data have been collected, and those summarized here are available in considerable detail for official consultation.
VANCOUVER ISLAND SURVEY
C. V. Faulknor, B.S.A., P.Ag., Land Inspector
The favoured climate and amenities of Vancouver Island ensured that it would
become a focal point in British Columbia's post-war settlement boom. Last year's census
indicated a population increase of over 42 per cent in the past ten years, with no evidence
a peak has been reached. Aware of the value of adequate planning, the Island's industrial, agricultural, and community organizations have held general meetings in an effort
to guide this expansion along sound economic lines. One of the major points agreed on
was that Island agriculture should be fully developed; it was thought some of the logged-
over areas, already partially cleared, might provide a reservoir of arable land available
to new settlers. To obtain specific information on this point, the joint Boards of Trade
submitted a request to the Government for a detailed appraisal of these lands in order to
assess their agricultural potential.
Almost every type of agriculture found in Canada has a counterpart on Vancouver
Island. This heterogeneous pattern is most pronounced in the extreme south-eastern
portion, near Victoria, where a considerable acreage is given over to the production of
highly specialized horticultural crops such as truck-garden crops, small fruits, tree fruits,
cut flowers, bulbs, Christmas holly, and medicinal herbs. Taken as a whole, however, the
Island's agricultural economy can be said to be based on some form of live stock, using
the term in its broadest sense to include stock-farms, dairy-farms, poultry-farms, and fur-
farms. Although dairy-farms predominate, an interesting development of the past few
years has been the rapid increase in turkey production that saw 479,000 pounds of turkey-
meat pass through the Duncan processing plant last year, where none had been produced
at all in 1945. Because of the demand for feed, the biggest portion of the Island's cultivated acreage is devoted to the production of grain, hay, and pasture, the soil type
apparently having little influence on the actual land use.
In general, agriculture is confined to the finer-textured soils of deltas and valleys
of the larger rivers that traverse the eastern coastal plain, and arable portions of the
rolling uplands which extend from sea-level to the foot of the mountain ranges. To this
may be added a limited acreage of organic soils which occupy artificially or naturally
drained lake-bottoms; these vary in their importance to agriculture according to their
acidity, degree of decomposition, and size.
The climate of Vancouver Island is Marine West Coast; the summers are pleasantly
warm, and the winters relatively mild. Taken over a period of about thirty years, tern- LANDS BRANCH V 31
perature readings show an annual average of 50° F. at Victoria, 49° F. at Cowichan
Bay (uplands), 51 ° F. at Duncan, 50° F. at Nanaimo, 48° F. at Port Alberni, and 47° F.
at Cumberland. There is a much wider variation in precipitation averages over a similar
period, as the following figures will indicate: Victoria, 24.14 inches; Cowichan Bay
(uplands), 34.42 inches; Duncan, 38.04 inches; Nanaimo, 36.89 inches; Port Alberni,
70.08 inches; and Cumberland, 57.08 inches.
In each of these locations mentioned, only about one-sixth of the average annual
precipitation falls within the normal crop-growing season. Particularly in the southeastern part of the Island, farmers are having to rely increasingly on irrigation to maintain
crop yields.
Natural cover is typical of rain forest climatic conditions of the north temperate
zone. Virgin forests of the southern and eastern sectors consist predominantly of
Douglas fir at the lower elevations, up to about 2,000 feet. In association with it are
found cedar and hemlock in varying proportions; these species gradually take over the
stands at higher elevations. Practically all the virgin timber, however, has been removed
from the coastal plain by logging, the present cover consisting chiefly of coniferous young
and second growth, alternating with deciduous species such as alder, willow, and maple.
Stand volumes vary considerably, depending on the site, but 50,000 board-feet per acre
is not unusual, and individual acres have been known to produce up to 200,000 board-
feet; therefore, clearing costs on new land are generally very high. Clearing of recently
logged land is generally complicated by the large stumps left after the timber has been
removed. An exception, of course, is to be found in the peat bottoms, where drainage
rather than clearing is the main problem.
Under instructions from the Deputy Minister of Lands, the Land Utilization Division
this year commenced a survey of accessible Island areas, including forested lands, logged
lands, and cultivated lands, to determine the productive potential of the whole region. It
was especially desired that information be obtained on the amount of arable land not at
present being used for agricultural purposes.
During the first week of May a two-man party set up headquarters at Fairbridge
Farm School in the Cowichan District. Actual survey work was started the same week
in the Mill Bay-Shawnigan area at latitude 48° 37' 30". Considerable information was
obtained through stereoscopic study of the aerial photographs and the latest maps of the
Federal-Provincial Soil Survey. Further data was gathered on topography, stoniness,
drainage, erosion, and cover by field traverses, then compiled for land capability and
present use maps.
The survey continued on a full-time basis until the end of September; favourable
autumn weather enabled additional work to be carried on up to the last week of November.
An accurate assessment of the lands covered will not be possible until results have been
transferred to permanent base maps. An estimate based on work done indicates that the
area surveyed to date, from Mill Bay to Nanaimo River, contains arable and potentially
arable land in the following proportions:— Acres
Arable land 36,930
Arable with irrigation 5,540
Arable with drainage 2,650
Total arable and potentially arable 45,120
With regard to increased agricultural production, it is interesting to note that,
although the suitable lands are all privately owned, only about two-thirds of the arable
acreage is now being used for agricultural purposes, excluding a considerable acreage
of excellent bottom-land held under Indian reserve at present producing nothing but
noxious weeds. V 32 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
NORTH THOMPSON SURVEY
J. H. Neufeld, B.S.A., Land Inspector
Because of the power which could be developed in the Fraser River Basin, and the
related use of power to pumping irrigation for the development of the more promising
lands which lie along the benches of the river-valleys, the Fraser River Basin Board
requested that surveys be initiated of suitable areas to assess agricultural-development
possibilities.
In 1951 the P.F.R.A. Water Development Branch complied with this request and
carried out reconnaissance surveys to determine pumping irrigation possibilities in three
areas. These areas consisted of the land adjacent to the Fraser River from Williams Lake
to Lytton, the South Thompson River from Kamloops to Chase, and the North Thompson
River from Clearwater to Kamloops.
The relatively large area of some 70,000 acres of land found within pumping irrigation possibilities and the low percentage of land that is developed prompted P.F.R.A.
to recommend that land-utilization surveys be carried out to establish agricultural-
development possibilities if water was applied to the whole area.
At a meeting of the Sub-committee on Land Reclamation and Agricultural Studies,
which consisted of local members of the Dominion and Provincial Departments of Agriculture and the Provincial Department of Lands and Forests, held in Kamloops on March
27th, 1952, it was decided that the North Thompson Valley from Kamloops to Clearwater, which was reported to contain some 35,000 acres of possible irrigable land, should
be the first to receive attention.
Accordingly, in May, 1952, the writer and an assistant began a systematic study of
the valley. Starting from Kamloops and working north, the land between the river-level
and 250 feet above river-level was classified into three arable and three non-arable capability classes. Boundaries of these classes, along with information on soils, presently
cultivated crop areas, present natural cover, and areas under irrigation were placed on
low-level aerial photographs at a scale of about 4 inches to 1 mile.
In addition, information from selected farmers, related Government agencies, and
some business organizations, which was thought to have some bearing on agriculture and
future agricultural development, was gathered and compiled.
The field work covering the area between Kamloops and Clearwater, a distance of
some 80 miles, and containing about 35,000 acres, was completed this year.
Suitable base maps on a scale of 2 inches to the mile, covering the surveyed area,
have been prepared by the draughting staff, and the field information is now in the process
of being placed on these to produce capability and cover maps. It has always been
a tedious task to transfer field information from aerial photographs to maps, which in the
past was done by the use of proportional dividers. A rectoplanograph acquired by the
Branch this year, which projects the photographic image on to the base map at the proper
scale, is greatly easing and accelerating this part of the work, so that the maps and a brief
report will be ready for presentation before the next field season.
Detailed acreages of the various land classes cannot be given until the maps are
completed. However, the following is a brief general description and recommendations.
The main drainage of the area is, of course, provided by the North Thompson River,
which has entrenched itself from 2,500 to 3,000 feet below the level of the plateau. The
main tributary is the Clearwater River, which enters the North Thompson River about
80 miles north of Kamloops. In addition, smaller streams drain the plateau as well as
provide drainage-channels for the fans and bench-lands below. These streams enter
the North Thompson from the west and east side and are the sources of water for the
present gravity irrigation systems.
The elevation at Kamloops is 1,133 feet. There is a gradual rise to 1,324 feet at
Chinook Cove and to 1,500 feet at Vavenby, about 100 miles north of Kamloops. The v
LANDS BRANCH V 33
frost-free period is 171 days at Kamloops and 105 days at Vavenby. Rainfall is not
sufficient for maximum production in any part of the valley. Kamloops, with a fifty-one-
year average of 10.21 inches of rainfall annually, requires about 6 acre-inches of irrigation-
water per month during the growing season. There are variations in water requirements
along the valley. In a few areas, for example, around Clearwater, fair crops are obtained
in years of higher rainfall without irrigation. However, for stable development it will be
necessary to provide an adequate supply of irrigation-water for the whole valley.
Even though there are farms scattered along the whole valley, only 32 per cent of
the area is cultivated and only 21 per cent is under irrigation systems. About 68 per
cent of the area is not being fully utilized. Some of this is covered by various densities
of tree cover, most of which could be economically cleared. About 5,000 acres of
land between Barriere and Black Pool are only partially developed because of floods and
flood hazards, and some of the land is, of course, non-arable, and is best left in its natural
state. The possibility of reclaiming the considerable acreage at present undeveloped
because of periodic flooding is worth serious consideration.
The area is large enough, close enough to consumer markets, and the land fertile
enough, so that every effort should be made to create conditions favourable for maximum
agricultural development. To this end, then, it is recommended that a detailed survey by
P.F.R.A. Water Development Branch be made on the areas that are subject to flooding
in order to determine the feasibility and cost of controlling the river in those areas; that
electric power be made available as far north as Clearwater in order to attract progressive
settlers with enough capital to set up modern economic farming enterprises, and to supply
power for pumping irrigation systems where necessary; and that roads be improved so
that produce from the farms can be brought to markets more cheaply and quickly than
at present.
PEACE RIVER SURVEY
J. S. Gilmore, B.S.A., Land Inspector
For the first time the field party surveyed land in the northern portion of the former
Peace River Block, where 231,660 acres of land were classified for settlement. The area
selected for this initial survey lies north of Clayhurst, where very rapid agricultural settlement and expansion have taken place the past few years.
A party of nine operated out of a camp located 6 miles north and east of Cecil Lake
and surveyed Townships 84, 85, and 86, Ranges 13 to 16, inclusive.
The topography of the region generally consists of flat, broad valley-bottoms with long
gentle slopes leading to the uplands. The valley elevations average approximately 2,200
feet, while the plateau-like uplands average slightly over 2,500 feet in the surveyed area.
The forest vegetation is predominantly aspen, spruce, Cottonwood, lodgepole pine,
and willow. Recurrent burns, however, have removed much of the native cover, with the
result that clearing costs are not a major factor affecting settlement, especially in the
valleys where the predominant cover is willow, ground-birch, and aspen seedlings with
scattered groves of living and dead aspen. The cover of the uplands is predominantly
aspen, lodgepole pine, and spruce mixed with snags and deadfall.
The soils of the region generally fall within the grey wooded and thin or degraded
black groups, although fairly large areas of slightly to very poorly drained soils exist. The
grey wooded soils are largely confined to the uplands and have the typical shallow organic
layer, the fairly highly leached and often platy A2, and fairly compact, blocky subsoil.
At very best, these soils have been classified as arable with fairly severe limitations as to
use. They are generally best suited for the production of grasses and legumes, either for
forage or seed.
The black (thin or degraded) soils are largely restricted to the valley of the Alces
River and its tributary streams. These soils, because of higher fertility and better structure, are not as severely restricted as the grey wooded soils. They do, however, require V 34 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
the incorporation of grasses and legumes into rotations to maintain and improve fertility
and structure.
The poorly drained soils occupy a fairly large percentage of the survey area, but,
with the exception of the sphagnum and sedge peat-bogs, they have been classified as
agricultural soils requiring special management practices.
The following is a summary of the field work for 1951:
CrOWn land Acres
Arable 105,650
Non-arable 48,500
Total Crown land 154,150
Privately owned land—
Total arable (cultivated 7,394) 66,733
Non-arable 10,777
Total privately owned land 77,510
Total area surveyed 231,660
Thirty-five half-sections have been reserved as potential farm units, pending more
detailed surveys next summer. The bulk of these potential units lie on the thin black
soils in the upper reaches of the Alces River, Township 86, Ranges 14 and 15.
In addition to the above, surveys were conducted on four areas to determine their
suitability as sites for community pastures. These are in the following districts:—
(1) Cache Creek—reserved as possible pasture.
(2) Kiskatinaw-Peace River Triangle—reserved as possible site for developed
pasture.
(3) Arras (Township 77, Range 16)—reserved as possible community pasture.
(4) Coldbrook Creek—reserved as a community pasture.
A report and two maps (land capability and present cover) for the south-east portion
of the Peace River District were completed last spring and are now ready for distribution.
LAND INSPECTION DIVISION
R. E. Burns, Superintendent of Lands
The continuing and increasing development of natural resources in Central British
Columbia has caused an unprecedented demand for Crown lands. In order to cope with
the additional volume of work, three undergraduate students in agriculture were hired
during the summer months to assist the permanent Land Inspectors at New Westminster,
Pouce Coupe, and Prince George.
The total of inspections completed by Land Inspectors during 1952 numbered 1,978,
an increase of 661 over the previous year. This increased number of inspections completed is not solely the result of the additional summer assistance, but is due in part to
the extremely fine fall weather which enabled most Inspectors to make field inspections
well into the month of November.
As in the past, the British Columbia Forest Service has co-operated in carrying out
a portion of the inspection work. During the past year the Forest Rangers carried out
598 examinations, an increase of 178 over the previous year.
J. S. D. Smith was appointed Land Inspector in May, 1952, with headquarters at
Clinton. This appointment filled the vacancy caused by the resignation of J. A. Esler,
who entered private business. LANDS BRANCH V 35
It is with deep regret that I report the death of H. E. Whyte, Chief Land Inspector,
in May of this year. L. D. Fraser, formerly Land Inspector at Kamloops, was appointed
Chief Land Inspector, effective December 1st, 1952.
The following table indicates the number and type of inspections made by the whole
of the Land Inspection Division during the year 1952:—
Purchases—
Agricultural 625
Home-sites : 163
Industrial and commercial 65
Camp-sites and resorts 76
Wood-lots 21
Miscellaneous 72
Leases—
Land—
Agricultural 43
Home-sites 20
Industrial and commercial 25
Quarrying, sand, gravel, limestone, etc 4
Fur-farming 1
Grazing (including hay-cutting) 127
Miscellaneous 6
Foreshore—
Booming and log storage 31
Industrial and commercial 26
Oyster and shell-fish 2
Miscellaneous 5
Land-use permits, licences of occupation, easements, etc 29
Pre-emptions—
Applications 78
Annual inspections 255
Subdivisions—
Valuations 3 8
Selection Crown's quarter-interest 16
Survey inspections 9
Plans cancellation 4
Reserves 41
" Veterans' Land Settlement Act " 13
Land Settlement Board—
Land classification 11
Valuations 29
Miscellaneous inspections 143
Total 1,978
H. L. HUFF, B.S.A., P.Ag., LAND INSPECTOR, NEW WESTMINSTER
This office benefited from a new policy inaugurated this year by the Department.
One of the summer assistants authorized for certain of the inspection offices was stationed
here.
John Elvidge, an undergraduate in agriculture, assisted the writer from the first part
of May until mid-September. Without this assistance it would probably have been
impossible to have cleared up a substantial number of the inspections that were made.
The importance of his assistance is apparent when it is stated that over 50 per cent of V 36
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
the examinations made this year necessitated the co-ordinated efforts of both Mr. Elvidge
and the writer to obtain the accurate data that was desired. The volume of work in this
district is sufficient to warrant the appointment of a second full-time Inspector.
I have not been in a position to prepare a complete status of the lands in this area.
However, an incomplete status, representing alienations since 1949, is kept. This work
was considerably in arrears by this spring. It was brought up to date by Mr. Elvidge.
Weather conditions this year were slightly more normal than last. There was only
one forest-closure period, which lasted for twenty days. A long, open dry fall was
most helpful, as far as field work was concerned.
Mention was made in last year's Report of the establishing of a car-ferry service
across Howe Sound between Horseshoe Bay and Gibsons Landing. This service has
resulted in an active demand for Crown lands on the Seechelt Peninsula. Of the 242 new
requests for inspections received this year, 103 of them concerned lands in the Seechelt
Peninsula area. Also, for this same area, there was a carry-over from last year of sixty-
seven examination requests.
On December 1st there were forty-five outstanding examination requests of all types
in the area covered by this office. Last January 1st the outstanding requests for the same
area numbered ninety-two.
This office is being increasingly consulted by the general public, particularly industry,
in their inquiries concerning Crown lands. An increase is also noted in the quest for
information concerning the " Land Act " and its application from such diversified groups
as municipal officials, land surveyors, lawyers, industry, etc.
The demand for Crown lands continues to be firm. At this time, nothing can be
foreseen to indicate a slackening of this trend in the forthcoming year.
The total number of requests for examinations demanded by the Department this
year, plus the carry-over from last year, for the Vancouver Forest District approximated
550.
Table 1 gives a distribution by Ranger district of the inspections demanded for the
year. The distribution of the work done between the Forest Rangers and this office is
also shown. The outstanding work as of December 1st, 1952, is also indicated.
Table 2 gives a distribution by types of the inspections made during the year.
Approximately 40 per cent of the inspections made during the past year were
directly associated with industrial development within the area. Only about 32 per cent
of the inspections pertained to settlement.
Table 1.—Distribution of Inspections
Ranger District
Outstanding Inspections
as of Jan.
1, 1952
New Inspection
Requests,
Jan. 1,
1952,to
Nov. 30,
1952
Total Inspections
Inspections Made
from Jan. 1, 1952,
to Nov. 30, 1952
Land
Inspector
Forest
Ranger
Total Inspections
Made
Outstanding Inspection
Requests
as at Dec.
1, 1952
No. 1 (Chilliwack)
No. 2 (Hope) -.
No. 3 (Harrison) —
No. 4 (Mission)
No. 5 (Port Moody)...
No. 6 (Squamish)
No. 7 (Sechelt)
No. 8 (Madeira Park)
No. 9 (Powell River)..
Others _.
Totals
92
5
38
2
35
59
32
44
5
20
1
242
24
31
18
20
43
2
94
76
25
1
334
6
13
10
1
22
"48
13
5
118
17
12
6
11
10
2
39
57
20
174
23
25
16
12
32
2
87
70
25
292
42 LANDS BRANCH V 37
Table 2—Classification of Inspections
Purchases—
Agricultural 13
Home-sites 18
Industrial and commercial 5
Camp-sites and resorts 2
Wood-lots 5
Miscellaneous 4
Leases—
Land—
Home-sites 2
Industrial and commercial 2
Quarrying, sand, gravel, limestone, etc. 1
Foreshore—
Booming and log storage 14
Industrial and commercial 13
Oyster and shell-fish . 2
Miscellaneous 1
Land-use permits, licences of occupation, easements, etc 6
Pre-emptions—Annual inspections _. 7
Subdivisions—
Valuations 8
Selection Crown's quarter-interest 4
Reserves 2
Miscellaneous inspections 9
Total 118
D. G. HAVARD, B.S.A., LAND INSPECTOR, SMITHERS
A late spring delayed extensive field work in this area until May, but a remarkably
good fall compensated for this and enabled the continuance of field work well into
November.
Considerable time was spent in the early spring classifying the lands in the proposed
Kitimat Townsite area. In this connection, the Aluminum Company of Canada was
co-operative in supplying help and information at the time the field work was done.
As in 1951, the effect of the newly established industries and those undergoing
development has been reflected in the number and type of applications for land in this
area. The demand for home, industrial, and resort sites has exceeded considerably the
demand for agricultural land.
Applications for farm land have been generally tendered by established farmers
wishing to add to their holdings to facilitate expansion of their operations. Nevertheless, there is still a quest by settlers for new land, which is now becoming increasingly
hard to locate close to suitable access and established communities. Several applications have been received from farmers of the tentative flooded areas of Ootsa Lake, but
most of these individuals are buying already developed lands within the Lakes District.
Visitors to the Smithers office are becoming increasingly frequent. Information
they require often takes considerable time to prepare and dispatch. Similarly, dispatch
of information by correspondence constitutes a sizeable portion of office work. In these
connections, the assistance of a stenographer shared by the Labour Inspector and myself
is very much appreciated.
The new maps available from the Department, especially the contour and air-photo
cover maps, have proved a great help in field and office and provide data which often
simplifies the establishment of old survey lines. V 38 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
The following is a summary of inspections made during the year:—
Purchases—•
Agricultural 34
Home-sites 21
Industrial and commercial 2
Camp-sites and resorts 8
Miscellaneous 6
Land leases—■
Agricultural 1
Industrial and commercial 3
Quarrying, sand, gravel, limestone, etc 1
Grazing (including hay-cutting) 8
Miscellaneous 3
Pre-emptions—
Applications 5
Annual inspections 11
Subdivisions—
Valuations 2
Selection Crown's quarter-interest 2
Survey inspections . 1
Reserves 2
" Veterans' Land Settlement Act " 1
Land Settlement Board—Valuations 1
Miscellaneous inspections 21
Total 114
1 Includes classification of 127 lots at Kitimat Townsite.
A. F. SMITH, B.S.A., P.Ag., LAND INSPECTOR, WILLIAMS LAKE
At the end of March J. A. Esler, B.S.A., left the Williams Lake office of the
Inspection Division to join a private business. Later in the spring our office was moved
to the Borkowski Block, where there were already five offices of other Government
departments.
Field work commenced this year in May after a late spring. Even though unsettled
weather in June continued into July, the season has been a good one for field work.
This district, along with the whole Interior, is now going through a period of rapid
growth and development. This expansion movement has been mainly responsible for
the increase in population in this area, principally workers engaged in road and building
construction. Some people have entered the district to work for logging companies,
a number have started new businesses offering further services and commodities to the
public, and a few have come to ranch, purchasing privately.
The outstanding point brought out by a study of the land applications made in this
district during the past year is that the great majority of applicants are residents of the
area and not new-comers. In the case of purchase applications for agricultural purposes, thirty-four out of forty-one were made by ranchers who were consolidating their
holdings. With grazing and hay-cutting leases, out of twelve, seven applications were to
renew existing leases and three were to extend present ranch holdings.
The applications to purchase home-sites were evenly divided, five being made by
residents and five by new-comers. It is interesting to note that of twenty-three applications for camp-sites and resorts, only five were made by Americans in this district, the
remainder being made by British Columbians, six of whom are district residents, which
shows that a new interest is being taken in British Columbia by travelling residents of
the Province. LANDS BRANCH V 39
The following is a summary of inspections made during the year:—
Purchases—
Agricultural 41
Home-sites 10
Camp-sites and resorts 23
Miscellaneous 3
Land leases—
Home-sites 2
Industrial and commercial 1
Grazing (including hay-cutting) 12
Miscellaneous 1
Land-use permits, licences of occupation, easements, etc 3
Pre-emptions—
Applications 5
Annual inspections . 19
Subdivisions—Selection Crown's quarter-interest 1
Reserves 5
" Veterans' Land Settlement Act " 2
Land Settlement Board—
Land classification 3
Valuations 1
Miscellaneous inspections 9
Total 141
J. S. D. SMITH, B.S.A., P.Ag., LAND INSPECTOR, CLINTON
The Clinton Land Inspector's office was officially opened on June 2nd. The new
land inspection district includes Ranger Districts No. 12 (Clinton) and No. 21 (100-
Mile House), Lillooet District, and part of Ranger District No. 13, Cariboo District.
These areas were formerly covered by the Land Inspectors at Kamloops and Williams
Lake and the Forest Rangers at Clinton and Williams Lake.
Since June 2nd 165 inspections were made, of which 44 were annual pre-emption
inspections. The 121 land inspections covered a total of 14,000 acres. In addition,
eight inspections were made by the local Forest Service staff. Due to the autumn
increase of applications, by November 30th forty-five inspections were outstanding.
The type and number of inspections in the Southern Cariboo have been dictated
by the accelerated natural economy of the region; namely, one of grazing, lumbering, and
recreation. The last few years of high beef prices have prompted established ranchers
to increase their herds, and their area of range, pasture, and hay-meadows. Concurrently, many small-scale ranchers have been enlarging their holdings, not without some
misgivings by established interests.
An active market for lumber has encouraged many small logging outfits to harvest
the virgin stands of the Southern Cariboo. Hence logging and mill work have increased
the population, and consequently the demand for home-sites and pre-emptions.
The construction of the new Cariboo Highway is a major factor in regional progress.
There are over 200 lakes within the Clinton Land Inspection District. During the season,
forty-four inspections dealt with alienations involving lake-frontage. Already several of
the more popular lakes have very few suitable summer-home sites remaining as Crown
lands.
An attempt is being made to carry out all inspections and to set all recommendations to conform with the best land-use policy, both on a short-term and a long-view
basis. Wherever possible, established and small-scale ranchers are aided in consolidating
and enlarging their holdings. Increased attention is paid to the regional grazing-control. V 40 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Due to the scarcity of arable land in the Lillooet District, pre-emptions are generally
discouraged, especially in view of their long record of repeated failures. Home-site leases
and purchases are encouraged as substitutes for pre-emptions because in many cases the
party only requires a legal place to build a home and has not the time, equipment, or
inclination to clear the required acreage of land in the allotted period. In all cases of
home-site applications careful attention is paid to the availability of domestic water.
Wherever feasible, applications for lake-frontage are confined to five chains of lake-
shore, and Government subdivisions are suggested if adjoining sites are suitable for
summer homes. Reserves for public and cattle access to lakes are recommended at
suitable lake-shore points.
A decline in the demand for Crown land in this district is predictable if the market
for beef and lumber and the supply of timber diminish. Demand may also decrease if
the completion of pavement to the Central Interior results in tourists by-passing the
Southern Cariboo for fresher recreational opportunities of the Central Interior. It is
doubtful, however, that any serious drop in the number of applications will occur in the
next few years.
The following is a summary of inspections made during the year: —
Purchases—
Agriculture and grazing 35
Home-sites 17
Industrial and commercial 1
Camp-sites and resorts 1
Miscellaneous 1
Land leases—
Agricultural 1
Home-sites 6
Grazing (including hay-cutting) 19
Land-use permits, licences of occupation, easements, etc 7
Pre-emptions—
Applications 18
Annual inspections 44
Subdivisions—
Valuations 2
Selection Crown's quarter-interest 1
Survey inspections 1
Reserves proposed 9
Miscellaneous inspections 2
Total 165
W. R. REDEL, B.A.Sc, LAND INSPECTOR, QUESNEL
During the past year there has been a sharp increase in the number of people calling
at the office to obtain information about available Crown land in the area. I feel that the
time spent with each interested party is well worth while, both from the standpoint of
the knowledge I am able to pass along to the public and from the information I am often
able to obtain from a prospective applicant, which is useful in writing my report. However, these constant interruptions, particularly during the height of the field season, have
a tendency to interfere with the paper work required for each land examination.
With completion of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway construction work and the
establishment of the plywood industry, I rather expected the demand for Crown land to
level off. However, this year there has been an even larger demand than experienced in LANDS BRANCH
V 41
previous years. This increase in demand for Crown land, in spite of the levelling-off of
activity in the district, is rather difficult to explain. It would appear that many of the
workers who have moved into the district and taken positions with the plywood plant are
now buying up small parcels of land that they may have something to fall back on in the
event that the plywood plant should be forced to close.
Once again this year I have gone to considerable trouble to get some of the old pre-
emptors, with sufficient improvements, to apply for their certificate of improvement and
Crown grant. These people, who in most cases do not know how to fill out the forms, are
particularly grateful for the assistance given.
The following table classifies the inspections made during 1952: —
Purchases—
Agricultural 70
Home-sites
Industrial and commercial
Camp-sites and resorts
Miscellaneous
Land leases—
Agricultural
Home-sites
Industrial and commercial
Grazing (including hay-cutting) 8
Land-use permits, licences of occupation, easements, etc 2
Pre-emptions—
Applications 10
Annual inspections 21
Subdivisions—
11
3
6
5
1
5
2
Selection Crown's quarter-interest
Survey inspections
Reserves
1
1
5
2
Land Settlement Board—Valuations 1
Miscellaneous inspections 10
" Veterans' Land Settlement Act ".
Total
164
L. D. FRASER, B.Sc, P.Ag., LAND INSPECTOR, KAMLOOPS
The demand for Crown land in the central southern part of British Columbia
remains fairly static. A slight increase in applications has been noted in the Okanagan
area. This can be attributed, to some extent, to established land-owners wishing to
enlarge their present holdings by acquiring land that contains forest land for the purpose
of ensuring sufficient timber to enable them to operate their small mills on a sustained-
yield basis. Other applicants were interested in small holdings for home-site purposes.
Before any significant increase in the demand for Crown land can be expected in
this area, a major programme for irrigating arable land will have to be inaugurated.
Perhaps a solution to this problem would be the enlargement of the present Government-
sponsored and -directed programme for reclamation and irrigation. It will also be necessary to step up the education programme in connection with conservation and the most
suitable crops and farming methods adaptable to the district to meet industrial-wage
competition.
The greatest industrial development in the history of the Interior of British Columbia
is now taking place with the construction of the $86,000,000 trans-mountain oil pipe-line.
It is the first crude-oil pipe-line from Alberta to Vancouver and the Pacific Coast, and, V 42 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
according to current schedules, construction of the 711-mile pipe-line should be completed in August, 1953, and Alberta oil should reach Vancouver during October, 1953.
One of three pumping-stations, to force oil through the pipe-line, is located at Kamloops,
and construction of the tank-farm and pumping unit is well advanced. A $3,000,000
oil-refinery is also scheduled to be built near Kamloops and is to be in operation by 1954.
The construction of the trans-mountain oil pipe-line across the Canadian Rockies,
through the ranch lands of Interior British Columbia and the scenic Fraser Valley, will
contribute materially to the economy of this district and to British Columbia as a whole.
The following is a summary of inspections made during the year:-—
Purchases—■
Agricultural and grazing 34
Home-sites 15
Industrial and commercial 2
Camp-sites and resorts 1
Miscellaneous (buildings) 1
Leases—-
Land—
Home-sites 3
Industrial and commercial 6
Grazing (including hay-cutting) 14
Foreshore—
Industrial and commercial 4
Miscellaneous (private) 2
Pre-emptions—
Applications 2
Annual inspections 16
Subdivisions—Survey inspections 4
Reserves , 5
" Veterans' Land Settlement Act" 2
Miscellaneous inspections 4
Total 115
C. T. W. HYSLOP, B.S.A., P.Ag., LAND INSPECTOR, PRINCE GEORGE
The year 1952 has been the busiest in land transactions in the Fort George District
since 1947. The opening of the John Hart Highway this summer brought an anticipated
flow of land-seekers and has resulted in a considerable number of applications, most of
which are for gas-station sites, tourist camps, and summer-home sites.
However, the publicity that attended this opening, coupled with that given to the
Pacific Great Eastern Railway extension into Prince George this fall and the additional
publicity given to the Aluminum Company of Canada power project in the western part of
the district, has resulted in a considerable influx of bona fide settlers into the whole
Central Interior, and has given a tremendous boost to land sales in and around Vanderhoof and Prince George especially.
Not only has it affected the sale of country lands, but it has also given the sale of
town lots added impetus in both Prince George and Vanderhoof. The recent discoveries
of natural gas and oil in the Peace River District and the consequent survey of a pipe-line
following the John Hart Highway southwards to Prince George from the Pine Pass have
also brought additional publicity to this area.
Prince George has grown tremendously in the past year, and several large wholesalers of food, hardware, building supplies, logging and farm machinery have built large
permanent warehouses. In addition, many smaller businesses have started up and several
old established business firms and banks have expanded and modernized their premises. LANDS BRANCH V 43
The lumber industry has continued its rapid growth and is becoming more stable.
All of these expansions in business and industry have resulted in an inflow of population
and increased markets, and this in turn has brought about the terrific demand for farm
lands throughout the Interior as well as town lots in Vanderhoof, Prince George, Fort
St. James, and McBride.
The Vanderhoof area this year has seen a great influx of Mennonites from the
Prairies. These people have settled largely in two farm communities near Vanderhoof
and have already cleared and broken considerable land. In fact, there were sufficient
land applications in the Vanderhoof area, which includes the Fort St. James and Fort
Fraser districts, to keep an Inspector employed throughout the summer. George Cassie,
a third-year undergraduate in agriculture at the University of British Columbia, was
responsible for over 100 of the inspections made in this area during the summer, and
these were in large part for agricultural purposes.
It is considered locally that there is sufficient volume of land sales and inspection
work in the Vanderhoof district at the present time to warrant the appointment of a full-
time Inspector. This man, working in conjunction with the land office of the new
Government Sub-Agency which will be opened in Vanderhoof during the early part of
1953, would be able to provide a much better service to these communities.
During the latter part of the summer, various Pacific Great Eastern Railway reserves
in and around Prince George were lifted. These reserves had held up land sales in
several large subdivisions on the outskirts of the city and in Central and South Fort
George. Most of the Crown lots in these subdivisions were acquired by reversion. This
necessitated the revaluation of most of these lots to bring them in line with current land
values, and in many cases certain recommendations on zoning and land use were made
as well. Many of these lots were sold at public auction and others across the counter,
but all brought good prices.
The Government Agent, his Deputy Land Commissioner, the Provincial Assessor,
and the writer worked closely as an unofficial board to look after the local arrangements
for placing these lots on the market to the best advantage.
Revaluations were made in eighteen large subdivisions in and around Prince George,
as well as in McBride, Vanderhoof, and Willow River Townsites. These comprised
several hundred lots, and considerable time and effort were involved in reporting not
only the revaluation, but also the zoning, best use, and access. It is interesting to note that
land values have climbed in many cases to the boom-time prices received prior to World
War I, and in some cases industrial sites in and around Prince George are reported to be
selling at a higher price per acre than comparable sites in Edmonton and Vancouver.
The publication of composite maps of Prince George and Vanderhoof by the Surveys
and Mapping Branch in the early part of the year served a very useful purpose and has
been the subject of much favourable comment locally. The same may be said for the
three sheets of the present use and cover map of the Prince George survey (1948),
published this year by the Land Utilization Research and Survey Division. It is felt that
there is need of considerable extension work by the Department to give wider publicity
to not only the above-mentioned maps, but forest base maps, interior maps, the aerial
photographs from which they are made, and the countless other services which the
Department can provide. V 44 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
The following is a summary of inspections made during the year:—
Purchases—
Agricultural 168
Home-sites 13
Industrial and commercial 17
Camp-sites and resorts 29
Wood-lots 8
Miscellaneous 17
Leases—
Land—
Home-sites 1
Industrial and commercial 4
Quarrying, sand, gravel, limestone, etc. 2
Grazing (including hay-cutting) 7
Miscellaneous 2
Foreshore—
Booming and log storage 12
Industrial and commercial 5
Land-use permits, licences of occupation, easements, etc. 7
Pre-emptions—
Applications 9
Annual inspections 16
Subdivisions—
Valuations 24
Survey inspections 2
Plans cancellation 2
Reserves 7
" Veterans' Land Settlement Act" 4
Land Settlement Board—
Land classification 3
Valuations 11
Miscellaneous inspections 18
Total 388
F. M. CUNNINGHAM, B.S.A., P.Ag., LAND INSPECTOR, NELSON
The number of outstanding inspections in the Nelson Forest District on November
30th, 1951, was 76. The number of inspection requests received in the Nelson Forest
District during the past year was 158, making a total of 234 inspections to be done.
Of this latter number, 195 inspections have been made, leaving 39 requests outstanding
as of November 30th, 1952. During this past year I have handled all requests in the
Invermere, Cranbrook East and West, Creston, Kaslo, Lardeau, Nelson, New Denver,
Nakusp, Castlegar, Canal Flats, and Spillimacheen Ranger Districts. Of the above-
mentioned 76 outstanding inspections at the beginning of the year, 50 of these fell to me
and 26 to Rangers in other districts. Of the 158 inspections received, 122 fell to me
and 36 to the Rangers. Of the 195 land classifications submitted during the year, I did
152 and the Rangers did 43, and of the 39 outstanding requests as mentioned above,
I am responsible for 20 and the Rangers 19. The total number of requests received this
year is slightly less than last year, but, generally speaking, business is about the same.
Effective December 1st of this year and henceforth I will have deleted the Invermere, Spillimacheen, and Canal Flats Ranger Districts from my working district and will
have added Edgewood, the latter having been done in the past by the Ranger. By so LANDS BRANCH V 45
doing I hope to decrease my mileage considerably, as the above-mentioned three districts
require travelling a considerable mileage to make relatively few inspections.
The amount of work which I have been able to do this year is considerably greater
than that done for the same length of time last year, and this is due largely to the stenographic assistance which was given to me last fall. This allows more time for field work,
and I firmly believe that the services of a stenographer are well warranted.
The office shared by Mr. Spielmans and myself, and until recently by the Hospital
Insurance, was relinquished in October, and our office established in the new forestry
building.
I expect to see a decided increase in land sales and development along the Arrow
Lakes within the next few years, and I would point out that already Crown land sales are
on the increase in the Nakusp area.
Mining development in the district has decreased in the past few months, and
numerous small mines have ceased production altogether and many are in the process of
stopping operations. This is due to the slump in world market prices for lead and zinc.
Only the larger mines capable of much larger production are able to operate on the
existing narrower margin of profit. I would mention also that the road constructed by
the Department of Mines and connecting Kaslo to Lardeau was opened during this past
summer and is now being used extensively. The opening of this road has been a boon to
the residents of the Lardeau district, as they are now able to bring in goods and export
their produce daily, whereas in the past they had to rely on a bi-weekly C.P.R. boat
service. Three Quaker families have moved into the Lardeau district and have purchased
farm land with a view toward development of same for ranching. I believe several more
families are expected to come in within the next year or two. If the agriculture potential
of the district could be built up, I feel that the Lardeau Valley may some day become
a stable district rather than a district depending on its economy entirely through forest
and mine products, which it has in the past.
The following is a summary of inspections made during the year:—
Purchases—
Agricultural 62
Home-sites 49
Industrial and commercial 14
Camp-sites and resorts 6
Wood-lots 8
Miscellaneous 13
Leases—
Land—
Agricultural 3
Home-sites 1
Industrial and commercial 2
Fur-farming 1
Foreshore—
Booming and log storage 2
Industrial and commercial 2
Miscellaneous 1
Land-use Permits, licences of occupation, easements, etc 3
Pre-emptions—
Applications 2
Annual inspections 14
Subdivisions—
Selection Crown's quarter-interest 5
Plans cancellation 2
Reserves 3 V 46 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
" Veterans' Land Settlement Act" 2
Land Settlement Board—
Land classification L 5
Valuations 15
Miscellaneous inspections 27
Total 242
D. E. GOODWIN, B.S.A., P.Ag., LAND INSPECTOR, POUCE COUPE
Land-inspection work in the Peace River District has been handled by D. L.
Cornock, Pre-emption Inspector; J. D. Kidd, Assistant Land Inspector; and myself.
In the three years following World War II, there were a large number of preemptions granted. Many of these pre-emptors have completed the required improvements and have applied for Crown grants. This resulted in an increase of annual
pre-emption inspections during 1952. It is expected many more pre-emptors will be
applying for the Crown grant in 1953, and that the number of annual inspections will be
increased over previous years. At the present time there are 440 pre-emptions in good
standing in the Peace River District.
As of the end of November, there are 88 new applications awaiting inspection. This
is a marked decrease from the 180 inspections that were pending one year ago. It is
stressed that the decline of the back-log of work was accomplished by the addition of Mr.
Kidd to the inspection staff during the summer months and not due to a decrease in the
number of applications. It is hoped that similar summer assistance will be supplied
in 1953.
The weather was very favourable for field work during 1952. An early spring
enabled inspection work to commence the latter part of April. Snow did not fall in this
area until mid-November, and this melted, permitting field work to continue. It is said
that this has been the most pleasant fall recorded in the Peace River District for twenty
years.
As in the past years, the majority of Crown land acquired south of the Peace River
has been for the purpose of extending present farm holdings. New settlement and development has taken place north of the Peace River. As was the case last year, the areas
of Cecil Lake, Cache Creek, and Blueberry have been most active in settlement and
development of Crown land. New settlers have been mostly from Saskatchewan, but
with the opening of the John Hart Highway between Prince George and Dawson Creek
this summer there have been a number of new settlers from Central British Columbia.
Another factor which has aided settlement has been the search for oil. The oil
companies have built hundreds of miles of bulldozed bush roads, which have provided
access to large areas of Crown land.
In addition to field work, considerable time was spent in aiding prospective settlers.
Status maps of the district have been kept up to date, showing Crown land available for
settlement. Bulletin No. 25, entitled "Peace River District," was revised in 1952 by the
Lands Branch, and has proved very valuable to incoming settlers. The revision in 1952
of the Pre-emptor Series Map 3e has also proved very valuable to the incoming settler.
The following is a summary of the number and type of inspections completed
during 1952:— LANDS BRANCH
By D.E. Goodwin
V 47
Purchases—
Agricultural
Industrial and commercial
56
7
Miscellaneous (grazing) 6
Leases—
Agricultural 13
Industrial and commercial 2
Grazing (including hay-cutting) 30
Pre-emptions—
Applications 13
Annual inspections 76
Reserves 1
Miscellaneous (section 53, "Land Act," cancellations, etc.) 31
Total 23 5
By J. D. Kidd
Purchases—
Agricultural 54
Home-sites 2
Industrial and commercial 9
Miscellaneous (grazing) 13
Leases—
Agricultural 11
Grazing (including hay-cutting) 9
Pre-emptions—
Applications
Annual inspections
Miscellaneous (section 53, "Land Act")
Total
6
7
6
117
Purchases-
Agricultural
Home-sites
Industrial and commercial
Miscellaneous (grazing) _
Leases—
Agricultural
By D.L. Cornock
55
7
5
3
13
Grazing (including hay-cutting) 20
Pre-emptions—
Applications 8
Annual inspections 24
Reserves 1
Miscellaneous (section 53, "Land Act," cancellations, etc.) 12
Total 148 V 48 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
LAND SURVEYOR
P. M. Monckton, B.C.L.S.
In the early part of the year, besides completing the plans and field-notes of the
1951 work, some surveys were undertaken at Alberni and Port Alberni.
The Alberni survey, not yet completed, comprises a large area of logged-off land,
where nearly all the old posts have been destroyed, and, as in so many of the older
surveys, as much time is spent hunting for evidence of the original corner posts as in the
laying-out of the ground.
" Permanent" survey monument
displaced by bulldozer.
As the years pass, and logging, fires, rot, and especially bulldozers take their toll, the
wooden posts planted many years ago are gradually disappearing. Sometimes evidence
survives, such as a pile of rocks or the remains of a bearing-tree, but increasingly more
frequently all trace has been obliterated, and miles of extra line must be laboriously
hacked through dense bush to relocate a corner. Then, through cumulative errors in the
old surveys, there is no guarantee that the point arrived at is the same as the original.
This calls for experience and judgment on the part of the surveyor, weighing this evidence
against that, to decide which is the stronger, always bearing in mind that he may have
to appear in Court and convince a Judge that he has done the right thing. The survey at
Alberni falls into this category.
The land surveyed at Port Alberni adjoins the city limits, and has since been taken
over by the Federal Government as a Veterans' Land Act project.
In early May a short job was undertaken at Fairview, revising a former survey and
checking over the posts set in 1950.
The subdivision of Block 10 in the Townsite of Hope (suburban) had been started
in 1950, being left unfinished, awaiting filing of plans of the Hope-Princeton Highway.
Twenty-eight lots, averaging 60 by 120 feet, were laid out, fronting on the highway. As
a water-main has been laid along this frontage and power is also available, these lots
should be very attractive.
At the end of May a move was made to Terrace, and sixty lots of about an acre each
were surveyed, fronting on either Highway No. 16 or on the Copper City-Lakelse Road.
These lots are level, the soil sandy or gravelly loam, and water obtainable by well.
At about 4 miles from Terrace, on the Lakelse Lake Road, which will soon be
the Kitimat Road, Lot 4000 was subdivided into thirteen lots, each approximately 10
acres. These are level land, sandy loam to clay, on a bench about 500 feet above sea-level. LANDS BRANCH
V 49
A small site was marked out for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at Port
Edward, 10 miles from Prince Rupert.
At the old Two-Mile Townsite near Hazelton, part of the original survey plan was
cancelled, and a few lots of varying acreage substituted.
West of Smithers there had been difficulty in finding the lot corners in Plan 1076;
a resurvey of part of this was made, and iron bars set at all the block corners facing on
Highway No. 16.
At the end of July, after a few days of reorganization in Victoria, a new start was
made in an easterly direction, the enlarged lot required by the Parks and Recreation
Division of the Forest Service was surveyed at the Big Bend of the Columbia River.
Near site of Forest Nursery,
Cranbrook.
A large area was surveyed for the Forest Service nursery at Perry Creek, near
Cranbrook, and a small addition to a subdivision of part of Lot 9802, at Monroe Lake,
near Moyie; also a subdivision comprising eight lots was made at Nelson, returning to
Victoria on September 11th.
I went to Alexis Creek on September 17th, where a site was delineated for the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and on the return journey some final work was done on
the Hope subdivision, arriving back in Victoria on October 5th.
In addition to the above surveying, various land inspections were made, on the
Industrial Reserve at Victoria, at other points on Vancouver Island, and at points on the
Mainland. SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH V 53
SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
G. S. Andrews, M.B.E., B.Sc.F., P.Eng., B.C.R.F., B.C.L.S., F.R.G.S.,
Director, Surveyor-General, and Boundaries Commissioner
Surveys and maps arise from the logic in man rather than from his instinctive appetites for the basic essentials of life. Come hard times, or periods of retrenchment, for
whatever cause, man will strive to eat, to keep warm and dry, to nurture his young; he
will fight solely for these ends, and he will pray more fervently to his gods for succor.
The benefits of surveys, while contributing materially to all these elements of man's
existence, as well as to his aspirations for bettering himself, his kind, and his world, do
not impinge so sensibly upon his primary reflexes. His effort to make surveys is, then,
engendered mainly from his power to reason.
When austerity prevails, it is all too easy to neglect or to procrastinate survey activities. The penalties, while not always immediate, are nevertheless real and inevitable.
This is the insidious feature. Investment in surveys is the best insurance against depression because they promote effective utilization and conservation of the public estate—
the stock-taking of resources, the proper husbandry of them, and the orderly traffic in
them.
Of the various kinds of survey, legal or cadastral surveys have the most immediate
significance to man because they establish the bounds of his particular property, for all
to see and for none to dispute. They are the safeguard of title, inviolable and guaranteed
by Statute. This is fundamental. A man's home is his castle, and the boundaries of his
curtilage are those of his private individual " kingdom," a deep-rooted and persistent
Anglo-Saxon concept.
Control surveys, whereby the country as a whole is laid out on a framework of
widely separated points, rigidly connected together by a network of triangulation and
precise traverse, are apt to be the least appreciated because their significance is not readily
apparent, no more than the steel framework of a large building is visible, except during
construction. If it were not for this intrinsic framework, the numerous parts, like rooms
and apartments, would not hang together in any stable manner. They would both fall
apart and crush in, one upon another, due to the stress of gravity and the ravages of
environment.
The people of British Columbia are still very much in the process of building a
Province—an inspiring structure. Now is the time to set up the survey framework of
our domain, to ensure that it is strong, of good design, and on solid footings. If control
surveys are neglected now, when separate expanding communities begin to merge, as
inevitably they must, there will be costly anomalies along the lines of contact between
surveys from various directions. Confusion of title, litigation, and inordinate expense
would be the penalty.
Another type of survey, standing between the two extremes already mentioned, is
that for topographic mapping, which delineates the detail physical features of the land—
coast-lines, however intricate; mountains, however rugged; streams, however tortuous;
lakes, large or small; valleys, gorges, bench-lands, plains, as well as the innumerable
works of man—roads, towns, ditches, dams, etc. Topographic surveys are intimately
dependent upon control surveys on the one hand. On the other hand, they consolidate
all the piecemeal fragments of cadastral surveys in the over-all picture of a sizeable tract
of country within the limits imposed by map scale.
Topographic maps, when well made, have a strong appeal to the citizen, presenting
to him, by contour, line, and symbol, a realistic picture of his evironment. Not only do
they tickle his fancy for armchair safaris, to escape from humdrum cares, but they make
a serious and direct appeal from the standpoint of his business enterprise, be it a search V 54 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
for agricultural land, a forest management licence, a road, railway, or pipe-line right-of-
way, a sales region, a hydro-power reservoir, or any of many other items.
What the average citizen may not appreciate when he peruses a topographic map-
sheet, beautifully drawn, lettered, and in several colours, is that its creation cost real
money—certainly more than the nominal 25 or 50 cents he may have paid for it at a shop
or Government office; that into its production went a long and complicated series of
technical operations, arduous in the field, and involved in the mapping office. This map
also embodies a large measure of individual ingenuity, zeal, and sacrifice by the team of
surveyors, technicians, and draughtsmen who co-operated efficiently together to produce
it. Be the audit cost of the map several dollars, which he and his fellow citizens surely
must pay (in taxes), it is still the bargain of the century, for by it hundreds of thousands
of dollars are saved in better-planned communities, efficiently located roads, and
economically regulated resources.
Apropos of mapping costs, during the past twenty-five years, air-survey photography
has brought about a revolutionary change in map-making techniques, and more particularly since World War II it has become a highly perfected and indispensible map-making
tool. Never before has man got so much value for each mapping dollar he spends as he
gets now, thanks to aerial photographs and photogrammetry (the latter term meaning the
art and science of deriving precise quantitative measurements from photographs). It
must not be misconstrued that air-survey photography has dispensed with the services of
orthodox surveyors, topographic engineers, and cartographic draughtsmen. What it
has done is to give the fieldmen seven-league boots, and to the office personnel a miniature
model of the great outdoors, complete in every detail down to the smallest tree or mountain tarn, perfect in the shape of every mountain range or cosy ravine, as brought in
by the photographic air crews and made visible by the alchemy of the darkroom staff.
It is fortunate that this versatile and comprehensive method has been developed and
perfected at a time when British Columbia's economic development has begun to move
so rapidly.
THE YEAR 1952
Accompanying reports of the four divisions of this Branch—Legal, Topographic,
Geographic, and Air—will disclose that the Provincial surveys and mapping services are
playing a vital part in the affairs and growth of British Columbia at a very modest charge
on the Provincial budget. For the five-year period 1909—13 an average of 4.8 per cent
of our total Provincial budget was allocated for surveys and mapping. In the five-year
period 1948-52 the proportion has averaged 0.7 per cent.
During the 1952 field season adverse weather was the worst impediment to survey
accomplishment, particularly in the north, where an abnormally brief snow-free season
in the mountains and poor visibility due to prevalent cloudy weather interfered with
triangulation from the mountain-tops and with photographic operations in the air. Until
long-range weather forecasting becomes a more exact science, field surveys on the ground
and in the air will continue to be subject to this uncontrollable hazard, which causes the
best-laid plans to go askew. Man proposes, but God disposes.
Bad weather aggravates a difficult question in operational policy governing air-survey
photography. The season's agenda always contains numerous items of prime urgency.
As the end of a poor season approaches, there is a dire temptation to go aloft in adverse
conditions to attempt at least some kind of photo cover, knowing full well that the results
will be below par. Under such circumstances the client concerned has indicated his
preference for substandard pictures rather than nothing at all—half a loaf being better
than no loaf. However, the resultant air negatives, and prints from them, find their way
ultimately into our permanent air-photo library, and have a nasty habit of cropping up,
time and again, long after the circumstances of their taking have been forgotten. They
sneak out into circulation, willy-nilly, where, like bad pennies, they do not enhance the SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH V 55
prestige of the issuing agency. A young air-survey organization simply cannot risk
compromising its reputation in this manner, and will flatly refuse to attempt photography
under conditions other than ideal. It may be a mute testimonial to our Air Division
that its reputation for good photography is now so well established that this year it
did, under duress, take on one or two operations of this unhappy nature. Just the same,
we do not like it, and cannot countenance its repetition with a nod of acquiescence.
BOUNDARIES
Surveys for the establishment of British Columbia's boundaries have continued
during this year. A party under W. N. Papove, B.C.L.S., D.L.S., A.L.S., working during
the winter of 1951-52, projected the Alberta-British Columbia Boundary northward
along the 120th meridian from Hay River, latitude 58° 45', for a distance of some 40
miles, leaving approximately 48 miles to the end of this boundary at the north-east corner
of the Province where the said meridian intersects the 60th parallel of north latitude.
During the present winter, 1952-53, it is expected that a party now in the field under
George Palsen, D.L.S., A.L.S., will complete the survey of this boundary, and, subject to
favourable conditions of ground and weather, the same party will turn the corner and
continue westward along the British Columbia-Northwest Territories Boundary, aiming
to connect with a portion surveyed by N. C. Stewart, B.C.L.S., D.L.S., during the past
summer, some 75 miles distant, at the Petitot River. This is an ambitious programme.
Mr. Palsen plans the use of dogs and light motorized toboggans for transport in the northward direction in the first part of the winter, and the use of tractors in the westward
direction from the north-east corner, where he has arranged a rendezvous with the
heavier units about mid-January, when the ground should be frozen sufficiently to carry
their weight.
Mr. Stewart's survey, already mentioned, completed some 27 miles of the British
Columbia-Northwest Territories boundary along a stretch where the Petitot River intertwines the 60th parallel of latitude, east of the Liard River. He also completed a trial
line over a like distance westward from the Petitot toward the Liard River. Mr. Stewart's
means of transport was river-boat supplemented by pack-horses.
Concentration of survey effort to establish the two boundaries flanking the northeast corner of the Province has been necessitated by widespread activity in exploration
for petroleum and natural gas under permit in that region. It is imperative to establish,
on the ground, the line of demarkation between the three Governments concerned—
Canada (for the Northwest Territories), Alberta, and British Columbia—in a region
endowed by ancient geological events with promising petroleum possibilities, with no
regard whatever for man-made political boundaries.
During the year, for private reasons, Norman Stewart resigned as British Columbia's
representative on the Alberta-British Columbia and the British Columbia-Yukon and
Northwest Territories Boundary Commissions. As a consequence, the writer has been
entrusted with these duties by authority of Federal and Provincial Orders-in-Council.
Meetings of both Commissions took place twice during the year—in Ottawa during
February and in Victoria during August.
FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL CO-OPERATION
In addition to Provincial boundaries, there have been other survey and mapping
activities which imply extra-provincial co-operation, especially with the Federal Government. Both the Army Survey Establishment of the Defence Department and the Surveys
and Mapping Branch of the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys carry on mapping programmes in our Province. This brings up the question of division of responsibility
and concern about duplication of effort. I can report, with much satisfaction, that there
has been achieved a very high degree of co-operative co-ordination between our Provin- V 56 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
cial Branch and these two large Federal agencies. The main feature of policy governing
Federal mapping in British Columbia is that it be directed to areas of strategic national
interest, in particular to main lines of communication; namely, the belts contiguous to
the transcontinental railway lines and the Alaska Highway. Whenever Provincial programmes, aimed to take care of areas of primary economic development, make contact
with or cross the belts selected by Ottawa, details are sorted out in advance, in a very
co-operative manner, avoiding duplication, and arranging a practicable area allocation
between contiguous field parties. Mutual exchange of control data (triangulation and
levels), air-photo cover, and various other details have been most satisfactory and beneficial. The Geodetic Survey of Canada and the Dominion Hydrographic Service carry out
specialized survey activities on a nation-wide basis, which are of greatest significance to
British Columbia, and in these specific fields Provincial efforts are complementary rather
than competitive. Progress is now being made in the matter of transferring from Ottawa
to Victoria copies of the original field-notes and plans of surveys made under the Dominion Land Survey system in the Railway Belt prior to 1931, when these lands reverted
from Federal to Provincial jurisdiction. Possession of these data for ready reference is a
very necessary part of the survey administration of the lands concerned.
Under the Canada Forest Act a precedent has been set whereby direct aid is made
from the Federal Treasury to the Provinces for forest inventory surveys, carried out by
Provincial services. It would seem this principle might well be extended to basic mapping, especially to Provinces such as British Columbia, which have built up an efficient
survey and mapping organization of recognized competence and specialized in the particular climatic and topographic conditions found in this mountainous Province.
MAP DISTRIBUTION
Efforts have been made during the year to improve the distribution of maps by this
Branch, especially to the various Government Offices throughout the Province, such as
Government Agents, Assessors, Land Inspectors, Forest Rangers, District Agriculturists,
etc. The list includes lithographic sheets in colour at various scales, issued by the Geographic Division, and ozalid prints made in the Blue-print Section of the Legal Division
from official master transparencies held in the Department. The latter include Departmental reference maps, 1 mile per inch; mineral reference maps, 1,500 feet per inch;
composite (subdivision) maps, 500 feet per inch; interim maps from aerial photographs,
half-mile per inch; and facsimiles of the standard contoured topographic manuscripts, at
half-mile per inch.
In the map-making business it is easy to become so absorbed in production that the
importance of getting the products out to the users is apt to be neglected. Good map-
producers are inclined to be poor map salesmen, and, " hiding their light under a
bushel," too often take the attitude, " Well, there's another dandy map completed, come
and get it." But, of course, people will not come to get what they do not know about.
A small committee was set up in the Branch to co-ordinate the various products, and
outlets for them, among the four divisions, and Mr. Pearmain, in his report for the Legal
Division, describes what has been done and some of the results.
PRESERVATION OF SURVEYS
A matter of perennial and growing concern in Surveys is the preservation of survey
monuments in situ on the ground. The vulnerability of these primary markers of property
increases at an alarming rate, in particular to the depredation of bulldozers. It would
seem that the " cats " have a voracious predilection for survey monuments, that they
deliberately go out of their way to gouge them out at every opportunity.
Section 531 of the Criminal Code of Canada imposes seven years' imprisonment for
the wilful destruction or removal of a legal-survey monument. The oldest members of SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH V 57
our Branch cannot remember a single case where a conviction has been made under this
Statute or even charged in the Courts, but we do know of many cases where monuments
have been obliterated by wanton negligence.
Disappearance of survey monuments, either from decay, as in the case of the earlier
type of wooden posts, or from uprooting, in the case of our modern metal and concrete
posts, is costing the public heavily. Protests at the high cost of surveying even a simple
plot of land arise to a very large extent from this cause, where all too often the surveyor
must carry his connection an unreasonable distance in order to make the ties required by
law to the nearest identified survey monuments in place.
What are we to do? This problem is a No. 1 item on the agenda of surveyors'
meetings in each Province across the country, as well as in annual conclave together in
Ottawa. Some propose to amend the Criminal Code to include wanton or careless
destruction under penalty, in addition to wilful damage, the latter being so hard to detect
or to prove. Others suggest legislation to facilitate civil action being brought to bear for
damages and costs of re-establishment of obliterated monuments. Still others would
contrive some type of monumenting technique which would render the markers too
obscure for the bulldozers to ferret out. Trouble might be that nobody else could find
them either. Other efforts have been to reference and witness the monuments in such
a manner that their true position may be quickly relocated, even if the post itself has
vanished.
Almost from time immemorial the practice in forested country has been to evidence
a corner with bearing-trees, and this has served the purpose in many instances. However,
even trees fall prey to disease and fire, and we all know what the bulldozer can do to all
but our largest trees. The time-honoured devices of concrete monoliths, stone mounds,
and pits are no longer proof against these ubiquitous (and iniquitous) diesel predators.
The fact that the monuments, by definition, are set to mark the angles and intersections of boundaries of land puts them in the front line facing the enemies of survival;
it is right on these lines that man likes to build his fence, his wall, or hedge, and to site
monuments along right-of-way boundaries may often be to wave a red flag at the bulldozer.
It cannot be denied that the preservation of survey monuments is a primary public
concern, and, therefore, a responsibility of government as well as the survey profession,
and, of course, the property-owner. Many years ago in British Columbia the problem
of tying in mineral-claim surveys, isolated and widely scattered in the rugged mountains
of British Columbia, was taken up by the Government of the day, and solved to a very
worth-while degree by a programme of establishing " mineral monuments," these being
a breakdown of the primary triangulation of a region into a denser pattern and incidence
of accurately tied-in monuments, sited on accessible topographic features, and sufficiently
close that surveyors of mineral claims could, without undue expense to the client, tie in
to these monuments, both for co-ordinate position and for azimuth of line.
It would seem that in this modern problem we could well take a leaf from the book
of earlier days and set up a pattern of cadastral reference monuments of enduring
character, and at sufficient density to be readily accessible, especially in areas of active
development, and along main lines of communication. These monuments would be
accurately tied in to the basic triangulation of the country, as well as to cadastral surveys,
and would be located on sites especially selected for immunity from disturbance by road-
building and like industrial operations. They would not necessarily be on boundaries or
lot corners, but could be at any suitable site selected by a qualified surveyor. When
warranted, they could be on privately-owned land with the consent and goodwill of the
owner. They should be designed with an eye to convenience for occupation by the
surveyor and his instrument, and the small area around them could be dedicated as
a sanctuary for the exclusive purposes of survey, in the public interest. Lists of pertinent
co-ordinates and elevations for them could be published for the convenience of anyone V 58 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
concerned. The existence of a system of such monuments would go a long way to
mitigate the dire consequences of lost corners in an area because the latter could be
quickly, accurately, and cheaply re-established, whenever required, by reference to the
two nearest cadastral reference monuments. This proposal would further satisfy a moot
criticism by private surveyors and engineers that triangulation stations established by
government surveys are mostly out of reach on the tops of the mountains and of little
use to mundane needs of making a living down in the valleys. An allotment of $50,000
a year for field expenses, with the addition of half a dozen qualified surveyors to our
staff, could, in a very few years, set up a pattern of this type of control which would meet
with immediate approval of practising surveyors, municipalities, and all those concerned
with cadastral surveys, such as subdivisions, rights-of-way, timber exploitation, mining,
land settlement, foreshore leases, etc. It would be a very practical and effective antidote
for the predatory blade of the bulldozer.
STAFF ORGANIZATION
During the current fiscal year there were certain changes in staff organization. The
group of five land surveyors, with three assistants, were transferred from the Legal Surveys
Division to be administered directly under the Surveyor-General. This was to relieve
temporarily, and to some extent, the heavy responsibility on the Legal Surveys Division
until such a time as that Division could be brought up to the same supervisory level as the
other three divisions, with a Chief and Assistant Chief of Division. It is the intention
now to reallot the said personnel and responsibility back to the Legal Surveys Division
as soon as the necessary supervisory establishment can be authorized. It has been fully
demonstrated that the administrative head of this branch simply cannot be tied down to
any routine or detail operational tasks; these must be delegated to the divisions. It has
been only by virtue of the invaluable post-retirement services of F. O. Morris, former
Surveyor-General and Director, that the present temporary arrangement was possible
at all.
Attention is directed to the mention in Mr. Hutchinson's report for the Geographic
Division of the appointment of two graduate geographers who will give their full and
particular attention to some of the more specialized aspects of geographic analysis in
regional, economic, and physical studies, which heretofore have not been adequately
dealt with due to unavoidable preoccupation with cartographic needs of the Province.
Noteworthy at this time is the retirement on superannuation of two staff members
of long and distinguished service. Henry Percy Rutter, B.C.L.S., retired from the position of Chief Draughtsman, Legal Surveys Division, after more than thirty years' service
in the Department. He was a recognized authority on survey aspects of the Statutes
governing mining in British Columbia. Since retirement he has entered private practice
as a British Columbia land surveyor. Alan Stewart Thomson, Chief Draughtsman,
Topographic Division, retired after some seventeen years' official service, but with almost
an equal length of prior service as a so-called "temporary" employee in topographic
mapping and boundary surveys in the Province. Many topographic manuscript maps in
the original hand of " Spike " Thomson bear permanent witness to his superlative skill in
both the field and cartographic phases of topographic mapping.
Some twenty years ago, in the office of the Chief Forester, there hung a small framed
notice which said, " I am too busy to write you a short letter, so I have written you a
long one." SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH V 59
LEGAL SURVEYS DIVISION
D. Pearmain, Chief, Legal Surveys Division
The volume of work processed by this Division continues at the same high level as
in the previous few years, and it is becoming apparent that this must be accepted as the
usual and not the extraordinary. The great industrial expansion within the Province has
made for a very great increase in certain work performed by this Division, and we have
been somewhat pressed in some instances to keep our routine duties and responsibilities
up to date.
A short synopsis of the main duties of this Division, as performed during the year,
follows.
The checking and plotting of the field-notes of the surveys of Crown lands are done
in this office, and the preparation of official plans made therefrom. This year 363 sets
of field-notes were received in this office and duly checked, plotted, and indexed; these
were received from 70 British Columbia land surveyors and covered 217 surveys made
under the "Land Act" and 146 surveys made under the "Mineral Act." There were
also 160 plans received from surveyors making surveys under the "Land Registry Act";
these were also duly checked and indexed, and copies deposited in the respective Land
Registry Offices.
This Division is the custodian of all the field-notes and records of all surveys of
Crown lands; at the present time there are approximately 91,132 sets of the field-notes
on record in this Division.
In order that a proper graphic record may be kept of alienations of both surveyed
and unsurveyed Crown lands, a set of reference maps is maintained covering the whole
Province; those lying south of the 56th parallel of north latitude are generally on a scale
of 1 inch to 1 mile, and those lying north of the said parallel are 1 inch to 2 miles. These
show all cadastral surveys which are on file in the Department. They are drawn on
tracing-linen, and prints of same are procurable by anyone at cost.
The work of keeping these reference maps up to date by adding new survey information as it becomes available, and of renewing them when they become worn by
constant handling in the blue-print machines, forms a considerable portion of the work
of this Division.
There are also eighty-two mineral reference maps on record in this Division. These
cover the known highly mineralized areas of the Province, and are on a scale of 1 inch
to 1,500 feet.
All applications to purchase or lease Crown lands or foreshore, which are received
by the Lands Branch, are channelled through this Division for clearance. The orderly
processing of these applications requires that an exhaustive status be made from the
reference maps, official plans, and Land Registry Office plans, and in some instances
these can be very time-consuming. One of these clearances may take fifteen minutes to
consummate, while another one may take three hours to complete the search and consolidate all the information necessary to assess properly the application.
From information and facilities maintained in the Division, it is possible to give an
up-to-the-minute status on any parcel of Crown land anywhere in the Province.
The sale of Crown timber, either through timber sale or forest management licence,
is made only after a clearance is obtained from this Division.
The co-operation which this Division supplies to other departments of Government in
the preparation and checking of descriptions has remained at a high level during the year.
It has been necessary during the year to obtain from the Land Registry Offices
3,762 plans; copies of these have been made, and same have been indexed and filed and
have become part of our records.
The ozalid- and blue-printing establishment, maintained by this Division, has processed a large volume of work this year. Prints are made not only for all divisions of the V 60 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Surveys and Mapping Branch, but for all other departments that avail themselves of this
service. The total number of prints made this year is 108,826, and in the preparation of
same 89,696 yards of paper and linen were used. Satisfactory storage space has at last
been procured adjoining the blue-print room, and this now enables us to keep an
adequate stock of paper and linen on hand.
The volume of work passing through our photostat-room has made it necessary to
employ an assistant for the operator. During the year 7,945 photostats have been made.
A new vacuum frame was purchased to facilitate the making of film positives up to a size
of 45 by 35 inches; this will enable us to make film positives in one sheet of topographic
maps at the manuscript scale.
The Composite Map Section of this Division is compiling and tracing composite
maps of the more thickly' subdivided areas of the Province on the scale of 1 inch to 500
feet. There have been forty-one sheets completed during the year, and these cover the
following areas: Powell River, Cranberry Lake, Westview, West Quesnel, Vanderhoof,
Terrace, Invermere, Edgewater, Edgewood, Needles-Fauquier, Lillooet, and Squamish.
These maps are revised every six months, thus ensuring that they are up to date in so far
as subdivisions are concerned.
The composite maps are proving of great benefit and assistance to the Land Registry
Offices, Provincial Assessors, municipal authorities, and the general public. Prints of
them are procurable at cost on application to this Division.
During the year, as an extra-curricular task, the members of the staff of the Composite Map Section built an epidiascope, which has greatly aided their air-photo plotting.
In June of this year the Department purchased the original tracings and copyrights
of fifteen maps from J. B. Davenport, of the Island Blue Print and Map Company,
Victoria. These were compiled by Mr. Davenport and cover the thickly subdivided areas
along the east coast of Vancouver Island from Victoria to Courtenay. Our Composite
Map Section has revised these maps to show all subdivisions on record as at July 15th,
1952. Prints of these are available at cost on application to this Division.
In the spring of the year the writer made a visit to the Government Agents and Provincial Assessors located on Vancouver Island, and in the fall to the Government Agents,
Assessors, and Land Inspectors located between Lillooet and Burns Lake, with the object
of ascertaining their requirements in regard to maps and aerial photographs. It was felt
that the Surveys and Mapping Branch had many different types of maps of which these
officials were not aware. Samples of all the available types of maps were shown to them,
and in the subsequent discussions the uses to which they could be put in their own particular field of endeavour were ascertained. Copies of the particular types of maps
requested have now been prepared and forwarded to the respective officials.
It is a pleasure to acknowledge the very kind reception which was accorded to me
on these trips, and also to say how much these officials in the agencies appreciated the
co-operation of the Surveys and Mapping Branch in making these maps available to them.
Sources of Collections, 1952—Sale of Prints, Maps, etc.
Blue-prints $14,259.82
Lithographed maps 6,563.51
Photostats 2,056.60
Aerial photographs 5,410.50
Miscellaneous . 4,536.95
Total $32,827.38
Attached hereto are Tables A, B, and C. Table A summarizes the main items of
work carried out by this Division, while Tables B and C give a list of present reference
maps. SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
V 61
Table A.—Summary of Office Work for the
Surveys Division
Number of field-books received-
lots surveyed
lots plotted
lots gazetted
lots cancelled
mineral-claim field-books prepared
reference maps compiled
applications for purchase cleared
applications for pre-emption cleared
applications for lease cleared
coal licences cleared
water licences cleared
timber sales cleared
free-use permits cleared
hand-loggers' licences cleared
Crown-grant applications cleared
Petroleum and Natural Gas Permits
cleared
reverted-land clearances
cancellations made
inquiries cleared
placer-mining leases plotted on maps—_
letters received
letters sent out
Crown-grant and lease tracings made—-
miscellaneous tracings made
Government Agents' tracings made
photostats made
Sale value of photostats
Number of blue-prints made
Sale value of blue-printing
Number of documents consulted and filed in vault.
Years 1951
AND 1952,
1951
1952
386
363
449
386
421
434
408
376
28
46
121
132
10
14
1,451
2,675
166
107
1,058
782
6
3
30
55
4,983
4,192
337
359
8
12
1,718
1,901
190
298
1,249
840
724
912
1,237
706
183
182
11,716
12,517
7,751
7,576
1,836
1,347
42
73
293
346
5,448
7,945
$4,934.81!
$8,131,351
94,325
108,826
$41,268.79!
$44,286,021
53,131
55,132
1 Total value. V 62
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
1952
LEGAL SURVEYS DIVISION
SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
15000-
BLUEPRINTS MADE
CLEARANCES & PHOTOSTATS MADE
1000—^,-
TRACINGS MADE & LOTS GAZETTED
<$■
100—*"
u«S:
LOTS GA2.
REFERENCE
MAPS o
COMPILED & J
TRACED
COMPOSITE
MAPS 4
COMPLETED SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
V 63
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00M0000MMM0000M0\0\a\0\0\0\0\a\0\0\OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH V 68 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
FIELD SURVEYS
F. O. Morris, Special Assistant to the Surveyor-General
The legal surveys carried out at the expense of, and under instructions of, the
Department during the year have been somewhat extensive and include acreage surveys
and subdivision surveys of Crown lands for disposition under the provisions of the
" Land Act," re-establishing and reposting surveys, and highway rights-of-way surveys,
etc. A synopsis of the work done is outlined in the following.
Crown Lands
Duncan Cran, B.C.L.S., surveyed some forty-five sections of Crown lands in the
Doig River area of Peace River District. These are reported to be all suitable for
agricultural purposes, and practically all are now taken up by lease or purchase under
the " Land Act."
Alaska Highway
Control survey of the right-of-way of the Alaska Highway was continued this year
by A. C. Pollard, B.C.L.S. Fifty-one miles of the highway between Miles 397 and 450
were surveyed and posted with permanent survey monuments. In addition, fifteen lots
were surveyed at various points along the highway for the Department and for the
Northwest Highway System. As the Alaska Highway survey is designed to act as
control for future surveys adjacent to it, the instructions issued for this work call for
a precise order of survey, in which all distances are checked and directions controlled
by frequent astronomic observations. Furthermore, the survey is well marked on the
ground by standard survey posts and mounds, with concrete monuments at frequent
intervals.
W. N. Papove, B.C.L.S., was engaged in the definition on the ground of the
boundaries of certain timber areas under reserve to the Northwest Highway System of
the Department of National Defence along the Alaska Highway and the Haines Cut-off
Highway, also the survey of 11 miles of highway right-of-way and ten district lots.
Right-of-way Surveys
In accordance with the continued Departmental policy of providing control for
future cadastral surveys along and adjacent to the highways of the Province, four such
surveys were carried out by J. H. Drewry, B.C.L.S., D. W. Carrier, B.C.L.S., A. J.
Campbell, B.C.L.S., and A. D. Ross, B.C.L.S. The survey by Mr. Drewry consisted
of a survey qf some 12 miles of the Cariboo Highway in the vicinity of Clinton. Mr.
Carrier, who is a member of the staff, carried out a combined control and right-of-way
survey on the new Hope-Princeton Highway. It extended from Mile 32 to Mile 53.
The survey by Mr. Campbell consisted of the survey of some 33 miles of the John Hart
Highway between Summit Lake and Kerry Lake, while the survey by Mr. Ross consisted
of some 33 miles of the John Hart Highway between Kerry Lake and Parsnip River.
The instructions for these surveys, made in conjunction with the Department of Public
Works, included the requirements of a highway right-of-way plan (for deposit in the
Land Registry Office) with added instructions for obtaining information desired by this
Service.
Miscellaneous Surveys
J. A. F. Campbell, B.C.L.S., completed a reposting survey of certain blocks in the
subdivisions of Lots 937, 938, and 1429, Cariboo District, also a resurvey of Block 49
of Lot 1429, Cariboo District.
A. W. McWilliam, B.C.L.S., surveyed certain Crown lands in the vicinity of
Bonaparte Lake, Lillooet District, consisting of fifteen district lots. surveys and mapping branch v 69
Departmental Surveys
The Legal Survey permanent staff includes five British Columbia land surveyors;
they are D. W. Carrier, R. W. Thorpe, W. A. Taylor, R. E. Chapman, and G. T. Mullin.
The latter has been a staff assistant for several years and was recently appointed a land
surveyor.
Messrs. Thorpe, Taylor, and Chapman have surveyed district lots and subdivisions
in various parts of the Province. When not so engaged, they have examined and
checked the returns of surveys of Crown lands made by others.
This year Mr. Thorpe's work has been mainly on Vancouver Island and in the
Cariboo District. On the Island he has reposted a number of Alberni District lots,
made subdivisions in Shawnigan District and at Campbell River, and surveyed the highway right-of-way from Cameron Lake to the Alberni Summit. His work in the Cariboo
includes the reposting of a district lot at Dragon Lake and the survey and subdivision
of a number of new district lots on the John Hart Highway at Summit Lake and at
Parsnip River.
Mr. Taylor's surveys this year have been in various land districts, including Lillooet,
Kootenay, and Kamloops and Similkameen Divisions of Yale. The majority of these
have been subdivisions; some, such as those on the Seymour Arm of Shuswap Lake
and at Pemberton, were farm units, while others at Castlegar and near Bralorne were
small building lots. On the Salmo River in the vicinity of the South Fork, he laid out
a group of district lots and reposted an old subdivision at Jewel Lake. In addition to
the above surveys, Mr. Taylor made inspections of several surveys, notably certain
" Land Act" boundaries at Canyon City, an old subdivision at Savona, and a right-of-
way near Tete Jaune Cache.
The majority of the field work done by Mr. Chapman was in the Prince George
area. This consisted of the reposting of part of the original townsite subdivision and of
certain district lots in the vicinity of the city, as well as the survey of new subdivisions
in the areas formerly occupied by army camps. At Clinton he made a small survey
under the provisions of the " Land Act," and subdivisions at Yale and on the University
Endowment Lands.
A number of land surveys were undertaken by P. M. Monckton, B.C.L.S., who is on
the staff of the Superintendent of Lands. These surveys included subdivisions near Hope
and Fairview and a number of Crown-land surveys at various points, including Port
Edward, Hazelton, and Cranbrook.
G. C. Emerson, B.C.L.S., surveyed some fifteen lots covering Crown lands held
under application in the vicinity of Telegraph Creek and also carried out a traverse of 30
miles of the John Hart Highway immediately to the north-east of the Parsnip River
Bridge.
TOPOGRAPHIC DIVISION
A. G. Slocomb, B.C.L.S., Chief, Topographic Division
The Topographic Division's yardstick of accomplishment is the map-sheet, and the
number of these completed in a year represents our production. A fair amount of the
field work involved in controlling each sheet is routine; however, due to the rugged
nature of most of British Columbia, it is possible to use triangulation for the main network of control and photo-topography for vertical control. These systems require the
personnel to climb to the tops of the mountains selected, and the weather must be
suitable. This latter requirement is really what governs the amount of our production.
Blessed with ideal weather, our crews can and do complete their areas by mid-September,
sometimes earlier, and often complete more than was originally planned. Our produc- V 70 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
tion for this year is lower than last by 10 per cent, and the only culprit was the weather.
The helicopter party operating north of Telegraph Creek was finally forced out of its
area by new snow, after practically coming to a standstill during the latter part of
August. All parties reported their troubles with old snow as late as July in some areas
and, with one exception, were late in returning to Victoria. A total of seventeen and
one-half map-sheets was controlled, with a combined area of 5,700 square miles. In
addition, a triangulation party completed 110 miles of main triangulation.
The Okanagan Helicopters Limited again supplied the northern party with transportation for the mountain-top crews, and had a fairly successful season. While they
had one mishap and had to replace the machine, there were no casualties, and a minimum of time was lost. The salvaging of the damaged machine gives an indication of
the efficiency and scope of the organization of this company. For main camp moves
and to bring in supplies of food, gasoline, and mail, a Norseman aeroplane was chartered from Queen Charlotte Airlines for two months. These two machines and their
crews formed a very efficient team and, given an even break by the weather, would
easily have enabled the work to have been completed.
One additional helicopter was chartered from Okanagan Helicopters Limited for
twelve hours' flying-time to enable the Squamish party to complete its area.
The triangulation crew working in the vicinity of Bella Coola used the aeroplanes
of the Central B.C. Airlines to advantage when required. This party was also hampered
by bad weather and snow conditions. An accident to the M.V. " B.C. Surveyor," when
she hit an uncharted rock, put the boat out of action for twenty days. The Forest Service
boat " Lillian D " was placed at our disposal and enabled the work to go on without interruption. This is just another example of the fine co-operation we always receive from
the Forest Service.
Multiplex equipment ordered during the year has not all been delivered, and in any
event could not be set up until the building to house it is ready, which will not be until
1953. In the meantime the equipment already received is in storage. There is a full
programme of work ready, and operators trained to man this machine just as soon as it
can be set up.
A Ryker plotter received during the year was set up and is ready for operation. It
will assist in the compiling of the Soda Creek area.
A. S. Thomson, Chief Draughtsman, was superannuated on September 30th, after
completing twenty-five years in the Lands Department.
A detailed report from each Chief of Party follows.
TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEY NORTH OF TELEGRAPH CREEK
G. C. Emerson, B.C.L.S., D.L.S.
This year we had hoped to complete the task initiated in 1949; namely, to map the
western highway route from Hazelton to the Yukon Boundary near Atlin. Although a
second party worked southerly from the boundary, early snow prevented the realization
of our ambition, leaving a 30-mile gap in the project.
Shown on a map, this project looks like a giant sword thrusting its way through
the vitals of Northern British Columbia. It covers an area of 8,000 square miles and is
equal to the length of the whole British Columbia-United States Boundary. The aviation
industry must be complimented for this feat, as the helicopter and float-plane were indispensable tools.
Following instructions issued by the Director of Surveys and Mapping, I left Victoria
with a party of twenty-eight on June 11th.
The party included J. E. Curtis (assistant), eight instrument-men, two cooks, one
computer, one radio operator-technician, ten helpers, two helicopter pilots and one SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
V 71
engineer from Okanagan Air Services and one float-plane pilot and engineer from Queen
Charlotte Airlines.
We proceeded by scheduled aircraft to Prince Rupert and then by Q.C.A. chartered
aeroplane to Telegraph Creek, our point of commencement.
132 oo
A/aimo l.M' * '
58 as'.
r.r,,\04."A
AA:it,..,i a59°oo/
A fl/d Tr/anga/af/on Stations
▲ A/ew 7~r/'ongu/or''OnSfoflO/JS
O O/d Secondary Can Froi
• /Vew Secondary Cbnrrol
© As Fro Fixes hy
£> ThrsHeworf-s.
58 oo
I04J/4 •
58 ls'
-58 oo'
132 oo'
131 oo' 130 is '
Fig. 1.
From the very beginning we were plagued with actions of the elements, which ate
into the limited field season. Some time after arrival, a large 1951 forest fire sprang up
again and belched smoke which obscured our photographic points; next, low clouds and
high winds held up our service aeroplanes' arrival and hampered the mountain crews;
and, lastly, an early fall of snow which refused to melt culminated the season and its
hardships.
In spite of this, seven map-sheets covering approximately 2,240 square miles were
controlled. Two hundred and one stations were occupied, which included eight main V 72 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
triangulation quadrilaterals. In addition, twelve cadastral surveys were completed in the
vicinity of Telegraph Creek.
The Air Survey Division was scheduled to complete the reflying of this area. Due
to weather conditions, no flying was possible, and the project had to be abandoned.
Consequently, photo coverage is partly British Columbia and the balance Royal Canadian
Air Force, in which numerous gaps exist, which will seriously handicap the staff during
the winter months.
Physical Features and Access
Flying northerly from Telegraph Creek over the area a varied landscape meets the
observer's eye. On the left lies the Coast Mountains with their jagged peaks and perennial
glacial snow-caps; dead ahead and below, the tributary streams of the Stikine and Taku
Rivers wind their way through a rolling valley, studded with shallow lakes, to carry off
the melting snow and rain; on the right lies a great plateau land known locally as Level
Mountain. Nearing the Atlin Lake region, more lakes fill the widening valley, which
now lies to the right, and the mountains below and to the left lose the rugged coastal look
and assume a comparatively uniform density and character.
Water and air are the main means of approach to this area. The only regular freight,
passenger, and mail service is supplied by the Ritchie Transportation Company (see
writer's previous reports for more detail) up the Stikine River from Wrangell, Alaska, to
Telegraph Creek. Beyond this point, journey must be made on foot, by horse (a limited
number are available near Telegraph Creek and Atlin), or by aeroplane. Peterson from
Atlin, Dalziel from Lower Post, Ellis Airways from Wrangell, and Queen Charlotte Airlines from Prince Rupert can frequently be seen flying this area.
Geology
The rocks between Nakina River and Ketchum Lake are mostly Palaeozoic and Meso-
zoic argillites and quartzites with much limestone in a band crossing the Nakina River.
West of Dudidontu River to the Sheslay and south to the Stikine the area is underlain by
horizontal lava-flows of Tertiary age.
No placer or lode prospects are known in the region.
[References: Geol. Surv., Canada, Map 218a; Geol. Surv., Canada, Sum. Rept.
1925, Pt. A, Explorations between Atlin and Telegraph Creek; Geol. Surv., Canada,
Mem. 247, " Physiography of the Canadian Cordillera."]
Climate and Vegetation
This area, being east of the Coast Mountains, is blessed with a lesser annual precipitation than the Alaska coastal settlements. In the immediate vicinity of Telegraph
Creek the climate is much like the Kamloops area of Lower Central British Columbia,
while farther north more rain and snow are apparent.
Temperatures vary from 90° F. above in the summer to 50° F. below in the winter.
Permafrost may be found within 1 foot of the surface in some localities even during
midsummer.
A heavy blanket of vegetation, consisting of coniferous (spruce, pine, fir) and deciduous (alder, willow, poplar, birch-cotton wood) trees, shrubs, berry-bushes, and vines
cover this whole area, with the exception of the plateau areas, up to an elevation of 5,000
feet. Beyond this point, moss-grass and flowers replace the heavier vegetation.
At present this vegetation serves a very limited usage. Near Telegraph Creek a few
sawmills have existed to supply the local lumber needs for dwellings and public utilities,
but none has been produced for the outside market due to the high shipping costs.
Beyond this settlement the few buildings that punctuate the wilderness are of solid-log
construction. Although various berries are large and plentiful, only the bear population
appears to benefit from the supply. Topographic Survey
Telegraph Creek Area
Headwaters of Sheslay River, looking south.
South-west from vicinity of Kaketsa Mountain. V 74 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Wildlife
The majority of the birds and animals known to inhabit this area were seen by the
party as a whole. The grizzly bear created the greatest topic of conversation and completely destroyed one mountain camp. These bears were particularly plentiful on one
mountain range, and a crew saw seven one day while doing their routine work. Following this experience, they refused to continue without a rifle for protection. On level
mountains several herds of caribou were seen grazing, and on one occasion three of these
herds, numbering approximately 200 in all, were grazing within 2 miles of us.
All the valley lakes are well stocked with fish, although some of these are dominated
by the sucker. Where the suckers are not in abundance, it is quite possible to boat a
day's limit of fish with any kind of lure in a half-hour.
Development
Half a century's activities by the inhabitants have now reached a low ebb. Projects
varied from gold-mining, trapping, telegraph-line construction and maintenance, to construction resulting from war requests, but to-day all of these are dead.
Last year scheelite was found along the Stikine River, but at present is not adding
appreciably to the development of this area. Although an ample supply of forest products
is available for selective logging or pulp, no attempt has yet been made to utilize this stock,
no doubt because of the tremendous distances to processing points.
Catering to tourists could become the most important industry of this area. During
the summer Telegraph Creek is blessed with clear skies and warm dry air, which would
appeal to the less fortunate coastal inhabitants, and, in addition, the mountain and river
scenery is superb. During the autumn, hunters can and do obtain the majority of big-
game animals, and in winter unexcelled ski-ing is enjoyed by the resident children.
TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEY OF ATLIN AREA
D. J. Roy, B.Sc.C.E., B.C.L.S., D.L.S.
In keeping with the over-all objective to produce a chain of topographic maps conforming to the National Topographic 1:50,000 series between Telegraph Creek and the
British Columbia-Yukon Boundary, this party commenced operations in Map-sheets
104 N/5, N/12, N/13, later moving into Map-sheets 104 N/6, N/11. Control surveys
to enable compilation of four and one-half sheets were completed.
Survey methods followed established practice with few, if any, innovations, the area
being well adapted to the photo-topographic approach. Datum for vertical control is a
series of Geodetic Survey of Canada bench-marks established in the area. A connection
was also made to geodetic triangulation in Yukon, providing basic horizontal control.
The intention to connect with the work from Telegraph Creek was not fulfilled. Closure
of the extensive triangulation from the south will therefore have to await another season.
Several connections were made to cadastral surveys in the Atlin district as well
as in the townsite, where a hospital-site was laid out. The Atlin Lake triangulation
scheme done in 1950 as a project of the Canadian Government was co-ordinated with
our work. Mapping will be done from vertical aerial photographs positioned by slotted-
templet assembly based on our survey data. Planimetry will be delineated at a scale of
2 inches to 1 mile. Topography will be shown by contours at an interval of 100 feet.
Personnel engaged on this work consisted of three instrument crews, numbering
nine men, a cook, horse-packer, and boatman. Supplementing the mobile services of
the latter were two of our four-wheel-drive Land Rovers. Air transport, used on occasion, was provided by Peterson's Air Service of Atlin.
Survey operations commenced on June 9th and all personnel were Victoria-bound
by September 20th. 134 oo'
SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
131°3o'
V 75
60 oo'-
A Main 7~riangu/ati'on
• Secondary Conrro/
■ Bench Mark^ //eo' in
(a) Astro r^r'xes &y
_*? 7~ht'sf/ewa/f-e.
59 oo'
13130
Fig. 2.
Physical Features and Access
The three Map-sheets 104 N/5, N/12, and N/13 are divided down the middle by
Atlin Lake, which extends north and south a distance of some 66 miles. The lake is
one of a large system which finds its way into the Lewes River, which flows north into
the Yukon. Chief feature of the lake is massive Teresa Island, rising some 4,800 feet
above water-level. Farther down in the south-east corner, Llewellyn Glacier merges
with the lake. The terrain flanking either side of the lake generally favours the
precipitous mountain aspect, although the east shore slopes away gently in the
southerly half of Map-sheet 104 N/13 and the northerly portion of Map-sheet N/12.
A notable feature is isolated Minto Mountain, which, rising to a height of 6,900 feet,
can be seen from the Alaska Highway in Yukon Territory. Other noteworthy groups
of mountains are those surrounding such high points as Barham, Sentinel, McCallum,
and Atlin. The latter is a very scenic massif, viewed from Atlin town directly across the
lake. The main watercourses entering Atlin Lake from the east are Indian, Fourth of
July, Pine, and McKee Creeks. Into the south-east corner flow the O'Donnel and Pike
Rivers. Main drainage from the lake is by Atlin River to Tagish Lake. Map-sheet
104 N/6 is drained chiefly by the O'Donnel River system. Surprise Lake to the north,
in Map-sheet 104 N/11, is drained to Atlin Lake by Pine Creek. Spruce Creek, notable
as a producer of placer gold, drains from Map-sheet 104 N/11 into Pine Creek. Fourth V 76 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
of July Creek extends back from Atlin Lake to the east boundary of Map-sheet 104 N/13,
which is straddled by Porter Lake, the source of Fourth of July Creek. Indian Creek
drains the flat north-east corner of Map-sheet 104 N/13.
Atlin district is served by a good gravelled highway, recently constructed from Jakes
Corner on the Alaska Highway. Whitehorse is now only about four hours by automobile
from Atlin. In former years, entry to Atlin was via the lake system from Carcross; now
this link is practically unused. An early connection south with the remote outside was
the Telegraph Trail, which is presently in a state of disrepair. The area about Atlin has
long been the scene of search for placer gold, and one of the results of these efforts is
a system of roads extending up the main creeks. The main stem may be thought of as
Pine Creek, which is paralleled by a road up to Surprise Lake. Many side-roads branch
off into various creek-valleys, the chief of these being Spruce Creek. The latter valley,
still a gold-producer, is served by a good road. A local office of the Department of Public
Works maintains the road system.
Peterson's Air Service operates out of Atlin on floats, serving those who would
penetrate into the still remote areas. The Canadian Government Department of Transport has recently been improving the runway just east of town for licensing, so that no
break in air service will be occasioned by the off-seasons for floats. On Atlin Lake
there are one or two launches for hire, as well as a number of pleasure craft. Communications are maintained by the Canadian Government Telegraphs Service operating a wireless station.
Geological
The Atlin area lies on the east side of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains
and is included within the Teslin Plateau, a subdivision of the southern part of the Yukon
Plateau. Remnants of an undulatory upland surface lie between 5,500 and 6,800 feet.
The geology of the area is shown on Map-sheet 218a, Atlin sheet of the Geological
Survey of Canada.
The oldest rocks are mostly Palaeozoic quartzites, argillites, limestones, and greenstones, and west of the south end of Atlin Lake conglomerate, sandstone, and other sediments containing some coal. In the vicinity of Atlin, in the basin of Pine and Spruce
Creeks, are numerous ultra-basic intrusives, now largely serpentinized. From Atlin northward on the east side of Atlin Lake the rocks are mostly granite and related types of the
Coast Range intrusives. There are small areas underlain by Tertiary flows, such as on
Ruby Creek.
There has been only one important lode mine in the Atlin area. The Engineer
mine, a gold mine on the east side of Taku Arm, operated intermittently between 1913
and 1948 and produced gold worth about $500,000.
The placer mines on Spruce, Pine, and other near-by creeks have produced more
than $12,000,000 worth of gold since the discovery of placer in 1898. The pay-streak in
most mines has been deeply buried, and both underground and hydraulic mining methods
have been employed.
[References: Geol. Surv., Canada, Mem. 247, Physiography of the Canadian Cordillera; Geol. Surv., Canada, Mem. 37, Atlin District; Geol. Survey, Canada, Ann. Rept.,
1899, Vol. XII, Pt. B, Atlin Mining District; B.C. Dept. of Mines, Geology of Atlin
Placer Camp, J. M. Black (in preparation).]
Historical and Development
The history of Atlin area is a part of the story of the gold-rush to the North. In
1898 Fritz Miller officially staked and recorded claims on Pine Creek, and before the
year was out, 3,000 miners had visited Atlin camp. The estimated maximum population
reached in 1899 was 10,000 people, who, according to record, recovered 40,000 ounces
of the precious metal. Not long after the early frenzy it became necessary to undertake SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
Topographic Survey
Atlin Area
V 77
Highway connecting Atlin with the Alaska Highway at Jakes Corner.
Cathedral Mountain. V 78 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
hydraulic and dredging operations, which tended to reduce the numbers of individual
miners. The latter were dominated early by the larger company-type organization.
Dredging operations were carried out over the period 1903-08 with very mediocre results.
Steam-shovels were tried in 1906 with equal success. Hydraulic methods proved most
economical and were generally adopted. Almost every major mining company in Canada,
Great Britain, and the United States conducted hydraulic operations in the Atlin area.
Some quartz mining was attempted in 1900 and again in 1904; however, these operations
were not successful.
Mining for placer gold has been conducted continuously since early discovery. The
fortunes of the industry have truly reflected world conditions. Following early success
came the World War I slump, followed by the 1929 crash. Gradual revival followed,
until World War II brought a general shut-down. Atlin has never repeated the tremendous flourish of the few years following 1898.
Transportation was a continuous problem to Atlinites, and high freight rates hampered development. Various organizations vied for the lead to provide a service by boat
and rail from Carcross until the White Pass & Yukon Railway came to dominate the
scene. The latter organization developed a lively tourist traffic into Atlin, which from
1916 to 1930 became the mainstay of the town. This trade never thoroughly recovered
after the 1929 debacle. Aircraft service into Atlin has been more or less continuous since
1929. The citizens of the town cleared a runway on a volunteer-labour basis, which
served until 1941, when outside funds were provided. Communication with the outside
came in 1901, when the telegraph-line from Ashcroft was completed; Atlin served as
a repeater station in this network.
Various newspapers were published in the town, chief of these being the Atlin Claim.
Established in 1899, the Claim prospered until 1908. The Nugget was published in 1936
for a short time. The weekly News Miner, published in Whitehorse and circulated in
Atlin, was commenced in 1938 and ran till 1943.
Hospital service was operated from 1900 to 1943, when a new hospital was obliged
to cease operation due to a general slump in the district.
The logging industry has followed the curve of mining activity. Small mills having
operated more or less continuously during the life of the town. At present there is a small
mill cutting lumber for local consumption. Forest cover consists chiefly of white spruce,
Banksian pine, balsam, cottonwood, and white poplar. Abortive attempts were made in
1900 and 1904 to establish a brick-manufacturing plant on Pine Creek.
Rather interesting is the story of agriculture in and around Atlin. All types of hardy
vegetables may be grown, the long summer days being favourable in this respect, although
unseasonable frosts are a danger. In 1899 and 1900, market-gardening on the Pine
proved successful. Lee Garden sold hay grown on the Fourth of July Creek in 1902,
while Butlers produced strawberries for several years on Taku Arm, 6 miles below Taku.
E. P. Queen established a farm north of Atlin townsite in 1903 and produced vegetables,
oats, and hay.
Atlin town and district are very quiet this year, 1952. Recently some development
of tungsten ores, as well as base-metal investigation, has created a little activity. The
creeks, such as Spruce and McKee, are still being exploited, although Noland Mines, on
Spruce Creek, was closed down in the winter of 1952. Gold has been the mainstay of
Atlin, and something new is required. Various developments are rumoured in connection with utilization of the water-power potential of the vast lake system. As well, the
whole of Northern British Columbia is receiving attention from mining interests and,
some day, development of this vast potential will materialize. SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH V 79
TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEY OF SQUAMISH AREA
By E. R. McMinn, B.A., B.A.Sc, D.L.S.
The field work this season established ground control for Map-sheets 92 G/14,
92 G/11, 92 G/13 (E V2), 92 G/12 (E V2), 92 G/5 (E V2), covering 1,200 square
miles. These sheets will be compiled at a scale of 2 inches to 1 mile with 100-foot
contours.
I23,3°' l23oo'
92%
A New Triangulation
& Old Triangulotion
m Bench Marks Tied
Fig. 3.
Field Work
To carry out this survey task, we had a party of ten—three staff men, a cook,
and six high-school boys as axemen—two four-wheel-drive trucks, a 30-foot launch,
and a 16-foot outboard boat; we had excellent survey equipment and our work was
planned in advance from the aerial pictures of the area. This picture coverage, which to
a considerable extent governs the quality of the map, is not up to our normal standard, V 80 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
but it is usable. It should be noted that these photographs were taken in 1947. The Air
Survey Division were to refly the area this year. We arranged to have Queen Charlotte
Airlines fly small parties into inaccessible lakes or to make parachute drops of food at
other points.
A good deal of survey work existed in the area. We used seven stations of A. F.
Swannell's 1950 work and extended his triangulation by four quadrilaterals to link up
with the Garibaldi Park work of Campbell and Underhill done in 1928-30. The survey
pictures of Campbell's work will be used, and an interesting comparison of our work
with his Garibaldi Park sheets, compiled without the aid of aerial photographs, is
expected. Sixty-three hydrographic stations were identified on the aerial views to be
used for templet control. We occupied thirty-two new stations, involving 190,000 feet
of climbing.
The initial job of building cairns on triangulation stations was made difficult by the
snow, which remained at the 4,000-foot elevation until July. Camera stations could
not be occupied until July 10th, but these early weeks were spent in barometer work on
Seechelt Peninsula and in identifying hydrographic points.
We worked out from a base camp at Squamish. Extended trips were made up the
Ashlu Valley, into Garibaldi Lake, and around by launch and outboard into Jervis Inlet,
Salmon Inlet, and Seechelt Inlet; trips were also made up the Vancouver, Tzoonie, and
Clowhom Rivers. Toward the end of the season the author was recalled to undertake
another project, and the party, now with a helicopter, was left in charge of G. L. Alston-
Stewart. The last six stations were occupied in twelve hours' flying-time. The season
had its memorable moments: nights around a fire on the West Lion with Vancouver
lights below, running the launch high and dry on an uncharted rock in Jervis Inlet,
sleeping on the Warren Glacier listening to avalanches, dropping parachutes with food
from an Anson in mountain valleys, or having a helicopter break down on a mountain-
top station are things not to be forgotten.
Access
Squamish is the terminus of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, which serves the
Interior as far as Prince George. This line is hindered in operation by the slow connection to Vancouver by railway-car barges, which dock at Squamish. The Union Line runs
freight and passenger ships daily from Vancouver, and the Howe Sound Company operates a daily passenger service from Horseshoe Bay. The Black Ball Line runs an excellent
car-ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Gibsons Landing, which puts Seechelt Peninsula within
two or three hours' drive from Vancouver. Deep-sea ships dock at Britannia Beach and
Woodfibre. Water-taxi and seaplane service are available by telephone.
The earliest and most ambitious road in the Squamish Valley was the Lillooet Stock
Trail, built in 1877 to allow Cariboo ranchers to ship cattle to the Victoria market.
This 4-foot trail, 164 miles long, with eighty-seven foot-bridges, ran from Pemberton
Meadows to Burrard Inlet via the Cheakamus Valley and Seymour-Lynn Creek routes,
and it became the forerunner of the Pemberton Road and the Pacific Great Eastern Railway route. Robert Carson made the only drive over this tortuous mountain trail, when
in a two-week trip he drove a combined herd of 200 head to Vancouver.
Contrary to general knowledge, a road exists from Vancouver to Squamish; this
road follows the British Columbia Electric Company's power-line over the Capilano
route through the Vancouver Water District. Strict regulations are enforced, and a
permit is necessary to enter this water district. The road from Britannia to Squamish
is new and much welcomed. North of Squamish the main gravel road goes to Cheekye, at
the junction of the Cheakamus and Squamish Rivers; if the Cheakamus Bridge were
rebuilt, Alta Lake and Pemberton could be reached by the British Columbia Electric
Company's jeep-road. There are many usable logging-roads running up the Squamish
River and into the hills on the east side of the valley. SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
V 81
Topographic Survey
Squamish Area
Hnnn
Helicopter on Ashlu snow-field.
Camera station, Mount Jimmy Jimmy. V 82 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
The Seechelt Peninsula has an extensive system of poorly maintained gravel roads
inherited from old logging operations. At present one can travel by truck from Port
Mellon to Pender Harbour. Most of the main creek-valleys opening to the coast are
being logged, and a network of roads, new and abandoned, exists. The logging-roads at
Vancouver Bay extend inland for 13 miles.
Physical Features
The vacation trip through Howe Sound and up the Pacific Great Eastern Railway
attracts thousands of sightseers each summer. The entrance to the sound is protected
by Bowen, Keats, Gambier, and Anvil Islands. High mountains—the Lions, Sky Pilot,
Roderick, and Tantalus—rise above the forested hills on either shore. Garibaldi and
Black Tusk can be seen to the north.
In 1792 George Vancouver sailed his ship into the sound and saw " the stupendous
snowy barrier, thinly wooded and rising from the sea abruptly to the clouds; from
whose frigid summits the dissolving snow in foaming torrents rushed down the sides and
chasms of its rugged surface exhibiting altogether a sublime though gloomy spectacle."
The hinterland is a mass of volcanic or granitic mountains wrinkled and cut by deep
creek-valleys which open into the Ashlu, Cheakamus, and Mamquam Rivers, tributary
to the Squamish River. In the lower 15 miles of the Squamish system a mile-wide flood-
plain has been built up. Westward the Clowhom, Tzoonie, and Vancouver Rivers drain
to Seechelt and Jervis Inlets. There are three large glaciers—Warren and Helm Glaciers
of Garibaldi Park and the very large ice-field on Jimmy-jimmy Mountain up the Ashlu
River—and the permanent snow-fields between the Ashlu and the Squamish. Since 1945
the snout of Warren Glacier has receded 150 yards, and the shrinking ice has left a
cliff under the peak of Garibaldi, which adds to the difficulty of the climb when all the
snow has gone. Because of the enormous run-off of the stream system, the 15-foot tides,
and the exposure to the south-westerly gales, the valley has a serious and recurrent flood
problem.
There are several noteworthy but unclassified natural phenomena in the area; these
are the amazing show of the tidal rapids at Skookumchuck Narrows in Seechelt Inlet,
the immense lava-flows that poured in a recent century from Clinker Mountain and which
dammed Garibaldi Lake, the fields of flowers beneath the Black Tusk spire, the broken
jagged face of the Tantalus Glacier, Brandywine Falls in the Cheakamus Canyon, the
massive granite cliff called " Stawamus Chief," the hanging waterfalls (Shannon, Echo,
Crooked, and Madden Falls), and the 1,000-foot drop at Phantom Lake Falls.
Mining
At Britannia Beach is the famous copper mine which extends over an entire mountain. Details of the geology, operation, and output of this mine can be obtained from the
British Columbia Department of Mines.
One other mine, the Ashlu gold mine, operated some 10 miles up the Ashlu River,
but this was abandoned in the thirties. An excellent pack-horse trail still exists, as do
two trail cabins and one mine cabin; the Squamish River Bridge and the Ashlu Canyon
Bridge are both gone.
A clay deposit at Squamish was used for brick and tile making, but this venture has
also been abandoned.
Garibaldi Park
This beautiful mountain park extends roughly from Black Tusk to Blanshard
Mountain and comprises 1,400 square miles of glaciers, peaks, volcanic comas, lakes, and
meadows of unending attraction to amateur and professional climbers, botanists, and
glaciologists. Many people, as well as outdoor and climbing clubs, have waited long to SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH V 83
see this park developed as a playground for Vancouver's half-million people. The opening
up of the park, the best access to which is from Squamish and Alta Lake, depends upon
the building of the Squamish-Vancouver Road.
There have been summer camps maintained at Black Tusk flower-meadows in the
past, which camps were reached by pack-trail from Garibaldi Railway-station. At present
Queen Charlotte Airlines has a lodge at Garibaldi Lake. At 5,000 feet elevation on Paul
Ridge, facing Garibaldi and Mamquam Mountains, and accessible by jeep-road from
Squamish is Garibaldi Chalet. Here, when a road is built, a real alpine holiday would
be only a three-hour drive from Vancouver.
Power
The right-of-way of the British Columbia Electric Company's power-line from
Bridge River to Vancouver comes down the Cheakamus River; thence down the east
side of the Squamish Valley and southerly along the shore to Furry Creek; from there
the line goes over the Capilano River divide into North Vancouver.
The various rivers of the Squamish system were investigated as a power source for
Vancouver City, but the proposed projects were regarded as unsatisfactory. The problem, of course, is water-storage and dam-sites and lengths of transmission-lines. The
Cheakamus-Green River scheme, with a dam near Alta Lake to regulate the enormous
variation in flow (200 to 2,900 second-feet), would produce 300,000 horse-power.
There are two canyons on the Upper Squamish; the second of these has a 600-foot fall
in its 6-mile length, with 13 miles of canoe-water beyond. The diversion of this water
through the mountain to Jervis Inlet would produce 500,000 horse-power.
At Sechelt the British Columbia Power Commission sells electric power to 1,300
customers, from its new Clowhom Falls plant, situated at the head of Salmon Arm.
With a small dam giving a 115-foot head, 12,000 horse-power will be eventually produced. There is a 2 3-mile transmission-line along the coast and over the hills to Sechelt.
Woodfibre develops its own power from the Henriette Dam. Britannia Beach and
Squamish now use the British Columbia Electric Company's power from the transformer-
station at Britannia, the original power system, dependent on three small reservoirs being
kept as an auxiliary.
Shannon Falls, having no storage facility, is of no account as a power prospect.
Echo Falls, on the west side of the sound, has two lakes at about 3,000 feet and is capable
of development.
Climate
Snowfall in the mountains is heavy and lasts from October to June, thus making
Garibaldi Park an excellent area for ski-ing. The region has the typical coastal rainforest
precipitation of 85 inches and the typical temperature range of zero to 85 degrees.
Thunder-storms are infrequent, but visibility is often impaired by a haze which is probably caused by Vancouver smoke. A daily southerly wind called a " Squamish " makes
the Pacific Great Eastern and Government dock untenable for small boats.
Agriculture
The agricultural industry has a great potential but is as yet undeveloped. Vegetables, soft fruits, and tree-fruits grow excellently, and there is local dairying. One large
area was cleared many years ago as a hop-farm. The available land stretches in a mile-
wide plain for 15 miles up the main river, but the lower and better end of this land is
liable to flood. The land and settlement are not valuable enough to warrant dyke-
building or flood-control dams. Part of this usable land is Indian reserve. However,
when a highway and railway connection is made to Vancouver, this 15 miles of land will
have immediate importance as a supplier of food to the city market. v 84 department of lands and forests
Lumbering
The valley has one large logging company, which has applied for a forest management licence. There is one sawmill and several small logging outfits. Great swaths have
been cut into the carpet-like covering of trees on the east side of the valley from the
Stawamus Chief Bluff to Cheekye Creek. Since the destruction of the old bridge across
the Upper Squamish, little logging has been done on the west side of the valley. The
local timber is fir, hemlock, cedar, and some semi-hardwoods; from the Interior, pine
and cottonwoods are shipped via the Pacific Great Eastern Railway to Vancouver. Most
of the local booms are sold to the pulp plant at Woodfibre.
Wildlife
The dense forests of this area do not support a large population of wildlife. Deer
are reportedly fewer, but the black bears and racoons awaiting the delayed salmon run
were numerous. Blue grouse are fairly plentiful.
In the mountains, goats are common and grizzly bear are reported. Marten is
the valuable fur-bearing animal, but there are only one or two trappers in the district.
Trout-fishing is excellent. Garibaldi Lake, the Clowhom Lakes, and Ashlu and
Cheakamus Rivers, as well as minor lakes, are well stocked.
Control Survey of Kelowna-Vernon Area
On September 10th the writer was recalled from Squamish to undertake a mapping-
control job in the Okanagan for the Composite Mapping Section. Vehicles and men and
equipment were drawn from the returning field parties and work commenced immediately.
It was seen that a proposed control traverse could not produce sufficient control for
a templet assembly at 500 feet to the inch nor for plotting the confusion of land subdivisions, so a triangulation scheme was laid out. Two and, later, three sub-parties were
used, each with a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
First the required lot corners were found and pin-pointed on the aerial views over
the 45 miles of country. Concurrently, a system of thirty intermediate stations was
selected and signals built. This system was tied, with difficulty, to the main triangulation,
which is in extreme disrepair. Then forty-six secondary stations were located, pinpointed, tied to the intermediate signals, and to the control points and lot corners. The
intermediate and main triangulation stations were then occupied. In all, seventy-six
stations, producing eighty control points on 500 aerial pictures, and fixing thirty-five lot
corners and five bench-marks were completed in twenty-six days. In that time the parties
covered over 7,000 miles.
This type of work, using the low-altitude pictures, is highly productive of results in
the form of established control-points. If this work is to be extended, north or south,
into the rest of the Okanagan covered by this photography, the main triangulation must
first be re-established and the detailed work should be completely planned from the aerial
pictures before leaving for the field.
TRIANGULATION-CONTROL SURVEY OF BELLA COOLA AREA
A. F. Swannell, B.C.L.S.
The intention of this year's field work was to make a strong connection between the
interior Provincial triangulation net and the coastal geodetic net. This would provide
ground control for future mapping and cadastral surveys, in addition to the main purpose
of strengthening existing triangulation structure east of the Coast Mountains.
This connection was to be made from Barlow and Nadedicus of the 1951 Provincial
net to Roscoe and King of the geodetic net. A proposed scheme was drawn up in the SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
V 85
office, but it had to be abandoned in the field as some of the stations were inaccessible.
The connection finally comprised six quadrilaterals, the preliminary computation of which
was very satisfactory.
As no precise level bench-marks were in the area, elevations were derived from the
levels taken at high and low tide at a shore station near Bella Coola. These were carried
through the net by angles of elevation. At each station occupied a complete horizon
round of photographs was taken, using a topographic camera. Low-level stereoscopic
pairs of pictures were taken from an aircraft with a K20 camera for the purpose of
checking identification of each station. Because of its central position in respect to the
work, Bella Coola was chosen as headquarters and chief supply centre. Our actual headquarters or main camp was the M.V. " B.C. Surveyor."
The " B.C. Surveyor " was our transportation unit for the coastal region. Seaplane
was used to gain proximity to all but two of the interior stations. These two stations were
reached by pack-horses and were the only ones where back-packing was not the order of
the day.
The party left Victoria aboard the " B.C. Surveyor " on June 5th. We got off to
a bad start, being storm-bound on three occasions on the trip north to Bella Coola. Bad
weather dogged us continually throughout the season: low clouds and rain were continuous until the first week in July; another three-week spell was experienced in August,
and a lengthy spell again in September. Because of this bad weather certain low ties to
coastal triangulation nets were either abandoned or not dealt with.
The season concluded when the party disbanded in Victoria on October 7th.
Fig. 4. V 86 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Topography
The work this year put us in two contrasting types of country—the rugged Coast
Mountains as compared to the Interior Plateau and Rainbow Mountains.
The Coast Range here is approximately 65 miles in width, eastward of Fisher
Channel, and runs northwest-southeast in direction. These mountains rise more abruptly
and higher as one proceeds inland. In the vicinity of Namu and Roscoe Inlets they
attain an altitude of 3,500 to 4,000 feet. Peak-level midway at Labouchere Channel and
South Bentinck Arm is around 6,000 feet, with an occasional peak reaching higher. Eastward still the peaks range to 7,500 feet, with high points rising to elevations of 8,500 feet
and upwards. These mountains are furrowed by two parallel fiords—Dean and Burke
Channels. These two channels are about 2 to 2lA miles wide, with even shore-lines that
have few indentations or bays and are separated by King Island, which, like the Mainland,
is mountainous. The depth of the water is typically profound, bedrock descending below
the surface as steeply as it rises above, one or two rocks being the only obstacles to
navigation in the main channel.
Captain Vancouver's description of Cascade Inlet is perhaps worthy of note here as
it aptly describes this impressive and beautiful inlet entering Dean Channel from the northwest: " The width of the canal did not exceed three quarters of a mile. Its shores were
bounded by precipices more perpendicular than any we had seen this excursion, and from
the summits of the mountains that overlooked it, particularly on its Northeast shore there
fell several large cascades. These were extremely grand and by much the largest and
tremendous of any we ever beheld."
Dean Channel penetrates the Coast Mountains for 70 miles. Burke Channel is
extended eastward by North Bentinck Arm and then the trough of Bella Coola Valley
itself. There are two hot springs—one large hot spring on the shores of South Bentinck
Arm and another on Dean Channel at Eucott Bay, which is about 200 feet from the shore
and 15 feet above high water.
The Bella Coola Valley is the only valley of consequence in the central coastal region.
It has approximately 15,000 acres of potentially arable land. It lies east and west and is
occupied by the large, fast-flowing, milky, glacial-fed Bella Coola River. The river has
a meandering course, and its swiftness causes continuous undulations of the stratified
sands and gravels. Its headwaters lies 70 miles inland, and it is fed by short swift-flowing
tributaries from the north and south. Seepage from the mountains causes numerous
swamps and sloughs. The river has a fairly constant run-off, the south-exposed slopes
being bared of snow before the steep north-exposed slopes release their water. Floods
do occur though, the last major one being in 1936. The valley is the glacier-formed
U-shape; its precipitous sides are ice smoothed and grooved. These walls culminate in
glacier-occupied peaks.
Dean River is the other drainage system worthy of note, with its headwaters lying
in the Anahim Lake district, and the only drainage of that portion of the Interior Plateau
contained in our season's work.
The Interior Plateau commences abruptly to the east of the Coast Mountains, and
here, on the southern extremity of Tweedsmuir Park, its general elevation above sea-
level ranges between 3,000 and 3,500 feet, and it is covered predominantly by pine with
spruce. Projecting well eastward off the main Coast Mountains into the plateau and
towering above it is the massive, glacier-covered Tzeetsaytsul Mountain (8,250 feet).
The well-named Rainbow Mountains, of volcanic origin, formed the eastern edge
of the area. These are in distinct and pleasant contrast to the rugged glaciated character
of the Coast Mountains and its jagged peaks, the Rainbows being gentle in slope with
flattened tops. They are terraced in aspect, and in the open alpine land one can travel
anywhere by horse. The streaks of different-coloured burnt rocks along the ridges elevate
themselves above the light green of grassy slopes, fingered by the darker greens of trees, SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
V 87
Triangulation Survey
Bella Coola Area
Coast Mountains, Mount Cresswell in foreground.
Occupation of Triangulation Station Roscoe. V 88 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
offering very colourful views. The colours of the rocks as the sun strikes them at
different angles change from one hue to another. The Rainbow Mountains are very
aptly named.
History and Development
The history of Bella Coola is one of the earliest of British Columbia. It was in this
vicinity in early June of 1793 that Captain Vancouver was carrying on his exploratory
work. He camped near Cascade Inlet on the night of June 3rd and explored the Inlet
on June 4th. In July the same year Alexander Mackenzie arrived from Canada by land.
Mackenzie, the first known white man to traverse the continent north of Mexico, camped
on the cheek of Cascade Inlet, making his historic inscription on the rock bearing his
name on July 22nd.
Bella Coola was originally named " Rascal's Village " by Mackenzie because of
his reception there. In the early colonial days it was the scene of Indian massacres, when
in 1863 some men were murdered at North Bentinck Arm. The following year a pack-
train en route to the Interior was massacred.
In the 1860's the Bella Coola trench was used as an entry to the Cariboo goldfields.
In 1862 it is reported that there were nineteen white settlers in the valley. The same year
a store was opened 30 miles from the mouth of the river. The Hudson's Company
started trading operations in 1864. John Clayten was the resident merchant some twenty
years later, having bought out the Hudson's Bay Company at Bella Coola.
In Crookston, Minn., some Norwegians, dissatisfied because of the hard winters
and hard times there, and under the leadership of Reverend Saugstad, passed and
adopted the constitution and by-laws of the Bella Coola Colony, British Columbia, on
September 11th, 1894. Under agreement with the British Columbia Government the
party landed at Bella Coola from the paddle-wheel steamer " Princess Louise " on October 30th, 1894. This was in spite of warnings from the Government that the fall was no
time to start settlement. A wagon-road was promised them and at some later date a
wharf. This Norwegian colony took up settlement at Hagensborg. The leader, Reverend
Saugstad, died in 1897.
In 1912 further entry was made into the Interior through Bella Coola. This was
during a land-rush to Ootsa Lake, and for a few years supplies were taken in by this
route until the northern line of the Grand Trunk, now the Canadian National Railway,
was completed.
In 1862 Lieutenant Palmer, in quest of a wagon-road route to the Interior, explored
the route up the Bella Coola Valley. Apparently because of the steep gradient necessary
to climb from the valley to the Interior Plateau, it was rejected. In 1876 a Canadian
Pacific Railway survey crew of " Y " Division were working to the north around Qualcho
and Sigutlat Lakes.
Again prior to World War I an English company was considering the Bella Coola
Valley as a route for a railway into the Interior, but with the advent of that conflict the
project was abandoned.
Originally Bella Coola was situated on the north shore by the Necleetsconnay River,
but in this position it was frequently flooded. The village now is on the south side of the
river and is 1 Vi miles from the wharf.
Construction of a telephone-line was commenced in 1909 in the valley; this was
connected to Williams Lake in 1912.
On the advice of B. F. Jacobsen, of Bella Coola, an American, Robert Thompson,
investigated Bella Coola, Dean and Burke Channels' timber for a pulp and paper project,
and, by 1906, 80,000 acres of timber had been surveyed. This pulp-wood was ideally
situated, as it was close to the excellent mill-site at Ocean Falls, which had been staked
as such in 1901 by Simon Mackenzie. In 1906 this mill-site was being cleared. The
following year the holdings changed hands, and, financed by English capital, the mill was
constructed. In 1910 the first logging camp started operations at South Bentinck Arm. SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
V 89
Industry
Fishing and logging and, allied with the latter, the great pulp and paper mill at
Ocean Falls are the main industries. Secondary industries are agriculture and trapping.
The company town of Ocean Falls gives employment to hundreds of men and women
both at the mill and the feeder logging camps. This year, at the town itself, to cope with
the increasing population, houses were being built in a small river-valley over a mile
from the town. The town itself is compact and restricted by the mountains which hem
it in.
Namu is one of the few remaining canneries left on the coast. All small canneries
have been abandoned because of the fishing companies' policy of having large centrally
located canneries, fish being picked up by fast fish-packers. Namu is centrally located,
with copious water-supplies from Namu Lake. The population fluctuates with the
season, the fishermen and canners coming and going with the fish-supply.
Bella Coola, apart from the odd logging camps on Dean Channel and South Bentinck
Arm, is the only other population centre, and it is the only agricultural area. Here the
population is scattered up the valley and at present consists of 750 whites and about 300
Indians. The two small canneries—one at Tallheo across North Bentinck Arm from
Bella Coola, and the B.C. Packers cannery at Bella Coola itself, are now shut down.
While fishing is the main industry of Bella Coola, farming is secondary, with most crops
used locally. Potatoes flourish, and crops of an excellent grade average 8 to 10 tons
an acre. They are the only crop exported. Beef-cattle and sheep are also raised.
There are four small logging operations in the valley, giving employment to 150
men. In the winter trapping is carried on for marten, mink, otter, weasel, and fox.
There is no active mining in this area. In the past, a few tons of magnetic iron ore
were shipped from a deposit on Dean Channel. A copper property is reported 10 miles
up the Saloomt River, and in 1930 the Consolidated Mining & Smelting Company did
some work on the claims by Tzeetsaytsul Mountain, but I believe it proved too low grade
and in insufficient quantities for further development. The inaccessibility has held thorough prospecting in the Coast Mountains in check.
Forest Cover
The timber is predominantly hemlock throughout the coast regions. Balsam,
spruce, fir, and cedar, the remaining coniferous species, are found intermingled in small
quantities amongst the hemlock. The rivers, such as the Bella Coola, are fringed by
large cottonwoods, and the valleys contain alder and willow. The valleys, being very
moist, give growth to luxuriant crops of devil's-club and salmonberries. A cruiser, speaking of the former, states, " One does not know whether to class it an extremely heavy
undergrowth or poor mercantile timber." Along the coastal shore-line salal is extremely
heavy.
Higher up in the mountains the timber is balsam and hemlock. The Interior Plateau
is covered by pine and, to a lesser extent, spruce, the floor being free of underbrush.
Before the lush grasses of the Rainbow Mountain plateaux and slopes are reached, the
timber is balsam and pine.
Climate
Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands form protection and shelter for
most of the Mainland coast. The Bella Coola section of the coast, however, is unprotected by these islands, and the moisture-laden Pacific air strikes the high mountains,
precipitating its water content. Consequently, it is an extremely wet belt. As the
Mainland is entered, precipitation becomes lighter, as the table below shows.
Cascade Inlet has an extremely heavy precipitation, judging by snow conditions
found in June. Three to four feet of snow were still lying in the woods at 2,000 feet V 90 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
elevation, and higher, at 5,000 feet, we found 6 feet covering the ground, with drifts of
15 to 20 feet.
Throughout the region, during 116 days we spent there, rain fell on forty days.
Snow-flurries were experienced in every month. This is a prejudiced report though, as
our work took us to the tops of the mountains. In the valleys the climate is temperate.
At Bella Coola during the summer they have about 140 frost-free days; there the climate
is temperate, consequently suitable for agriculture.
Temperature and precipitation tables as compared to Victoria:—
Average Yearly Mean Temperature
Victoria (fifty-two-year period) 50° F.
Bella Coola (fifty-two-year period) 45° F.
Ocean Falls (thirty-five-year period) 47° F.
Extreme Temperatures in 1950
High Low
Victoria 80° F. 6° F.
Bella Coola 85° F. -20c F.
Ocean Falls 84° F. 5° F.
Precipitation
Victoria 26.87 in. (sixty-five-year period)
Bella Coola 54.47 in. (fifty-two-year period)
Ocean Falls 166.42 in. (thirty-six-year period)
Game
From all reports, goat are extremely plentiful in the Coast Mountains, numbers
being seen from the channels; however, few were actually seen by us this summer.
Coast deer are quite numerous, especially on King Island. They are diminishing
in numbers, being hunted extensively, and being killed by the many wolves and cougars,
which are increasing in number.
In the drier Interior these small Coast deer are replaced by their larger kin, the
mule deer.
Moose are found here also, especially on the Interior Plateau and in the Rainbow
Mountains. Caribou, too, are found in the Rainbow Mountains along with moose and
mule deer.
Our party this year saw only four bear—two black and two grizzly. Bella Coola
Valley is notorious for the grizzly bear; they may be seen in numbers along the river-
banks when the salmon are running.
Besides the above-mentioned game animals, there are marten, otter, weasels,
squirrels, and chipmunks. Whistlers or hoary marmots are numerous among the rock-
slides, especially in the Rainbow Mountains. Rabbits are increasing but are not
numerous.
Fishing is excellent, both salt water and fresh. The salmon spawn up the rivers in
numbers, the species being spring, cohoe, humpback, and chum. Excellent trout-fishing
is obtainable in most of the rivers and lakes.
Bird-life is not plentiful, but for the hunter there are fair numbers of grouse.
Ptarmigan were found above timber-line in numbers.
Access
Ocean Falls is served by the Canadian Pacific, the Canadian National, and the Union
steamship lines. There is air service during the summer season, Queen Charlotte Air- SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
V 91
lines maintaining scheduled flights from Vancouver. Seaplanes may be chartered to any
accessible point.
Bella Coola is unfortunate in this regard because during the summer months every
morning at approximately 10 o'clock a westerly wind rises, causing seas which make it
difficult and sometimes impossible to land.
The Union Steamships give passengers and freight service to Namu and Bella Coola,
the latter point being on a weekly schedule only. It seems odd that the Bella Coola
Valley, a potential third seaboard outlet for the Interior of the Province, has not been
connected by road as yet. This September, though, the remaining 18 miles necessary
to link the valley road to the road from Williams Lake was being bulldozed through by
efforts chiefly of a small logging concern. It was hoped by the settlers in the valley the
Government would lend aid and put in a good road. For countless years this route has
been used by the Indians. In 1793 Mackenzie was persuaded by them that it was the
only feasible route to the coast. It was considered on two occasions, as already mentioned, as a wagon-road and railroad route. A road here would perhaps be of strategic
importance; certainly it would be a shorter route for the cattlemen of Anahim Lake and
the Upper Chilcotin to ship their stock. It would tend to open up the Bella Coola Valley
and the Interior, encouraging settlement and, with it, production.
Bella Coola is another entry into Tweedsmuir Park. The trails entering and within
the southern portion of the park are fully described in F. C. Swannell's reports of 1926
and 1927 and R. P. Bishop's report of 1923. Besides these trails, an additional one was
built in the 1930's, leaving the valley at a point about 6 miles beyond Stuie, following
up Mosher Creek.
TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEY IN VICINITY OF SODA CREEK
C. R. W. Leak, B.C.L.S., D.L.S.
The field work carried out this year consisted of supplying the ground control
required for Map-sheet 93 B/8 on the scale of one-half mile to an inch with a 100-foot
contour interval and, in addition, to provide control along the Fraser River from Whisky
Creek to Quesnel for a mapping project of the Provincial Water Rights Branch. As the
Water Rights project will be plotted to a scale of 500 feet to an inch with a 20-foot contour interval, the instructions for this survey laid down an order of accuracy only slightly
less than the requirements for Provincial standard triangulation. Some 20 miles of the
Water Rights control remain unfinished. Owing to the forest cover and lack of relief
on the plateau above the Fraser River, much of the topographic control had to be supplied
by traverse surveys. As the two main traverses, totalling some 22 miles, are both " floating " at one end, they were required to conform to the control traverse order of accuracy.
Twenty-one triangulation stations were permanently marked, eight geodetic bench-marks
were co-ordinated, and ties were made to eleven survey monuments, six of which were
remonumented. In the main, vertical control has been obtained by the use of aneroid
barometers; some 507 points were identified on the aerial photographs at which barometric readings were obtained. Field interpretation of topographic detail was completed
on all aerial photographs to be used in the map compilation.
Access
The area is traversed from south to north by the Pacific Great Eastern Railway and
Highway No. 2, the latter giving a choice of two routes south of Soda Creek, the old road
along Hawks Creek to 150-Mile House, and the more scenic route along the Fraser River
to Williams Lake. Several buses daily and a daily train service are available at Soda Creek
and Macalister. A new road is under construction which runs from Williams Lake north
to connect with the Hawks Creek Road. A good third-class road connects McLeese Lake V 92
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
122 30."
^ O/c/ 7}-/c7/-7j2fLs/c7£-/c2n
A A/&iAs 7r~/c7n gct/otr/ori
m S&r-icrzh Mcj/-ks; y-/ecf /n.
52
52 is'
122 oo'
Fig. 5.
with Macalister and Soda Creek. A fair third-class road was constructed this year which
follows the old Beaver Lake Trail easterly from McLeese Lake to a new lumber-mill
north of Tyee Lake. The ferry at Soda Creek connects with a fair third-class road which
runs along the west bank of the Fraser River as far as Mackin Creek. This creek is ford-
able at low water, and the road proceeds northerly from there to the Macalister ferry.
The road westerly from Soda Creek ferry soon deteriorates into a jeep-road, and on the
western edge of the map-sheet is a wagon-road. A wagon-road from Macalister ferry
serves the north-west corner of the map-sheet, and a jeep-road runs southerly from Tyee
Lake to the highway.
History
The settlement of Soda Creek undoubtedly provided a colourful page in the history
of the Province. From 1863 until the coming of the railway in 1921 it formed the
southern terminus of steamboat navigation on the Upper Fraser. The townsite was
surveyed by the Royal Engineers in the sixties. The Cariboo Trail reached there in 1863
and was continued to Quesnel in 1865. However, because of successive gold-rushes, land
booms, and railway construction, all available means of transport were taxed to the limit,
and the road to Quesnel did not do away with the river traffic. One of the earliest flour-
mills to be constructed in British Columbia was erected here in the sixties, and a flour-
mill operated there as late as 1936. It is surprising to find nothing remaining to-day of
a settlement that consisted then of at least two hotels, stores, express and stage offices,
warehouses, boat-building yards, boat-landings, and facilities for stabling and feeding
wagon trains and pack outfits. There was also a hotel where the Cariboo Trail crossed
Hawks Creek, and a flour-mill operated on Hawks Creek near its confluence with the
Fraser. SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
Topographic Survey
Soda Creek Area
V 93
Fraser River easterly from vicinity of Macalister.
Fraser River southerly from above Makin Creek. V 94 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Physical Characteristics
The area consists generally of a timbered undulating plain at about the 3,000-foot
elevation, the main topographic feature being the Fraser River and its valley, the latter
averaging about 2 miles in width from rim to rim with water-level at about 1,500 feet.
Numerous small lakes dot the plain, notably McLeese, Tyee, and Cuisson. The drainage
pattern is to the Fraser, the main creeks being Hawks, Soda, and Mackin. Several of the
lakes and sloughs in the south-west are alkaline.
Agriculture and Ranching
The benches of the Fraser River and the bottom-lands of Hawks Creek and McLeese
Valley are well developed, most of these areas being under irrigation. In general, farming consists of large well-established units using the bench and bottom lands for grain
and fodder crops and the plateau above the river for grazing stock. Potatoes are grown
as a commercial crop. Several stock-ranches are located west of and above the valley of
the Fraser. This is an area of many sloughs, small lakes, meadows, and hay lands, with
a good growth of peavine and vetch under the light forest cover, and it is an ideal stock,
country. The above description applies also to the area east of the Fraser, except that it
is a more heavily timbered and broken country which is rapidly being opened up by
numerous small logging operations. A planer-mill has recently been established at Macalister, to which many of the local mills haul their rough lumber. Fir is the predominant
species for lumbering. There is some scattered spruce in the area, and in some cases
lodgepole pine is used for tie-timber.
Minerals and Oil
There is no mining carried on in the area. Geological reports mention showings of
copper north-east of Cuisson Lake. A Department of Mines bulletin states that the
water of Soda Creek is supercharged with lime. This fact is recorded again in a Land
Series bulletin, where it states that Soda Creek flows through a silicate deposit 30 feet
in depth.
Oil-showings were found in a 1,400-foot test well near Australian Creek some years
ago. The Geological Survey Reports state the surface geology of the area unfavourable
for the finding of oil and gas in commercial quantities.
Game
There are several licensed game guides in the area. We found moose, deer, and
bear to be scarce. Coyotes, squirrels, rabbits, grouse, and ducks were plentiful. Tyee
and McLeese Lakes afford good trout-fishing.
Climate
The summers are usually dry with a mean temperature of about 56° F. and a high
temperature range of 78° to 93° F. Summer frosts may be expected on the higher levels.
Winter temperatures average about 20° to 22° F. with low of 30° to 40° F. below
zero. Snowfall averages from 2 to 3 feet in depth. SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
V 95
TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEY IN TROUT LAKE AREA
F. O. Speed
Under instructions from the Director of Surveys, control was obtained for the map-
area as shown on Fig. 1.
At the request of the Department of Mines, areas designated as " A," " B," and
" C " were to have the necessary ground control to enable them to be mapped by multiplex at a scale of 1,000 feet to 1 inch with a contour interval of 50 feet. Area A to be
done first, then, if time permitted, Area B. Area C represented the long-range programme
and limits required. On completion of Areas A and B, instructions were to complete
Map-sheets 82 K/ll (W V2), 82 K/12 (E Vz), and 82 K/13 (E Vz) at a scale of
2 inches to 1 mile with a contour interval of 100 feet.
New Triangulation
Old Triangulation
Bench Marks Tied _
Traverse Nubs
Fig. 6.
The party consisted of nine men, including the writer as chief, an assistant, an
instrument-man, five survey helpers, and a cook.
For transportation a 1-ton Mercury and two hard-topped Land Rover trucks were
provided. Leaving Victoria on June 1st, we arrived at Trout Lake on June 4th, setting
up base camp the following day.
A request was received from Dr. G. E. P. Eastwood, of the Department of Mines,
that control be obtained at Ainsworth to facilitate mapping in that area by plane-table.
As snow conditions in the vicinity of Trout Lake were bad, it was decided that this work
would be done first. The necessary control was obtained in three days by a party of
three men working under adverse weather conditions. By extending control from two V 96 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Dominion Topographic Survey posts on the west shore of Kootenay Lake across the lake
to the east shore, it was possible to further extend it on to the hillside west of the lake.
Prominent landmarks were also tied in to the triangulation system to assist in orientation
of the plane-table.
Field Methods
We controlled our map-area by running a control traverse through the valley
and tying in our own triangulation scheme to stations Sproat and Incomappleux of the
former Railway Belt triangulation. Elevations were carried forward by differential
levelling from the line of precise levels established from Beaton to Trout Lake. As a great
deal of time was spent in searching for lot and mineral-claim corners, Dominion Topographic Survey posts, and bench-marks that had been destroyed either by fire or bulldozers, we monumented with concrete all those found intact. Three lot and three
mineral-claim corners, seven bench-marks, and one Dominion Topographic Survey post
were tied into our triangulation scheme. A total of forty-one stations and twenty-three
camera stations were occupied, controlling an approximate area of 500 square miles.
Our field-time was limited by a late spring, a delayed run-off, numerous forest fires that
curtailed visibility, and a fresh snow late in August. The special photographs for the
multiplex had to be flown after the previous winter's snow cleared and consequently
arrived late; the last group were received on August 23rd. This entailed numerous extra
trips and held up the normal progress of the work considerably. Despite all these uncontrollable handicaps, the programme as planned was completed.
Historical
The early history of the area is closely associated with prospecting and mining.
Around 1865 placer gold was sought, and in 1893 the great number of mineral claims
staked in the Trout Lake area necessitated the building of a wagon-road from Beaton,
which was completed by 1895. Transportation costs and access into the area remained
prohibitive until 1903, when a branch line of the Canadian Pacific Railway was constructed from Lardeau on Kootenay Lake, following up the valley of the Lardeau River
to Gerrard at the south end of Trout Lake, from which point a steamer service ran to the
town of Trout Lake. The camps of Camborne, Ferguson, and the town of Trout Lake
grew and flourished with the mining activities. However, when most of the mining
properties ceased operating, these camps and the town became practically dormant, consisting only of a few unpainted wooden frame buildings. Recently, mining interest in
the area, with the resulting influx of road-construction personnel, surveyors, prospectors,
and miners, has given these places renewed activity.
Mining
In the past, gold and silver ores were the most important, but now the silver-lead-
zinc ores are attracting the most attention.
During the course of our work this summer we encountered numerous miners, prospectors, and drillers working at nearly every old mine property. At present the Sunshine
Lardeau mine, at Pool Creek, is the only mine that is in operation and is shipping out
high-grade ore directly to the smelter. Previous attempts at concentrating ore in the
area were not very satisfactory. Some of the large quantities of ores that were accumulated at the mine dump because of the penalty that was then imposed for zinc content
by the smelter are now of value because of this ore content.
Physical Features
The area lies in the Selkirk Mountains and contains large snow-fields and glaciers.
Its terrain is very rugged, with mountain heights averaging from 8,000 to 9,000 feet, and Topographic Survey
Trout Lake Area
Incomappleux River
Lime Dyke " at head of Gainer Creek. V 98 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
is traversed in a northwest-southeast direction by a long valley containing Trout, Armstrong, and Stoubert Lakes.
The greater part of the area is surrounded by granite rocks, with the sedimentary
rocks occupying a great trough between the main masses of granite, and granite-gneiss on
the south-west and the lesser masses on the north-east. Deep folds and high dips are
everywhere, characteristic of the district.
In the north-east the Badshot formation, a great belt of marbleized limestone, forms
the one well-defined horizon within the area. This limestone formation, or " lime dyke "
as it is locally called, is evidently the apex of a steep and sharp anticline, of which the
sharp crags and peaks form such a marked feature for miles throughout this region.
Access
Transportation and access facilities into the area are very poor, being dependent on
a daily barge service between Beaton and Arrowhead. The Canadian Pacific Railway
operates a sternwheeler, " S.S. Minto," twice weekly from Robson to Arrowhead and two
trains a week run from Revelstoke to Arrowhead. There is a daily bus service between
Revelstoke and Arrowhead.
From Beaton, roads extend to Camborne, Trout Lake, Ferguson, and beyond Ten
Mile up Gainer Creek. Launches can be obtained on Trout Lake, but no regular service
is maintained. The completion this summer of the tote-road between Trout Lake town
and Gerrard will give road access into the area. Mining-roads and old trails that are
still in good repair cover the area, giving easy access to most parts.
Wildlife
Black bear were seen in numbers, but in only two instances were grizzly encountered.
Mule deer were fairly common in the valleys.
A couple of bull woodland caribou were encountered at an altitude of approximately
7,000 feet. Trap-lines were numerous, marten comprising the biggest part of the catch.
A few beaver are taken yearly from the swamp areas.
Smaller animals were abundant, including snowshoe rabbit, red squirrel, Columbia
ground-squirrel, weasel, and chipmunk. At high altitudes there were jack-rabbit, golden
mantle ground-squirrel, and hoary marmot.
Bird-life was very prolific, ravens, pine-siskins, humming-birds, hawks, blue jays,
and Canada jays being very common. Also seen were Franklin's and blue grouse, osprey,
heron, Clarke's nutcracker, and pine-grosbeak, and numerous other species.
Forest Cover
Precipitation in this area is very heavy, resulting in a dense growth of underbrush.
In the valley-bottoms it consists chiefly of devil's-club, huckleberry, young hemlock,
and salmonberry. At timber-line large areas of scrub yew and Rhododendron albifiorum
were encountered. In winter, snowfall on the mountains is extremely deep, averaging
around 34 feet, while in the valley, although it is fairly heavy, roads are kept open without
too much difficulty. Electric storms were common and caused numerous forest fires.
Timber-line is very high, being around 7,400 to 7,500 feet. The common species
of timber, from the valley up to 4,000 feet, are western hemlock, red cedar, birch, and
cottonwood; above that are spruce and alpine fir. A small amount of lodgepole and
white pine was encountered, and in the latter species evidence was seen of the activities of
the mountain-pine beetle (Dendroctonus Monticolx Hopk.). TOPOGRAPHIC MANUSCRIPTS
B.C. Provincial Government Surveys
Photo-topographic manuscripts with Air
Photo cover.
Scale: 2inches-=l mile (1/31,680).
Provincial Government field work completed with Air Photo cover.
Scale: 2 inches_= 1 mile.
Photo-topographic manuscripts.
Scale: 1/40,000.
A. Sheets on North End of Vancouver Island completed with Air
Photo cover.
B. Sheets on Mainland not compiled from Air Photo cover, nor
conforming to National Topographic System.
Canadian Government Surveys
(Manuscripts not available.)
WHEN ORDERING MANUSCRIPTS, SHOW:
Index No 92
Alphabet letter B
Sheet No. 6
e.g., VICTORIA, 92 B/6
See index map of lithographed sheets for
manuscripts published on scale 1 inch=l mile
and 1/50,000.
Prints from manuscripts of B.C. Provincial
Government surveys are obtainable of most
of this classification. Information and prices
available on application to:—
Director,
Surveys and Mapping Branch,
Department of Lands and Forests,
Victoria, B.C.
IB3_BIFiKIS>LEI COEDU
DEPARTMENT or LANDS and FORESTS
HONOURABLE R. E, SOMMERS. MINISTER
INDEX SHOWING NUMBERING SYSTEM OF MAP SHEETS
OF THE NATIONAL TOPOGRAPHIC SERIES
P.«_».._l by Cogrnphic Div. -_M_fl___i »id Forest*
December
31st, 1952. TRIANGULATION CONTROL
Geodetic Survey of Canada (Basic Control) sond line Purple
Dominion Geological, Topographical,
Public Works Surveys and Department
of National Defence ... dotted line Purple
^Provincial Standard ------
Provincial—Other than Standard ... Green
* The standard type of Provincial triangulation meets the following
requirements:—
Network of quadrilaterals or polygons with all angles read.
All angles read to the nearest second of arc.
Maximum closing error for each triangle, 10 seconds."
All stations marked by brass bolts or iron posts.
Distance and azimuth derived from Geodetic Survey Basic
Control wherever available.
Only the main framework of triangulation is shown on this map;
numerous additional stations have been established, many of which are
marked by brass bolts, iron posts, or cairns.
Details concerning each station are recorded in a card-index, giving
marking, geographical position, elevation, distances and directions to
adjacent stations, etc.
There were more than nineteen thousand cards on file at the end
of 1952.
Triangulation surveys of all the principal coastal waterways have
been made, either by Provincial or Canadian Hydrographic surveys.
These are not shown on this map on account of its small scale.
INDEX SHOWING NUMBERING SYSTEM OF MAP SHEETS
OF THE NATIONAL TOPOGRAPHIC SERIES
, Prepare,d py Geoorppr..fr On... Deptyf Lands nnd Forests
December[31st, 1952 SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH V 99
GEOGRAPHIC DIVISION
W. H. Hutchinson, Chief, and Provincial Representative, Canadian
Board on Geographical Names
In reporting on the various activities of this Division over the past year, once again is
revealed the close relationship between the development of a country and the need for
suitable maps for, as would be expected, the continuing economic development of the
Province and its natural resources is reflected in the steady increase in the number of
maps that have been demanded over the past year. Totalling over 45,000, it seems
almost monotonous to once more record this as a new high, up some 4,000 from the
previous year. However, since the principal function of the Geographic Division is to
produce and distribute lithographed maps of the Province, it is a rather noteworthy point
to mention.
A few highlights have occurred during the year, which include the undertaking for the
first time of field work by our own staff for the purpose of obtaining culture for the first
of the new 2-mile National Topographic sheets now in hand. Two men, on a twelve-day
field-trip, were able to cover Map-sheets 82 E/N.W. and 82 E/S.W.—Kelowna and
Penticton areas respectively—in a very complete and satisfactory manner, and it would
seem to be a logical standard routine for map production on a 2-miles-to-l-inch or larger
scale when using other than new surveys for bases. The 2-mile mapping is receiving little
or no attention by the Canadian Government agencies, so it would appear to be a clearly
indicated field for us, especially now that most of the 4-mile map-sheet areas are being
dealt with.
Of considerable importance, not only to the Division but to the Department generally,
has been the acquisition of two geographers—W. G. Dean, M.A., and A. L. Farley, M.A.
There is no doubt that, once they have become sufficiently familiar with the Governmental
organization and the many sources of technical and other data now available, they will be
able to make valuable contributions by way of proper correlation of said data in conjunction with field-trips as required. Each has already undertaken a short field-trip in the
Prince George area in connection with the project to revise the existing Land Series
bulletins. Concurrent with this, their services are being used by the Dominion-Provincial
Fraser River Basin Board.
Our filing system has been greatly improved with the addition of a Roneodex card
index, on which to record the history and all complete pertinent data, particularly for
sheets of the National Topographic Series. At this time, the National Topographic sheets
on various scales have become quite numerous, with some of their histories complex
enough to try our former system with resulting loss of time in searching. It will take some
effort to gather all the information to complete the new cards, but the results will be
invaluable and could well form the nucleus of a more complete system to record compilation progress, etc., on maps of other series.
Inaugurated in the last year was an arrangement for better dealing with Lands
General mail where the need for maps is indicated. Those particular letters are now
forwarded to this Division in the first instance, where the most suitable maps are selected,
attached to the letters, and returned to the Lands General, who formulate a complete
reply. Some 950 letters have been dealt with in this way over the year.
The various functions of the Division are more completely dealt with under the
following separate headings:—
ADMINISTRATION
The Division has continued to function in the same quarters on Superior Street,
which have proven very satisfactory, except that the staff is now at the full capacity for
the three main rooms; namely, Draughting, Geographical Naming, and Computing. At V 100 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
the same time, the demands for maps and computations are on the increase every year,
and one of the problems of the near future will be to consider more space concurrent with
any needed additional staff.
During the year, in addition to the two geographers already referred to, our staff
has been increased as follows:—
W. G. B. Millar, Technical Survey Assistant—Grade 2 (Computing Section).
R. A. Hughes, Junior Draughtsman—Grade A (Map Distribution Section).
Miss P. M. Fetherstonhaugh, Draughtsman—Grade 1 (Geographical Naming
Section).
B. J. Hadzewycz, Acting T.S.A. 2 (Computing Section).
G. F. Hill, Draughtsman—Grade 2 (Map Compilation and Draughting
Section).
The last three named are at the present time on temporary staff only.
At the end of September the Division lost a popular member with the resignation of
R. S. Butt, who had been with us since 1944. He will be missed not only for his valuable
services, but for his personal attributes.
At the time of writing we have three existing vacancies on the establishment. Plans
are in hand for shortly filling two of these, although it remains very difficult to obtain
draughtsmen who possess cartographic experience. Even so, it is essential that we do
fill these positions, inasmuch as the current trend in field surveys is toward a greater
output in map-sheets, with the contribution of the Canadian Government in this regard
also very much accelerated. Consequently, the basic information is now, for the first
time, being amassed actually faster than it is being converted into lithographed form on
smaller scales.
There has been a very noticeable increase in correspondence over the year, with
Upwards of 5,200 letters written. This total is exclusive of the previously mentioned
letters from the Lands General, which were also dealt with in so far as map requirements
were concerned.
COMPUTATIONS
Before the details which follow, the work of the Computing Section may first be
summarized under four headings:—
(1) Calculations of positions and elevations of new triangulation stations
from surveyors' field work.
(2) Adjustment of triangulation network between fixed control points, and
adjoining nets with one another.
(3) Collecting and indexing of all triangulation data covering the whole
Province.
(4) Dissemination of triangulation control data, in response to requests.
Final returns covering six triangulation surveys, the field work for which was undertaken in 1951, were completed.
As usual, geographic positions (latitudes and longitudes), bearings and distances
between stations, and elevations were determined for each station. The results were
recorded in the standing card index later described.
Following the close of the 1952 field season, elevations and preliminary co-ordinates
were determined for all stations set by topographic surveyors in the following areas :■—
(a) Trout Lake area by F. O. Speed.
(b) Seechelt Inlet-Howe Sound area by E. R. McMinn, B.A., B.A.Sc, D.L.S.
(c) Atlin Lake area by D. J. Roy, B.Sc.C.E., B.C.L.S., D.L.S.
(d) Soda Creek area by C. R. W. Leak, B.C.L.S., D.L.S.
(e) Telegraph Creek North by G. C. Emerson, B.C.L.S., D.L.S.
(/) Tweedsmuir Park-Bella Coola Valley by A. F. Swannell, B.C.L.S.
(g) Kelowna-Vernon area by E. R. McMinn, B.A., B.A.Sc, D.L.S. SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH V 101
In all, preliminary co-ordinates for 671 stations and 643 station elevations were determined, the latter involving the adjustment of 5,553 difference-of-elevation calculations.
Last year four closures of triangulation gaps were accomplished and reported on at
that time. However, detailed figures were then only available for one of the gaps closed,
whilst in the statistical tables which follow we are able to record the details for the other
three gaps; namely, Tweedsmuir Park area, Clearwater-Shuswap area, and Hazelton-
Telegraph Creek area. These closures are very important to our mapping control, for,
with the accompanying adjustments completed, they are the means of solidifying a great
amount of existing control in or adjacent to these areas.
This season saw two more gaps closed—one in the Seechelt Inlet-Howe Sound area
and the other in the Tweedsmuir Park-Bella Coola Valley area. The former involved a
relatively short distance of some 50 miles, whilst the latter extended some 100 miles to
connect the geodetic triangulation on the coast with a Provincial main network in the
Interior. Details of closures obtained for these will not be available in time to publish
in this Report.
Also an important contribution to the vertical control of the Province has been the
recent recording in a numerical card-index system of approximately 3,000 cards giving
detailed information as to description, elevation, and position, if available, of each benchmark established in the Province by the Precise Levelling Section of the Geodetic Survey
of Canada. This project has not yet been completed.
By arrangement through the Department of National Defence in Ottawa, the Army
Map Service in Washington, D.C., supplied a photographer and necessary equipment to
microfilm all our Provincial records of triangulation and other control, which work consumed about three weeks. As a result, the Division now possesses a film copy of these
records, which may prove very useful in the future and, in the meantime, providing a very
satisfactory insurance as they are stored in a fire-proof vault separate from the working-
records.
All triangulation data relating to the Province are indexed under an alphabetical
card-index system, also under a quadrant-index system. In the alphabetical system, a
card is written for each station, on which are recorded the following details, where available: Names of surveyors occupying the station, with dates of occupation; numbers of
the field books and plans relating to same; description of mark; description of access;
air-photo number; latitude and longitude; elevation; distances and bearings to adjoining
stations; grid rectangular co-ordinates; ties to cadastral survey posts. More than 19,000
such cards are on file at this date.
Under the quadrant system, a register, with pages for each quadrant of 30-minute
extent, lists all the stations and cadastral-survey connections contained in each individual
quadrant. In this manner inquiries relating to triangulation in the Province can be
attended to promptly.
Requests for triangulation control have been received from many sources, both
Provincial and Federal, as well as from private land surveyors, corporations, and individuals. A total of 272 inquiries was received and attended to, which is an increase over
the previous year.
A five-year comparative table, and one which deals with least-square adjustments
of triangulation networks made, are included in the appended statistical tables.
GEOGRAPHICAL NAMING AND MAP-CHECKING
This section's work on the new Geographical Gazetteer is almost completed, with
the body of the manuscript now in Ottawa, where the final printing will be undertaken by
the Canadian Board on Geographical Names. Remaining to be finished in a form suitable
for reproduction are two accompanying maps showing mountain nomenclature and land
districts, also a few details of arrangement for the Gazetteer preface.
PROVINCIAL LIBRART
VICTORIA. B. C.
_ V 102 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
The checking and recording of the names of some forty map-sheets and charts were
also completed in conjunction with the Canadian Board on Geographical Names at
Ottawa. The work of this section continues to increase as to time consumed in checking
and revising the work of the various Provincial and Canadian Government mapping
agencies and in general liaison work with Ottawa preparatory to the printing of map-sheets
concerned. In this connection, in addition to the maps of this Division, thirteen map-
sheets from our Topographic Division and twenty-one Canadian Government maps were
checked or revised prior to printing here or in Ottawa.
The culture field check already mentioned, which was made during the summer in
the Okanagan District by this section, is significant because it is the first time that field
work has been done by the Geographic Division. Actually, the present National Topographic system of mapping, which has been adopted here, requires a far greater amount
of cultural detail than was formerly attempted in our Provincial mapping.
For 2-mile and larger mapping, much industrial and allied development can take
place, even in a short period, subsequent to the making of an official topographic or other
basic survey of an area. Although the two map-sheets in question (82 E/N.W. (Kelowna)
and 82 E/S.W. (Penticton)) amounted to over 3,000 square miles, it is pointed out that
the culture sought was, as is usual, confined only to those sections where extensive development had taken place. Therefore, the work was completed in a much shorter time than
might have been expected. The original topographic base survey was made between
1914 and 1930, so a great quantity of revision data had accumulated and remained to be
gathered. Several weeks of careful preparation preceded the actual field-visit in order
that nothing would be overlooked in the busy time to follow. Base maps, indices, etc.,
were prepared to accompany 1950-51 aerial photographs, which were the media on which
would be identified and recorded the various items of culture, principal of which were
the following:—
(1) Exact location of all public buildings, such as schools, post-offices, railway-
stations, hospitals, churches, etc.
(2) Improvements, such as power and telephone lines, wharves, sawmills,
dams, pipe-lines, irrigation-works, airfields, etc., with correct locations of
same.
(3) Classification of roads (paved, gravelled, dirt, logging, private, etc.).
(4) Naming check of new settlements and communities, drainage and relief
features, and particularly first-hand information as to local usage in
naming.
(5) Points of interest for conventional sign requirements, such as forest lookouts, cemeteries, historic sites, ski-grounds, bench-marks, etc.
MAP COMPILATION AND PRODUCTION
On the basis of the usual comparison with the previous year, the publication of maps
has very definitely boomed with the production by this Division of fifteen maps, against
last year's nine. At the same time, eleven more are now in hand, in various stages of
advancement, and these include five more of the new 4-mile National Topographic Series.
It is rather interesting to note that our latest publication in this series (103a (Laredo
Sound)) was completely set up in type and is the first map of this kind which has been so
produced here. Furthermore, all shore-lines, water features, and names of same were
depicted in dark-blue colour rather than appearing on the basic black plate as formerly.
Fifteen-minute graticule crosses were also shown over the map. These changes, which are
very pleasing, conform to specifications as laid down by the International Committee on
Map Design and Standardization. They will also apply to any future sheets of this series,
which will feature 500-foot contours as well, where same are available. Geographic Division
Osoyoos from Anarchist Mountain. The field-trip carried out by the Geographic Division was necessitated by the need for the various types of culture, such as are indicated in
this typical Okanagan scene.
South-east of Prince George, showing typical distribution of cultivated land in an area
of expanding agriculture, which is a small portion of the area covered by geographers in their
field-trip in connection with the revision of Land Series Bulletins. V 104
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
As well as the above mapping, we can record that seven maps of the National
Topographic Series in British Columbia on scales of 1:50,000 and 1:250,000 were
printed during the year at Ottawa. One of these—that is, Fraser Lake (93 K/2)—was a
reproduction of our own Provincial topographic survey. The other six were all Canadian
Government surveys, but a stock of these were overprinted for us with lot boundaries, in
which the Division co-operated by preparing this important information on separate
drawings.
Similar drawings for ten other Canadian Government maps have also been prepared,
but are being held here until required at Ottawa for incorporation in final printing. This
continuing arrangement, which results in Ottawa printing our cadastral data on their
sheets, is beginning to work very well now, to our great satisfaction. We are glad to report
at this time that during the last year we have managed to extend this arrangement to the
Department of Mines and Technical Surveys, where formerly it was confined to the Army
Survey Establishment of the Department of National Defence.
Ottawa presently has fifteen of our Provincial topographic-survey manuscripts in
various stages of preparation for reproduction on either the 1-mile or the 1:50,000 scale.
Details of all map-sheets referred to above, printed and in the course of preparation,
appear in the appended statistical tables.
Assistance has again been given by our map editor in the assembling, editing,
producing, and distributing of the Annual Report of the Lands Service.
A considerable amount of miscellaneous draughting and special work continues to
be accomplished by the Division in addition to the main work of map production.
Amongst other items was the preparation of a complete set of forty-eight individual maps
covering each Provincial electoral district throughout the Province in a form suitable for
reproduction purposes. Over the year, 585 man-hours were consumed on this type of
work, and its value is shown in the statistical tables which follow. SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
STATISTICAL
Maps
Published
V 105
Name
Map No.
Scale
Date of Issue
Remarks
120 mi. to 1 in.
55 mi. to 1 in.
55 mi. to 1 in.
55 mi. to 1 in.
27 mi. to 1 in.
1:250,000
1:250,000
1:250,000
4 mi. to 1 in.
4 mi. to 1 in.
3 mi. to 1 in.
3 mi. to 1 in.
3 mi. to 1 in.
3 mi. to 1 in.
Vt mi. to 1 in.
800 ft. to 1 in.
1:50,000
1:50,000
1:250,000
1:250,000
1:250,000
1:250,000
1:50.000
1:50,000
1:50,000
1:50,000
Mar.
Oct.,
May,
June,
Jan.,
Aug.
Apr.,
Apr.,
Nov.
Apr.,
Dec,
Aug.,
June,
Jan.,
Aug.,
May,
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.,
Sept.
May,
July,
Mar.,
Mar.,
Oct.,
Oct.,
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1951
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
1952
Ice
lCR
lex
IJF
103a
103i
103j
2a
3e
3a
3k
3b
3g
5e
6a
93 K/2, E. Vi
93 K/2, W. !/2
93e
94e
94e,
1041
fl F/16, E. Vi
82F/16.W. Vi
93P/16.E. Vi
93P/16.W.V2
Reprint.
Provincial Government Topographic Surveys
Reproduced and Printed in Ottawa
Canadian Government Topographic Surveys
Overprinted with Lot Boundaries
First edition.
In Course of Compilation
British Columbia travel map .. , —-
R.M.
IE
2c
3j
92k
92m
93 d
103H
103p
82 E/N.W.
82 E/S.W.
92B/13
92C/16
92E/9
92E/16
92F/8
92H/4
93 A/5
93 A/6
92H/3
92 0/2
93 G/14
93 J/2
93 J/3
93M/5
93M/12
27 mi. to 1 in.
10 mi. to 1 in.
4 mi. to 1 in.
3 mi. to 1 in.
1:250,000
1:250,000
1:250,000
1:250,000
1:250,000
2 mi. to 1 in.
2 mi. to 1 in.
1 mi. to 1 in.
1 mi. to 1 in.
1 mi. to 1 in.
1 mi. to 1 in.
1 mi. to 1 in.
1 mi. to 1 in.
1 mi. to 1 in.
1 mi. to 1 in.
1:50,000
1:50,000
1:50,000
1:50,000
1:50,000
1:50,000
1:50,000
Bute Inlet -
Bella Coola
Provincial Government Topographic Surveys
Being Reproduced and Printed in Ottawa
Gold River
First edition. V 106
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Computations
Least-square Triangulation Adjustments Completed
Net
Locality
Type of
Bearings
Number of
Triangles
Involved
Provincial Main .___._
Provincial Main _._
Provincial Main _-_
Provincial Main
Provincial Main „.
Provincial Main ....
Provincial Main _____
Provincial Main
Provincial Main _._
Provincial Main
Provincial Main _____
Provincial Main _._
Provincial Main
Provincial Coast™.
Provincial Secondary.
Canadian Hydrographic Survey..
Pavilion-Williams Lake ___
Hazel ton-Windy Slate ___
Morice-Williams Lake
Clearwater Lake to Tod-Mobley..
Troitsa Lake-Kemano River
Gulf Islands _
Salmo River __ _
Atlin Lake _.
Telegraph Creek North __
Seechelt Inlet-Howe Sound
Trout Lake
Hydraulic Area _
Tweedsmuir Park-Bella Coola Valley ____
Douglas and Devastation Channels-Ursula and
Verney Passage __
Fraser River.— _
Baronet Passage _
True
True
True
True
True
True
True
True --
True -
True -
True
True
True
Local grid
Local grid
Local grid
26
88
60
38
50
8
12
12
34
15
8
11
25
117
31
79
Triangulation Closures
Location of Network
Tweedsmuir Park
Clearwater-Shuswap
Hazelton-Telegraph
Creek, etc.
32
16
3.77"
8.69"
1.86"
6.01"
8.90"
22.89'or 1:6,000
260
13
5
3.48"
6.78"
1.65"
4.93"
16.05"
7.26'or 1:25,000
105
49
26
3.93"
9.91"
Average correction after adjustment to observed
1.56"
Maximum correction after adjustment to any one
5.99"
Error in azimuth on closing line
Error in length on closing line
Approximate length of network in miles
12.17"
29.50'or 1:3,850
400
The following tables give comparisons with the previous five-year period :-
Computations
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
Triangles adjusted by least squares —
Stations calculated from rectangular co-ordinates
218
599
221
517
714
296
12,151
74
480
806
231
205
1,214
419
13,365
115
686
826
224
606
1,120
469
14,485
146
512
1,137
326
528
1,888
924
16,373
212
696
1,431
248
439
1,676
586
18,049
225
614
1,484
170
643
Index cards—
1,342
506
19,391
272
Canadian Board on Geoc
iRAPHICA
l Names
NAMIr-
[G AND R
ECORDIN
57
7,297
446
63
7,060
401
62
4,671
375
63
5,457
831
49
3,686
298
39
6,403
252 PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
LANDS SERVICE
HON. R. E. SOMMERS - - MINISTER
G. P. MELROSE, DEPUTY MINISTER OF LANDS
INDEX TO PUBLISHED MAPS
December 31st, 1952.
EXPLANATION OF THE VARIOUS MAP SERIES
In addition to the General Maps listed to the right, Regional Maps
(Index No. 1) cover the important areas of the Province on various scales,
showing all available survey information. The scales, dates of. issue, and prices
are also noted on Index No. 1.
As topographic surveys progress, new maps are compiled in the National
Topographic Series, which is a system of map sheets on the following scales
designed to cover Canada in a regular manner using lines of latitude and
longitude for the borders.
1 inch to 2 miles See Index No. 2
1:250,000 (approx. 1 in. to 4 mi.) „ „ No. 3
1 inch to 8 miles „ „ No. 4
1:1,000,000 (approx. 1 in. to 16 mi.) „ „ No. 5
1 inch to 1 mile and 1:50,000 See Index No. 6 (on reverse)
Published map sheets in all series noted above are shown in Red on the
indices.
GENERAL MAPS
Map
No.
Address all inquiries to:
Director, Surveys and Mapping Branch,
Attention, Geographic Division,
Department of Lands and Forests, Victoria, B.C.
U
lcc
1CR
lex
MD
RM
lj
ljCA
ljC
ljD
ljE
IJF
1JG
1JH
1JL
1JS
Applicants are requested to enclose with their order the correct payment. For orders
originating within the Province, 3 per cent S.S. & M.A. Tax must be added.
To avoid misunderstanding, applicants are requested to state the " Map Number" of
map desired.
Unless otherwise requested, maps will be sent folded.
Maps above can be mounted to order. Prices upon application.
Year of
Issue
The Land Bulletins listed below give information both on the agriculture
potentialities and general economy of the various districts to incoming settlers.
Date of
Land Bulletins Issue
No. 1. How to Pre-empt Land 1952
3. British Columbia—Northern and Central Interior Districts 1950
5. British Columbia—Southern Interior Districts _ 1945
6. British Columbia Coast, Howe Sound to Toba Inlet _ 1952
Year of
Issue
1945
1952
1951
1952
1951
1953
1948
1923
1948
1948
1937
1948
1948
1951
1951
1945
1953
Title of Map
Geographic Series—
Wall Map of British Columbia. In four sheets. Roads, trails,
railways, etc When joined—
British Columbia—Climates _
,'r'DHto^.!,' —Tentative Range Map
Dittq —Land Recording Districts .
Ditto —Mining Divisions.
Ditto —Road map _
British Columbia. In one sheet. Showing post offices, railways,
main roads, trails, parks, distance charts, etc
and precipitation
and Land Recording Districts
and Mining Divisions
and Assessment and Collection Districts....
and Electoral Districts, Redistribution 1938..
and Counties
and School Districts (prints only)-.!.
and Land Registration Dists. (prints only)....
and Census Divisions
British Columbia—Coloured physiographic, economic (B.C. Natural Resources Conference)
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto
Size of
Sheet (in
Inches)
54X73
17X22
17X22
17x22
17X22
23X28
32X41
28X32
32X41
32X41
32X41
32X41
32X41
32X41
32X41
32X41
37X38
Scale,
Miles, etc.
1:1,000,000 or
1 in. to 15.78 m.
1 in. to 55 m.
1 in. to 55 m.
1 in. to 52 m.
1 in. to 55 m.
1 in.to 40 m.
1 in. to 27 m.
1 in. to 31.56 m.
1 in. to 27 m.
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
27 m.
27 m.
27 m.
27 m.
27 m.
27 m.
27 m.
1 in. to 32 m.
Reports
Geographical Gazetteer of British Columbia—Contains recorded geographical names of cities, villages,
post offices, railway stations, rivers, creeks, lakes, islands, mountains, etc _
Per
Copy
$3.00
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
$0.50
.50
.75
.75
.75
.75
.75
.75
.75
.75
1.00
Per
Copy
$1.00
British Columbia Coast, Toba Inlet to Queen Charlotte Strait 1950
British Columbia Coast, Queen Charlotte Strait to Milbanke Sound 1946
9. British Columbia Coast, Milbanke Sound to Portland Canal 1950
10. Crown Lands, purchase and lease 1952
It. Cariboo (Quesnel Land Recording District) '_ 1950
12. Kamloops and Nicola Districts 1952
13. Similkameen Land Recording District _ 1952
14. Vancouver Island _ 1946
15. Queen Charlotte Islands 1949
16. Cranbrook and Fernie Land Recording Districts 1945
17. Yale Land Recording District _ 1945
18. Osoyoos Land Recording District 1945
19. Nicola Land Recording District... 1950
20. Nelson and Kaslo Land Recording Districts— __ 1945
21. Revelstoke and Golden Land Recording Districts 1949
22. Prince Rupert Land Recording District 1952
23. Telegraph Creek and Atlin Land Recording Districts _. 1949
24. Smithers Land Recording District _ 1949
25. Peace River District _ _ 1952
26. Omineca District, Nation Lakes, etc 1945
27. New Westminster Land Recording District- 1952
28. Francois-Ootsa Lakes District — 1939
29. Nechako and Endako Valleys 1950
30. Stuart and Babine Lake Districts ... 1943
31. Vicinity of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (Squamish to Clinton) 1949
32. Vicinity of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (Clinton to 52nd Parallel) 1949
33. Lillooet Land Recording District 1950
34. The Chilcotin Plateau __ _ 1945
35. Fort George Land Recording District, Central and Western portions : 1952
36. South Fork of the Fraser and Canoe River Valleys _.. 1931
Forest Service
"How to Obtain a Timber Sale." F.S. 223 1952
Grazing Regulations 1950
Information can be supplied on published Geological, Soil Survey and Land Utilization
maps within the Province.
Detailed topographic maps are also available of the B.C.-Alberta Boundary, B.C.-U.S.A. Boundaries, and the valleys of the Columbia River Basin.
139* 138T Y3T 136* 135
134* 133. 132" 131' 13 Q* lZff lgff \2T lag 125' 12a' 123' lag' 121* 120* 119'
INDEX No. 2
Map No.
Date
82 J/NE, NW-
-Parts of
1923
82 K/NE, SE-
-Parts of
1918
82 L/NE
L
1932
(Prints only available)
"82 L/NW
L
1945
(Prints only available)
♦82 L/SW
L
1951
82 N/NE
1931
(Prints only
available)
82 N/SE
L
1932
(Prints only available)
82 N/SW
L
1946
92 B/NW, SW
—Parts of
1949
92 1/NE
L
1948
92 I/SE
L
193(
(Prints only
available)
•93 P/NE
L
1951
•93 P/NW
L
1951
•94 A/NE
L
1951
•94A/NW
L
1951
INDEX No. 2
NATIONAL TOPOGRAPHIC SERIES
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Showing Maps Published on Scale 1 inch to 2 miles
150 200
Certain departmental reference plans and manuscripts are available to the public in ozalid or
photostat form. Indices of the following, showing scales and prices, will be supplied on request:—
Topographic Survey Manuscripts showing lots and contours (2 in. or 1 in. to 1 mi.).
Interim Maps showing planimetry compiled from air photos (2 in. to 1 mi.).
Departmental Reference Maps showing all land surveys, leases, applications, etc., to
date of order (1 in. to 1 mi. except where noted on index).
Departmental Mineral Reference Maps showing surveyed mineral claims, placer mining
leases, etc. (1 in. to 1,500 ft.).
Composite Maps showing subdivisions (1 in. to 500 ft.).
Forest Cover Maps showing timber types and quantities (2 in. to 1 mi.).
Land Utilization Maps showing present land use and capability.
Soil Survey Maps showing soil types.
Prints of B.C. Government Air Photographs are also available to the public either on loan or
purchase. Indices and prices will be supplied on request.
REGIONAL MAPS
INDEX No. 1.
The Regional Maps shown published below are compilations of all available survey information. Apart from the first four maps listed, which show
information of a general nature, all the remaining sheets show in addition,
surveyed lot lines and where noted, contours. The Land and Pre-emptor
Series show the status of the various properties at the date of issue.
Please state the " map number " of the map desired.
139* 13g _3r 13ST _3Sf 134" 133" 132* 13r 13<T 129* 126. 127* 12ff 125* l_-_" 133* 122* 121*
Map
Year of
No.
Issue
tlE
1953
lH
1943
1K
1925
lL
1940
2a
1951
2c
1948
2e
1950
2f
1927
3a
1949
3b
1942
3c
1949
3d
1937
3e
1952
3f
1950
3c
1949
3h
1947
3j
1952
3k
1952
4a
1927
4b
1946
4c
1936.:
4d
1949
4e
1925
4f
1947
4g
1943
4h
1926
4k
1923
4m
1927
4n
1930
4p
1946
4q
1939
5b
1929
1929
5c
1929
5d
1941
5e
1952
6a
1952
MRMl
1927
mrm2
1928
mrm3
1928
mrm4
1929
mrm5
1929
mrm6
1932
mrm7
1934
mrm8
1935
Title of Map
South-eastern British Columbia
Northern British Columbia
South Western Districts of B.C
Central British Columbia (contoured)
Land Series—
Southerly Vancouver Island
Northerly Vancouver Island .
Bella Coola ..
Queen Charlotte Islands
Pre-emptors' Series—
Fort George __. , :
Nechako (contoured)
i,;-Stuart Lake (contoured) —
Bulkley
Peace River (contoured)
Chilcotin
, ■ .Quesnel (contoured)
Tetelaune —
North Thompson (contoured)
Lillooet
Degree Series—
Rossland (contoured) _ _.
Nelson (contoured)
Cranbrook...
Femie
Upper Elk River. .".
Lardeau ..-.
■}l Windermere ——
Arrowhead .
Kettle Valley (contoured)
Nicola Lake (contoured) __
Penticton (contoured) (prints only)
Lower Fraser Valley -.
Hope-Princeton (contoured)
Topographical Series—
Howe Sound-Burrard Inlet (contoured), South
North
Stikine River (contoured)
Revelstoke-Golden (Big Bend-Columbia River) (cont.)..
I|ower Squamish Valley (contoured)
Composite Maps (Printed)—
Prince George and Vicinity
Mineral Reference Maps (Printed)—
Slocan, Slocan City, Ainsworth, and Nelson
Trout Lake, Lardeau, and Ainsworth.
Ainsworth, Trout Lake, and Slocan
Nelson and Trail Creek (Ymir)
Trail Creek and Nelson (Rossland)
Grand Forks, Greenwood, and Trail Creek
Greenwood and Osoyoos..
Size of
Sheet (in
Inches)
28X42
28X42
32X44
28X42
28X42
28X42
27X37
28X42
28X42
28X42
28X42
28X42
28X42
28X42
28X42
28X42
28X42
32X44
25X40
25X40
24X40
28X39
22x32
25X40
25X40
24X41
25X40
28X42
25X40
26X41
25X42
28X42
28X42
28X42
28X38
25X40
28X42
32X44
28X43
22X32
24X42
22X42
22X43
22X42
32X44
Scale,
Miles, etc.
1 in.to 10 m.
1 in. to 15.78 m.
1 in. to 7.89 m.
1 in. to 15.78 m.
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
2 in. to
2 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
4 in. to
4 m.
4 m.
4 m.
4 m.
3 m.
3 m.
3 m.
3 m.
4 m.
3 m.
3 m.
3 m.
3 m.
3 m.
2 m.
2 m.
2 m.
2 m.
2 m.
2 m.
2 m.
2 m.
2 m.
2 m.
2 m.
2 m.
2 m.
1 m.
1 m.
5 m.
4 m.
1 m.
1 in. to 800 ft.
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 in. to
1 m.
1 m.
1 m.
1 m.
Im.
1 m.
Im.
Per
Copy
$0.75
.50
.50
.75
.75
.75
.50
.50
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.50
.50
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.25
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
.50
* Out of print.
t In course of compilation.
For Marine Charts, write to:—
The Canadian Hydrographic Service,
Department of Mines and Technical Surveys,
Victoria, B.C., or Ottawa, Ontario.
For Aeronautical Charts, write to:—
Map Distribution Office,
Department of Mines and Technical Surveys,
Ottawa, Ontario.
For Vacation and Tourist Information, write
to: —
The British Columbia Travel Bureau,
Department of Trade and Industry,
Victoria, B.C.
For publications of the Provincial Department
of Mines, and Department of Agriculture, separate
>i lists are available upon application to the Departments concerned.
j 852—denotes date of publi-
C—denotes sheets showing
contours.
I denotes sheets on which
f lot surveys are shown.
P—denotes preliminary
maps. (Note.—AH other
sheets were compiled with
the use of air photographs.) The topographic maps published on the scales
listed below will show water features in blue;
relief features with brown contour lines; and
cultural features, such as place-names, roads,
raUways, and boundaries, in black. On maps
containing further information, lot lines are
shown in black and additional colours are used,
such as red for road classification, green for
wooded areas. Maps showing wooded areas,
if available, will be supplied if specifically
requested.
Contour interval: 100 feet.
Size of sheets:
1 inch to 1 mile (1:63,360)—24 in.x 30 in.
1:50,000—each half—20 in.x25 in.
LIST OF MAPS
SCALE 1 INCH TO 1 MILE
Map No. Date
93 H/3, H/4—Parts of 1923
93 H/4—E Yi & W Vi 1938
(with Geology overprint only)
INDEX No. 6
NATIONAL TOPOGRAPHIC SERIES
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Showing maps published on scales 1 inch to 1 mile (1:63,360) and 1:50,000 (approx. 1V4 inches to 1 mile)
Scale
LEGEND
Provincial Government Surveys published.
Scale: 1 inch to 1 mile Scale: 1:50,000 (E Vi & W Vi)
Canadian Government Surveys published.
Scale: 1 inch to 1 mile -2->$-
When ordering Maps, show:
Index No. 93
Alphabet letter ___ G
Sheet No „ 15
E.g., Prince George, 93 G/15
Scale: 1:50,000 (E '/a & W Vi)
Prices
Scale: 1 inch to 1 mile 2Se} per copy
Scale: 1:50,000 (E Vi & W Vi)-_25<. ea. half
Inquiries for Published Maps, Address:
DIRECTOR OF SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
Attention: Geographic Division
Department of Lands arid Forests
Victoria, B.C.
GEOGRAPHIC DIVISION. DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS, VICTORIA. B.C.
130 SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
Map Stock and Distribution
V 107
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
Map issues to departments and public ....
Maps received into stock .—
Total value of printed maps issued
28,755 | 28,673
19,942 | 24,228
$10,207.89 | $9,935.33
I
31,789
33,251
$11,512.90
34,244 41,581
36,021 45,369
$11,794.00 [$14,205.55
45,724
73,981
513,450.64
Geographical Work for Other Departments and Public
1
66 1 71
$1,306.39 j $1,051.00
1
52
$2,630.55
62
$1,315.00
i
53 | 40
$1,485.00 | $1,024.00
1
Letters
Letters received and attended to..
2,547
2,446
3,030
3,202
3,985
5,234
MAP DISTRIBUTION—PUBLIC RELATIONS
Some 45,000 maps were distributed during the past year, which is again a healthy
increase over the previous year's record. With the publication of Provincial maps
definitely speeding up, the Division now possesses well over 1,000 different maps and
reports, including its own, covering the Province and adjoining areas. Stocks of most
of these are maintained in order to satisfy the many demands of both Departmental and
public origin, and, in this connection, some 74,000 maps were added to our stock over
the year.
With the co-operation of the Legal Surveys Division, increasing use is being made
of the Kodalith film process of producing ozalid copies of certain lithographed maps,
particularly those which have gone out of print. It is, of course, more difficult now to
predict the sizes of stocks required in many areas, and, therefore, not uncommon
to suddenly realize that there is an urgent need for a stop-gap of this sort in order to help
in providing a better map service.
Considerable thought has been given recently by this and the Legal Surveys Division,
under the supervision of our Director, in trying to arrive at a practical method for better
distribution of maps and mapping information, particularly to the various Government
officials throughout the Province. It has been realized with some alarm that the great
majority of these officials have too little knowledge of the great mass of technical mapping
information readily available to assist them in their routine work and, by way of them,
to better inform the public in their respective areas. It was hoped that the problem could
be simplified by perhaps supplying complete sets of the information in question to certain
centrally located offices, to be available to other officials in the same areas. However, the
investigations that have been made to date suggest this is not practical. At any rate, it is
hoped that before too long all agencies will have been visited, thus serving the main
purpose—that of fully informing them as to what map data now exists, particularly for
their respective administrative areas. Index maps and local sample sheets of pertinent
series will be presented at such times, and all possible assistance given for any special
problems in these matters. Work on this project is continuing, but its final success, in
any event, will require much co-operation and interest by the various agencies themselves
to make the best use of said mapping data and to ensure its being kept up to date.
Once again this Division was responsible, under the supervision of the Director, for
the co-ordination between the four divisions of the Surveys and Mapping Branch to set
up another map exhibit in the rotunda of the Parliament Buildings for the period August
25th to September 8th. The well-emphasized theme in this instance depicted the progress V 108 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
of a topographic map from the realization of its need, prior to the area being air-
photographed and topographically surveyed, to the final product in lithographed form.
In conjunction with the main theme were suitably displayed representative samples of all
the types of maps and mapping information, which is now available from the Department.
All of the divisions made first-class contributions to this effort, which appeared to
command a lot of interest and attention.
AIR SURVEY DIVISION
W. Hall, M.C., B.A.Sc, B.C.R.F., Chief Engineer
The Air Survey Division has had the busiest year in its history. This was due
entirely to the increased demands by other Government departments, particularly the
Forest Service.
In 1951 an arrangement was made between the Federal Government and the British
Columbia Forest Service on a 50-50 basis to accelerate the forest inventory programme,
and this accounts for the present tremendous tempo in Air Survey Division operations.
During the year 150,000 9- by 9-inch prints were produced, 24,000 square miles of
mapping were compiled, and 30,000 square miles of new photography were obtained.
Much credit should be given to the staff as a whole, and to those in supervising capacities
in particular, for making this record production possible.
In spite of abnormally unfavourable photographic conditions during the past season,
our air-crew detachments obtained basic cover almost equalling that of our record year,
1951.
Obtaining and keeping personnel of the calibre required in air-survey mapping work
continues to be a major problem, and production is seriously handicapped by the time
spent in training new recruits.
Details of the activities of the various sections follow.
INTERIM MAPPING
The expansion at short notice of the Forest Service inventory programme for the
summer season of 1952 precipitated a major policy change in the production of interim
maps. While this Division had been producing planimetric base maps complete with
detail, copies of which could be handed over to the Forest Service for use in the field, the
doubling of the requirements for the summer season of 1952 and for future years
necessitated the expedient of producing photo centre lay-downs without any attempt to
add detail.
The programme called for a supply of copies of these lay-downs together with
duplicate sets of base-lined and common-pointed photographs, which would allow field
work to be carried out.
Suitable temporary assistants were employed and have been trained as Kail plotter
operators in an attempt to add the planimetric detail to these lay-down sheets.
At this date it can be reported that only 25 per cent of the desired target of seventy
completed map-sheets was achieved.
Our interim-mapping programme now consists of a total area of 54,000 square
miles in various stages of completion. SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
V 109
Air Survey Division
Junction of Pacific Great Eastern and Canadian National Railways at Prince George.
Dangerous Ripple Rock in Seymour Narrows.
_ V 110 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
AIR-SURVEY FLYING OPERATIONS
A. S. Lukinuk
Air-survey flying operations started on April 23rd, 1952, to fill a request for
multiplex cover of the Lillooet River. Flying operations were completed on November
21st, with a return flight to the Alcan power-development at Kemano to identify
triangulation control.
During the season our two Anson V aircraft ranged widely over the Province taking
more than 16,000 aerial photographs, and spending 439 hours in the air. Some 30,450
square miles were flown for basic vertical cover.
Operations were controlled from a central base at Kamloops, and secondary bases
were established at Terrace, Prince George, Cranbrook, and Chilliwack. The aircraft
were thus able to exploit photo-weather within 200 to 300 miles of base.
1952 Programme
About 70 per cent of the season's operations were devoted to basic vertical cover
at a print scale of 40 chains per inch. Extension of the 1951 programme in the
Okanagan-Kootenay region provided a large part of this work. Of the remainder,
revision of the now obsolete cover in the Vancouver Forest District and the limited
operation in the Telegraph Creek-Atlin area were important assignments.
Precision multiplex projects continued to occupy considerable prominence in field
activities.
The advantages of general tricamera cover were exploited by the Taxation Branch
to aid in identification of logging operations within the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway
land grant. By means of the aerial photographs produced, logged-off areas can be
checked carefully in the office.
A total of 245 lineal miles of low-altitude cover was flown along Provincial highways
to record development and improvement.
See Appendices 1 and 2 for further details.
Aircraft and Equipment
Analysis of this year's operations reveals a marked increase in expenditures generally,
which may be attributed in part to unusually adverse weather and in part to increasing
cost of maintenance of aircraft which are inevitably becoming obsolete.
A comparison test of one of our cameras, arranged through the National Research
Council, indicates that our calibration procedure is adequate for local use. A new
calibration range is now being surveyed. In its final form it will consist of " photographic " points on and in the vicinity of the Patricia Bay Airport.
General Comment
Since 1945, photographic flying has become the key to efficient prosecution of many
important field projects planned by various departments of Government, both Provincial
and Federal, and by associated agencies. The Air Survey Division has only six fully
qualified air-crew members to carry out the actual flying operations. It is essential that
equipment, therefore, from cameras to compasses, be of excellent quality if the greatest
productive use is to be made of flying-time of this limited personnel.
AIR-PHOTO LIBRARY
L. D. Hall
The Air-photo Library functions as a reference library with a loan service and an
order office for reprints. The drain on library copies of photographs in respect to the
British Columbia Government mapping programme has been curtailed through the SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH V 111
advance planning and blanket ordering of new photographs to supply the mapping
requirements for the following twelve-month period.
The indexing of new photography kept pace with the processing, thus releasing the
photographs for immediate use. Extra copies of all active indexes are now stored in the
library, another benefit of time-saving, both to the public and to the library staff.
The priority system for reprints has recently been waived, eliminating the lengthy
waiting period for all customers.
The demand for photographs on loan this year has been cut in half because the
limit for the maximum number of photographs on loan to one person or company was
reduced to fifty for each two-week period, and because, when reprints are readily
available, customers now prefer to purchase photographs outright rather than borrow
them from the library.
A glimpse into the future reveals an impending shortage of floor-space for the
storage of photographs.
The following summary illustrates the effect of the increased reprint production on
the loan service, over a two-year period.
Loan Traffic, 1952
_ . Photographs
Private Issued Returned
Individuals 3,743 4,014!
Companies and organizations 722 8211
Forest industries 5,652 6,747x
Mining industries 504 486
Oil and natural-gas industries 365 264
Schools and universities 1,392 1,405!
Commercial air-survey companies 750 750
Real-estate companies 351 304
Totals 13,479 14,791 *
Federal Government agencies—
Department of Agriculture
Mines and Technical Surveys.
Miscellaneous
405
4221
154
107
598
7421
Totals 1,157 1,271!
Provincial Government agencies—
Surveys and Mapping Service , 17,886 15,387
Lands General 994 1,183--
Forest Surveys 241 238
Forest Service (Victoria and districts) 1,070 971
Parks 981 U631
Forest Management 658 2,736*
Finance 1,011 859
Mines 1,953 1,625
Public Works 1,294 1,242
Water Rights Branch 1,810 1,389
Miscellaneous 655 8631
Totals 28,553 27,6561
Grand totals 43,189 43,718--
1 Figures include those photographs which were loaned out prior to 1952 and were returned in 1952. v 112 department of lands and forests
Loan Traffic, Library Copies of Aerial Photographs
Photographs
Issued Returned
Out on loan, December 31st, 1951 85,184
Loaned out during 1952 43,189
Returned during 1952 43,718
Mapping loans, 1946-50, written off (these
are being replaced in A.P.L.) 38,586
Difference in returned loans (estimated and
actual) for final two months of 1951 16,029
Totals, December 31st, 1952 _____ 128,373 98,333
Net photographs out on loan December 31st,
1952 (to balance) 30,040
Totals 128,373 128,373
Reprints from British Columbia Air-photo Negatives Supplied, 1952
(Figures are approximate, 9- by 9-inch prints.)
p • . Photographs
"rivate Requisitions Reprints
Individuals 458 3,392
Companies and organizations 132 2,139
Forest industries 123 5,861
Engineering Services 13 453
Schools and universities 31 646
Commercial air-survey companies 10 325
Mining industries 33 743
Totals 800 13,559
Federal Government—
Mines and Technical Surveys 18 1,603
Miscellaneous 71 1,355
Totals ___.. 89 2,958
Provincial Government—
Surveys and Mapping Service 315 41,849
Lands General 57 5,933
Forest Surveys 98 35,081
Forest Service, Victoria 38 1,610
Forest Service, districts 44 16,103
Library copies 13 16,430
Finance 63 4,884
Mines 12 365
Public Works 12 366
Water Rights Branch 22 819
Miscellaneous 19 273
Totals 693 123,713
Grand totals 1,582 140,230 20
30
O N D
SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH V 113
AIR PHOTO LIBRARY TRAFFIC
JFMAMJJASOND JFMAMJJASOND
1950
1951
1952
Library Copies, Aerial Photographs of
British Columbia
Federal
Provincial
Total
On hand, December 31st, 1951
205,938
243
147,680
16,430
353,618
Total photographs of British Columbia on hand December 31st, 1952
206,181
164,110
370,291 V 114
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSING LABORATORY
T. H. Bell
The advent and use of the air camera made possible the production of accurate maps
at a speed never before approached.
The application of aerial photography as an aid in the rapid production of maps for
various purposes was realized in British Columbia in the early years and is still being
pursued vigorously. The comprehensive forest inventory of British Columbia, to be
completed in five years, would be impossible without the aid of aerial photographs.
Dyking and drainage surveys, land settlement and land-use surveys, the mapping of the
Pacific Great Eastern Railway, the Aluminum Company project, the trans-mountain
pipe-line, and many other progressive developments in our Province have all been aided
and speeded up by the employment of the products of aerial photography.
The demand is for an increasingly high rate of production of air-survey photographic
prints and other photographic products. The first British Columbia Provincial air-survey
photographic laboratory produced 1,000 prints per month. Production is now regularly
in excess of 10,000 9- by 9-inch mapping prints per month, plus other products, such as
scaled enlargements, exact and accurate copies of preliminary manuscripts and maps on
autopositive film (which eliminates the painstaking labour of retracing by hand methods),
and, of course, the processing on top priority of the air-film negatives received from the
field.
The photographers' task is to make into permanent record the fleeting images seen
and photographed by the air crews and to bring out in accurate detail, for deliberate study
in the office, the images of the terrain. Photographs are an indispensable aid to the rapid
completion of urgently required information, be it for a map or the calculation of a
water-storage area.
The Eagle V air camera, the air film, the film-processing method, the concentrated
arc-lighting system, etc., in use here, result from war or post-war research development.
A rearrangement of the darkrooms permitted the installation of large sinks, needed
for processing enlargements and large autopositive films. The increased efficiency in the
use of space and equipment is shown by a greater production of photographic products
than in any previous year. A second precision enlarger for making 9- by 9-inch standard
mapping prints was manufactured and installed by our Patricia Bay workshops.
Production Record
1946-50
1951
1952
Grand Total
Processing Completed
Air films (Eagle V rolls, 60 feet) -
Air films (K 20 rolls, 20 feet)..
Mountain-station films (No. 118 rolls)2..
Calibration and other glass plates
Printing Completed
Standard prints (9 by 9 inches)
Contact prints (5 by 5 inches) —
Enlargements (various sizes to 30 by 30 inches)—
Mountain-station enlargements (11 by 14 inches)2
Forest Service lookout enlargements (11 by 14 inches)3...
Diapositive plates for multiplex (64 by 64 millimetres)*..
Lantern-slides (2 by 2 inches)
Autopositive films (various sizes) -
Miscellaneous photographs and copies.... —
Air-photo mosaics
Requisitions completed .
1,010
542
2,125
238,867
39,370
3,079
3,297
16
677
164
3
2,451
192
2
830
64
112,435
921
1,849
4,656
681
954
78
185
84
3
1,446
152
13
600
22
150,000
135
1,500
3,000
1
100
100
1,500
1,354
15
1,972
2,211
501,302
40,426
6,428
10,953
697
1,911
175
373
348
6
5,397
1 Rolls averaging 115 negatives.
2 For Topographic Survey Division.
3 Discontinued.
4 This work taken over by multiplex staff.
Figures for 1952 are estimated. Previous year's estimated figures corrected. SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH V 115
MULTIPLEX SECTION
W. K. MacDonald, D.L.S., Air-photo Analyst
The increasing demand for our products necessitated the purchase of additional
equipment, the provision of more commodious quarters, and an accelerated ptogramme
of operator-training.
The Section is now equipped with three ten-projector bars and four three-projector
bars, with a total of thirty-five projectors manned by eleven operators.
The problem of quarters will be temporarily solved by converting a garage located
at the rear of the annex to 553 Superior Street. This is planned to be ready for occupancy
early in the new year, at which time our potential output will be double that attained this
year.
The training of additional operators inevitably followed the decision to increase our
complement of equipment. As it is virtually impossible to combine training with production and maintain the quality of the end product, we suspended normal operations for a
period of ten weeks, during which time we trained six operators. Concurrently with this,
one of our operators was given a thorough grounding in the technique of diapositive plate-
making. Three of our operators were each granted three months' unpaid leave of absence
to operate the photogrammetric plotting apparatus used by the oil transmission-line
location engineers. This task was successfully completed.
During the coming year an increasingly larger proportion of our efforts shall be
applied to the standard 1-inch-to-1-mile mapping programme, with emphasis on areas not
topographically suited to economical mapping by photo-topographical methods.
Continuing our diapositive-printer modification programme, we have replaced the
diffused-light source with a condenser system, developed a diffused-mask area dodging
technique, and installed densitometric control, each phase producing a discernable
improvement in plate quality.
The projects processed during the past nine and one-half months are outlined in the
following table:—
Square
Miles
Name
Authority
Scale
Vert. Int.
State of
Completion
40.00
305.00
0.32
43.50
0.70
1.00
38.00
Aleza Lake
Sheep Creek—
University Lands
Moran Pondage..
Shoreacres
Glade..
Kitimat
Forestry Experimental Station
Department of Mines
Surveyor-General
Water Rights Branch
Water Rights Branch...
Water Rights Branch.
Department of Mines.—
530 ft./in.
20 ft.
1,000 ft./in.
50 ft.
100 ft./in.
5 ft.
500 ft./in.
20 and 40 ft.
400 ft./in.
5 ft.
400 ft./in.
5 ft.
1,000 ft./in.
50 ft.
Per Cent
100
100
100
100
100
100
5
MINOR CONTROL FROM TRICAMERA PHOTOGRAPHS
E. A. Rothery, F.R.I.C.S., B.C.L.S.
In 1951 it was reported that the ground party had been identifying triangulation
points on to aerial photographs. This year we reaped the benefit of that work.
An area of approximately 4,500 square miles was covered with a net of 154 control
points. This area lies between triangulation control up Rivers Inlet and a chain of triangulation along the Klinaklini Valley, a span of 90 miles more or less. This meant V 116 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
bridging with five strips of tricamera photography, including the starting and closing
strips. The strips started with X 565 (1-27) running north from Seymour Inlet, then
bridging with strips X 569 (1-49), X 135 (20-43) with X 564 (14-25), and X 573
(76-114) closed on to the Klinaklini triangulation with strip X 571 (1-51). The
southern ends of these strips were partially controlled by strips X 570 (1-26) and X 567
(25-55). The closes on to the triangulation stations were most satisfactory, having a
value of about 1:1,000. The intersections were carried out on a Universal Transverse
Mercator graticule at a scale of 1:31,660. It must be stressed that without the preliminary
station identification referred to in the first paragraph, it would have been useless to even
consider doing this particular job.
Work is well in hand for establishing minor control within the area east of the one
reported above. It is defined by Tatlayoko Lake in the north-west, Lillooet to the east,
and Vancouver in the south-east corner. It totals about 11,000 square miles. Most of
the photography was done some years back. The routine checks along the strips revealed
the cameras had not been too well secured in their mounts. This has caused quite a lot
of extra work, as it necessitated computing the internal geometry for each and every
tricamera assembly. The work involves complicated bridging between existing chains of
triangulation. The preliminaries, such as resolving tilts and tips, are rapidly nearing
completion, and an early start on intersections is expected. The intersections will be
carried out on a Lambert Conical Orthomorphic (Gauss Conformal) graticule, for which
computations have already been made.
Heighting has been tackled with encouraging results. The process may be described
as the reverse of that used for resolving tilts from known heights. It has been demonstrated that heights can be furnished within 50 feet. During the tests it has become clear
that the normal indices for refraction are not satisfactory when used in connection with
photography at the altitudes ruling. It is hoped in the near future to carry out investigations to enable us to determine a refractive index which will meet the circumstances.
The Topographic Division has kindly given to the Air Survey Division an old 5-inch
micro theodolite. Plans are well in hand for converting a portion of this instrument into
a plotting-floor telescopic alidade, which will enable rays to be transferred direct from the
high oblique photograph on to the plotting-floor.
INSTRUMENT-SHOP
Maintenance and small repairs were made to slotted-templet cutters, multiplex
apparatus, D.R. compasses, blue-print machine, and Kail plotters.
New work completed consisted of modifications (Mark I) to diapositive printer,
print-drying rack, film-storage rack, fixed-focus enlarger II, assembly and checking
fourteen Kail plotters, battery of lamps for printing down frame, mounted glass scale with
micro, establishing field standard, collimator for multiplex plotting tables, solenoid
shutters for Salzman, alterations to Magnitourus enlarger, straight-edge with 1-to-100-
inch scale, complete overhaul was done on a total of thirty-one theodolites and two levels,
and various machining jobs for aircraft maintenance.
Jobs on hand are as follows: Accessories to use Myford lathe at a nodal slide; overhauling micro-optic and vernier theodolites, totalling about thirty instruments; telescopic
alidade for plotting-floor; oscilloscope.
Workshop installations consisted of the following: The carpenters' shop was handed
over to aircraft operations, and all the woodworking machinery was transferred to the
west end of the hangar, where it was installed; a workshop was set up and equipped with
a bench and power in a separate room for the air cameras; a 24-volt direct-current system
was installed for the camera-room and the instrument-room; the shaper was installed with
suitable modifications. Work is well in hand for the erection of collimators to expedite
instrument repairs; this includes, of course, the necessary alterations of the internal layout
of the workshop. SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
V 117
APPENDICES
Appendix 1.—Cost Distribution of 1952 Flying Operations
Value
Per Cent
1948-51
Average
Per Cent
Organization and administration .
Aircraft operation1 ._
Aircraft maintenance2
Salaries, air crew
Insurance, air crew
Field expenses-
Camera maintenance, calibration, and depreciation..
Film processing and annotation
Prints—one set (9 by 9 inches)
Totals
$4,492.00
13,030.65
16,464.38
9,030.00
1,770.00
7,079.03
5,181.11
3,322.96
3,268.80
7.1
20.5
25.9
14.2
2.8
11.1
8.1
5.2
5.1
5.2
22.0
19.2
13.4
4.7
9.7
8.4
9.5
7.9
$63,638.93
100.0
100.0
l Includes pilots' salaries.
- Includes mechanics' salaries. V 118
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Appendix 2.—Summary by Projects, 1952 Air-survey Photographic
Flying Operations
Number of
Photos
Area
(Sq. Mi.)
Lineal
Miles
Aircraft-
hours
Total
Cost
1946-51
Summary
A. Basic vertical cover, 17,500 to 20,000
ft./m.s.l.—
10,284
855
405
270
97
24,000
3,600
1,500
1,100
250
Hrs. Min.
246 19
21 15
12 53
5 12
16 51
$36,501.76
3,123.97
1,816.30
808.79
2,185.72
Atlin
Total basic vertical cover
Average cost, approximate
11,911
$3.73/photo
30,450
$1.46/sq. mi.
302 30
$44,436.54
$2.97/photo,
$1.25/sq. mi.
500
$3.97/photo
1,400
$1.42/sq. mi.
13 46
$1,985.09
Average cost, approximate
$3.18/photo,
$1.78/sq. mi.
$1.78/photo,
$4.31/lin.mi.
C. Multiplex projects—
Maple Ridge —
77
158
197
82
118
380
130
161
144
96
40
90
50
115
1 27
2 46
3 42
7 20
10 14
5 17
7 36
2 11
6 22
1 21
$230.42
439.58
582.04
920.74
1,293.99
896.24
990.90
374.71
850.59
224.65
Fraser River (Chilcotin River-Soda
Creek)
0.3
65
500
15
70
0.5
Harrison
Total multiplex projects
Average cost, approximate
1,543
$4.41/photo
690.8
$7.07/sq. mi.
255
$7.52/lin. mi.
48 16
$6,803.86
$3.79/photo,
$6.36/sq. mi.
D. Special projects—
1. Verticals—
Powell River, Nakusp, Quesnel
(composite map)...
Nanaimo-Ladysmith (map revi-
140
93
178
6
202
20
26
113
10
18
182
64
14
182
4
37
65
15
850
100
10
200
45
20
30
50
35
15
50
3
4 03
0 46
4 27
1 06
6 21
1 35
1 34
2 36
0 50
0 45
3 39
1 12
1 12
1 57
0 10
5 27
$579.01
157.17
654.12
134.15
891.07
203.62
205.50
388.44
114.91
103.64
562.92
187.74
151.74
364.48
25.11
646.85
North Thompson River (land
utilization) ..
Green Timbers Ranger School....
Gulf Islands (forest surveys)
North Vancouver (forest surveys) —
Pat Bay Highway
Atlin Highway
John Hart Highway
Trans-Canada Highway (Spences
Okanagan Highway (Vernon-
P.G.E. Extension (Quesnel-
Hixon)
Fraser River slide (vicinity West
1,252
$4.29/photo
1,077
$2.02/sq. mi.
448
$5.70/lin. mi.
37 40
$5,370.47
$2.23/photo,
$7.07/sq. mi.
2. Tricamera—
624
$1.23/photo
320
$2.41/lin. mi.
3 45
$771.93
Average* cost, approxi-
$1.53/photo,
$6.83/lin.mi.
E. Triangulation control—
127
64
47
90
122
64
No. of
Stns.
38
23
13
16
39
15
4 05
3 00
5 15
4 21
6 27
9 50
$573.91
400.20
653.56
574.45
852.73
1,216.19
Tagish Lake-Teslin Lake (Dominion
Total triangulation control
Average cost, approximate
514
$8.31/photo
144
$29.66/stn.
32 58
$4,271.04
$18.91/stn.
16,344
33,617.8 sq. mi.
1,023 lin. mi.
144 stations
438 55
$63,638.93 AIR SURVEY OPERATIONS 1952
CALENDAR OF WEATHER IN RELATION TO FLYING ACTIVITIES
APPENDIX 3
A(R SURVEY DIVISION
SURVEYS AND MAPPING BRANCH
DEPT. OFLANDSAND FORESTS
DATI
MAY-
-*-K-
17 20 25 30
JUNE
10 15
20 25 30
-* K-
10
-JULY
15
20 25 30
-X -K-
10
AUGUS
15
-H (^
20 25 30
-SEPTEM BER
10 15 20
-H K"
25 30
OCTOBER
5 10
WEATHER*
7*»11 J
KKKKK
I
1
0600 D
a.
0800 <
Q
iooo 5
1200 [r) 2-
1400 .1"
<
1600 (j
0
1800 J
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0
£
2
3
B
_s
un
2
CD
*
ts
s
2 2
□
g °Q
JILQ
DETACHMENT OR-E
VERTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY
N
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BASE j^: PAT BAY
^PRG RG>K iffi »<
-KAMLOOPS
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-PENTICTON
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-C R A N B R O O K-
9^
KAMLOOPS >H£ PA T BAY -94
BASE K-
I
0600
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0800 Q
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1000 <
1200 «>2-
1400 J
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1600 y
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X-AIRCRAFT U/S. APPENDIX 4
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m APPENDIX 6 WATER RIGHTS BRANCH WATER RIGHTS BRANCH
V 121
WATER RIGHTS BRANCH
E. H. Tredcroft, P.Eng., Comptroller
The first legislation governing water dates back to the "Gold Fields Act," which
was proclaimed by Governor Douglas in 1859, and which provided water rights for
mining purposes.
Through the years a number of other Acts were passed pertaining to water, but the
" Water Act," in use to-day, dates back to 1939. Under this Act, water licences are
granted for a number of purposes, which, when liberally interpreted, cover almost every
conceivable use. These uses, as listed in the Act, are as follows: Domestic, waterworks,
mineral trading (bottling and distributing natural mineral waters), irrigation, mining,
industrial power, hydraulicking, storage, fluming, conveying, and land improvement.
The priority of any licence is in most cases based upon the date it is filed with the
water recorder, and the retention of this right is dependent upon beneficial use, payment
of rentals, and the observance of any orders issued under the " Water Act."
The two main functions of the Water Rights Branch are the administration of the
" Water Act" and the investigation of water resources.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE "WATER ACT"
The administration of the Act is carried out under the direction of the Comptroller,
who is assisted by four District Engineers with offices at Kamloops, Kelowna, Nelson, and
Victoria, where the headquarters staff is also located.
The year 1952 has been a record one, as will be noted below, where a summary of
all the investigations of the various district offices has been listed.
Applications for Water Licences and Sundry Amendments Thereof
1949
1950
1951
1952
Applications for licences.
Applications for apportionments— —
Applications for change of appurtenancy..
Applications for change of works .—
Applications for extension of time
Changes of ownership._ _
Cancellations and abandonments—
Right-of-way over Crown lands..
Totals
623
19
26
20
472
314
238
155
622
28
15
53
423
577
238
136
673
24
16
19
424
625
224
119
744
23
11
36
397
734
183
147
1,867 | 2,092
2,124 | 2,275
I
Licences Issued
457
377
530
520 j
519
374
668
Final
425
834
1,050 [
1
893
1,093
The clerical staff has had a busy year, marked by a heavy turnover of personnel with
the corresponding reshuffling of duties.
K. R. F. Denniston, Administrative Assistant, retired on superannuation on October
31st, 1952, after forty years of service, and his knowledge and experience will be greatly
missed.
Closely tied to the work of the clerical staff has been that of the draughting-room.
Here land clearances are checked against water-rights maps so that provisos may be
inserted in Crown grants, etc., to protect water licences which have been issued.
All applications are entered in the stream register, which shows the name of the
licensee, priority, source, lands, quantity of water, and file number.
L V 122
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
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<5^ WATER RIGHTS BRANCH V 123
IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS
In 1920 the "Water Act" was extended to include the formation of water-users'
communities and improvement districts. The former are merely co-operative organizations, while the latter have all the powers of a municipality for the limited purpose for
which they are formed and are operated through elected trustees.
The first improvement districts were formed to assist irrigation operations, but
to-day they include many other functions, such as fire protection, street-lighting, and
hospitals.
Improvement districts are brought into being through Letters Patent, with the Water
Rights Branch helping them through their organizational period. There are now 150
improvement districts in the Province.
DISTRICT OFFICES
Kamloops
The past year has been a season of good ground-moisture conditions, with exceptionally good run-off in the irrigation-streams. However, shortages were experienced
during the latter part of the season in those streams originating in relatively low or
exposed watersheds, which were most influenced by the dry summer period.
During the season ninety-eight applications for water licences were investigated and
reported upon, forty-five conditional licences were surveyed, and four changes of works
were made.
Some of the larger surveys included:—
(1) Storage and distribution-works of the Vinsulla Irrigation District, plus a
survey of the land irrigated.
(2) Pavilion Creek licences held by the Diamond S Company.
(3) Relocation of diversion ditch from Salmon River for V.L.A. settlement.
(4) Intake structure for domestic water system for Tranquille Sanatorium.
(5) Natural water-channel used as a ditch by the B.C. Fruitlands Irrigation
District.
(6) Establishment of bench-marks along Clearwater River Road and barometer levels along the river.
Kelowna
The summer and fall periods have been exceptionally dry, resulting in abnormally
long irrigation seasons. Fortunately, the heavy snowfalls of the past three years have
resulted in a high water-table, and stream discharges in the Okanagan have been exceptionally steady during such a dry season. Some districts have irrigated as late as October
31st of this year.
This dry season has resulted in a large influx of applications for water licences and
other inquiries, resulting in a heavy demand for service from this office.
The following engineering studies were made and reports submitted where indicated:—
(1) Proposed irrigation of Westbank Indian Reserve Cut-off Lands (part of
District Lot 2042); report submitted.
(2) Tulameen domestic water-supply; report submitted.
(3) Plan of additional acreage for Okanagan Falls Irrigation District pumping
system.
(4) Investigation of Silver Star Waterworks District system following complaints of low pressure.
(5) Investigation of electrolytic action in the Lakeview Irrigation District pipe
system. V 124 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
In addition to the above, general administration included the following:—
Final licence survey reports 95
Apportionments and resurveys of existing licences 15
New applications investigated 107
Routine dam inspections 22
Dam repairs and maintenance inspected 4
New dam construction inspected 4
Dam-sites inspected 4
Nelson
There have been several meetings of groups of water-users during the year, reflecting
the general growth and desire on the part of licensees and others to organize.
Once again, due to better than average snow cover, the creeks have proved generally
adequate for the demands made upon them. This year marks the longest dry fall in
twenty-six years.
Following is a resume of this year's work:—
Applications—■
Nelson 100
Cranbrook 6
Not reported on 27
Final licence surveys—
Nelson 78
Cranbrook 8
Special investigations were made as follows: Isaac and Sutherland Creeks, Blueberry
Creek, Sandy Creek, H.B. mine, Johnstone Estate, W. J. E. Biker, Long Beach, and
Carpenter and Cody Creeks.
Flooding complaints were received from L. Chizamzia, B. Feeney, Estella mines,
A. Bjork, C. E. Gordon, E. W. Foster, Slocan Board of Trade, Kimberley Mill Slough,
Athalmere, and Creston Flats.
The following pollutions of streams were investigated: Weatherhead, Hume Creek;
Streloff, Fortynine Creek; Kootenay Base Metals, Wildhorse Creek; Ben Zeamer, Beards
Creek; Kaslo stream pollution; Harder Lumber Company, Kelly Creek; and Gopher
Creek.
DAM INSPECTIONS
About 102 days were spent in the field on Departmental work, during which some
seventy-five dam inspections were made. In connection with this work about twenty
different dam designs were reviewed and given final approval.
Special reports, office studies, and other office work included the following:-—
(1) Tranquille Lake dam and the Jackson (Truda) Lake spillway.
(2) Flooding of the Kitsumgallum River.
(3) McNee-Sampson water dispute.
(4) Study of proposed dam on Skeena River backwater.
(5) Preliminary design of a water-supply for Okanagan Falls.
WATER RESOURCES
Multiple-use Projects in the Fraser River Valley
The increasing industrial progress of British Columbia, coupled with the growth of
rural areas, has resulted in multiple demands on the surface and in some cases the underground waters of the Province.
These demands vary all the way from relatively pure water for domestic and pulp
and paper use to " run of the river water " for hydraulic mining. PLATE 2
BRITISH
^° i
WATER USAGES
SHOWING THE UNDERTAKINGS FOR WHICH LICENCES ARE
ISSUED; BUT NOT INTENDED FOR A COMPLETE INDEX.
1952
December 31st, 1952.
136°
134°
132°
130°
128°
126°
124°
122°
120°
118°
116°
GEOGRAPHIC DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS. VICTORIA. B.C. Dam Inspection
Alcan project, Nechako River, Kenney Dam under construction.
Oblique air view of Kenney Dam, June, 1 952.
Plate 3. V 126
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
so
E WATER RIGHTS BRANCH V 127
The water which feeds our hydraulic turbines creates energy to light up our cities,
to run our mills, and to operate our irrigation pumping plants. However, water, unlike
other resources, is here to-day and gone to-morrow. When tamed it performs useful
work, but when out of control its destructive powers are tremendous.
These various aspects of water are being carefully evaluated by the Water Rights
Branch, where more than half its engineers are employed in water-resources investigations
and studies.
On the larger drainage-basins, such Federal-Provincial Boards as the Fraser River
Basin Board and even international organizations such as the International Columbia
River Engineering Board have been formed to co-ordinate the work of the various
resource departments. These Boards give due consideration to multiple use of water,
including hydro-electric power, fish, forestry, flood-control, transportation, and soil
conservation.
Nearly 50 per cent of the water-rights investigations during the past few years have
been carried out at the request of the Fraser River Basin Board. The areas surveyed this
year include Grand Canyon in the Upper Fraser, the main Fraser River near Moran, and
Harrison Lake and River.
Grand Canyon Survey, Upper Fraser River
In 1949 a survey was made of a proposed dam at Grand Canyon, which, with the
storage of 100 feet of water, might provide essential flood-control.
The pondage survey was continued up-stream this year to include the 2,100-foot
contour, which is the proposed top storage level.
The area covered is heavily timbered, and the low water gradients in the main river
and its tributaries necessitate extensive surveys up the side-valleys. This work has now
been completed to about 5 miles east of Penny.
Moran Survey, Fraser River
This project was also started in 1951 and includes the mapping of the storage-basin
which would be created by a 740-foot dam at Moran.
Field control carried out in 1952 for multiplex plotting by the Provincial Air Survey
Division covers the river between Jesmond north to just below the confluence of the
Chilcotin and the Fraser Rivers, a distance of approximately 35 miles. Proposed storage-
level is at 1,540 feet elevation, but sufficient air coverage has been flown to include the
2,000-foot contour, which is considered well above the limit of possible pumped irrigation.
This year additional work was carried out from Soda Creek north by the Federal
Department of Public Works. Their object is to complete valley storage surveys from
Soda Creek to Cottonwood Canyon, including soundings. Their topographic maps, at
500 feet to 1 inch, showing 20-foot contours up to elevation 2,000 feet, will tie in with
the Water Rights Branch at Soda Creek and eventually provide full coverage of the Fraser
River Valley from Moran to Prince George. V 128
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Moran Survey
French Bar Canyon,
north end.
■h-tf
Wycott Flats, looking north from Dog
Creek.
—i
French Bar Canyon,
south end.
Plate 4. WATER RIGHTS BRANCH
V 129
PHOTOS SHOWN TH
US-®
KEY PLAN- MORAN DAM SITE ^PONDASE
COMPLETED TO END 19 52 FIELD SEASON
Scofe I 1 I 1 _| iS C l%<7_ s
Fig. 2.
Harrison River and Lake
The third area of investigation for the Fraser River Basin Board includes Harrison
River and Lake.
A survey was carried out of three possible dam-sites in the river along a stretch
extending 4 miles down-stream from the lake outlet. Topography was taken some 65 feet
above the river to elevation 100 feet, with control tied to that established by the Federal
Public Works Department on Harrison Lake; Morris Creek was also included in the
survey as a possible site for a diversion tunnel for the lower dam-site.
In an effort to obtain some measurement of the effects that flood-waters stored in
Harrison Lake would have on ground-water levels, a second party was employed in the
Agassiz-Harrison Hot Springs area on a topographical and well-location survey.
A number of wells were spotted throughout the areas, and key ones were picked
for further study. On these latter wells, a continuing programme for water-level measurement is being made.
Special low-level photographs were flown of the area, and a 400-feet-to-l-inch map
showing 5-foot contours is now being compiled covering the area from the C.P.R. track
north to Harrison Lake. This will provide the necessary data for more detailed planning
in that area. V 130
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Photographs shown thus - 1 °"*-
W.R.B.
PROPOSED DAM5ITE5 ON HARRISON RIVER
SURVEYED IN 1352
SCALE I 1 I 1 1 I ]M
JMILES
Fig. 3. WATER RIGHTS BRANCH
V 131
HARRISON HOT
\ SPRINGS-AGASSIZ
GROUND WATER
SURVEY
• WELLS REAOtNQ ALL VEAR
O WELLS READING IN SUMMER
Fig. 4. V 132
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Harrison River and Lake Survey
Drilling with 4-inch casing at
Dam-site " A," near outlet of Harrison Lake.
Dam-site " C,"
Harrison River,
looking downstream.
Churn-drilling at Dam-site " A," Harrison River.
Plate 5. PLATE 6
60°
58°
56'
54*
52'
SIT
114*
INDEX
1. Grand Canyon (Upper Fraser River)
2. Moran Damsite (Fraser River)
3. Harrison-Agassiz
4. West Road River
5. Zeballos River
6. Salmo
7. South Slocan
8. Maple Ridge
9. Vanderhoof
10. Sumas Dyking
1 1. Salmon River
12. Elk Lake
13. Okanagan Flood Control
14. Okanagan Falls
15. Agassiz Dyking
16. Horsethief Creek
17. Castlegar-Slocan Irrigation
19. Bloomer Creek
20. Englishman River
21. Zymoetz River
23. Clearwater River
24. McGregor River
25. Fruitlands (North Kamloops)
BRITISH
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS and E'ORESTS
HONOURABLE R. E. SOMMERS. MINISTER
Scale
WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATION
1952 OPERATIONS
December 31st, 1952.
136°
134°
132°
130°
128°
126°
124°
122°
120°
116°
GEOGRAPHIC DIVISION. DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS, VICTORIA. B.C. PLATE 7
DEVELOPED
(Or Under Development)
1. Jordan River.
2. Nanaimo River.
3. Buntzen Lake.
4. Stave Lake.
5. Wahleach (Jones)
Lake.
6. Britannia Creek.
7. Woodfibre Creek.
8. Seechelt Creek.
9. Lois River.
10. Powell River.
1 1. Campbell River.
1 2. Victoria Lake.
1 3. Hurley River.
14. Bridge River.
1 5. Shuswap River.
16. Whatshan Lake.
17. Nelson.
1 8. Corra Linn.
UNDEVELOPED
40. Nass River.
41
42
43
44. Bulkley River.
45
46
47. Omineca River.
48. Peace River.
49. Nation River.
81. Nimpkish River.
82. Kokish River.
83. Stafford River.
84. Fraser River.
85. „
86. Seton Creek.
87. Adams Lake.
Beaver River.
89. Columbia River.
90. Mabel Lake.
50. Kitsumgallum River. 91. Horsethief Creek.
51. Skeena River.
52. Nechako River.
53. Big Falls Creek.
54. Foch Creek.
55. Crab Creek.
56. Fraser River.
57. „
58. Cariboo River.
92. Fry Creek.
93. Sheep Creek.
94. Fording River.
95. Nahatlatch River.
96. Fraser River.
97. Chilliwack River.
98. Chehalis River.
99. Indian River.
100. Cheakamus River.
101.
1 02. Elaho River.
103. Stamp River.
104. Ash River.
105. Nahmint River.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
DEPARTMENT OP LANDS AND FORESTS
HONOURABLE R. E. SOMMERS. MINISTER
ISO.
A FEW OF THE MAJOR WATER POWERS
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
1952
Developed Power Sites
Undeveloped Power Sites
December 31 st.
136°
134°
132°
130°
128°
126°
124°
122°
120°
118°
116°
GEOGRAPHIC DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS, VICTORIA. B.C. WATER RIGHTS BRANCH V 133
McGregor River
A reconnaissance survey was made of the McGregor River in August, 1952, and a
tentative dam-site was found in the lower canyon some 18 miles up-stream from its
confluence with the Fraser. The Fraser River Board has recommended that further
investigations be carried out in this section during the coming summer to determine
the feasibility of flood storage above the canyon, plus the possible development of hydroelectric power.
Clearwater River
A similar reconnaissance survey was also made of the Clearwater River. This
river's gradient drops between 20 and 30 feet per mile, indicating a very limited storage-
basin. However, a possible dam-site immediately below Hemp Creek at a water elevation of 1,600 feet has been selected for further investigation. Storage up to elevation
2,000 feet would be contained within the valley, while further increase in the storage
level beyond this would flood Mahood Lake.
More investigations are planned during 1953 with regards to multiple use of this
water for flood-control and hydro-electric power.
Water-supply Investigations
There has been an increasing demand for water-supply investigations by villages
which are at present using well-water or inadequate surface supplies. These include the
following:—
Village of Salmo
A report was made covering the cost of providing the village or a portion of it with
a pumped domestic supply from Erie Creek.
South Slocan
Investigations at South Slocan indicated that either the existing supply could be
renovated or, alternately, water could be pumped from the Kootenay River. The report
shows that while the former would be the less expensive, the latter would provide a much
more adequate supply.
Vanderhoof
Field investigations were carried out of the existing artesian well within the Village
of Vanderhoof as a source of supply. The report is now being prepared.
Okanagan Falls Irrigation District Pumping System
A report and plans of this project which will replace the existing hydro-mechanical
turbine pumping plant by electrical units was completed during the past summer. Ultimately the new works will provide for approximately 245 acres and 389 lots. The ordering of material has commenced, and it is expected that construction work will be under
way shortly.
Water-supply for Training-school near Maple Ridge
The original proposal was for a gravity supply from Kanaka Creek for the training-
school. However, due to the limited drainage area of 4 square miles and the fact that
extensive logging has been undertaken within the watershed, it was considered that this
was not a good source.
Drilling for ground-water in the Whonnock Creek area has not been successful, and
indications are that some other supply will have to be found; with regard to this, further
investigations are now under way. V 134
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Surface- and Ground-water Supplies
yp
Artesian well, Vanderhoof; 582 feet deep, 8- to 6-inch-diameter casing,
275 U.S. gallons per hour.
Unlicensed storage-dam, Ussher Creek, showing lack of freeboard or spillway.
Plate 8. WATER RIGHTS BRANCH V 135
Flood-control
Winter Flood Protection in the Sumas Dyking District
The existing drainage-works in the Sumas Dyking District have not given adequate
protection against major winter floods in 1935 and 1951. In order to ascertain the
drainage improvements required, a reconnaissance survey of three weeks' duration was
carried out in November, 1951.
The survey included a visual inspection of drainage conditions in about 50 miles of
natural stream-channels and 30 miles of main ditches. A preliminary report was completed in August, 1951, covering the sources and amounts of the flood-waters.
The study indicated that there was a decided lack of hydrometric information
within the area. In an effort to remedy this, a series of bench-marks were established
by the Branch within the Sumas District in the fall of 1952. These points will be available
for the use of the Federal Department of Resources and Development, Water Resources
Division, in obtaining stream-flow measurements.
A second report covering the possibilities of winter flood protection will supplement
the report of 1951 and is now completed.
Lower Salmon River Investigations
The two problems investigated in the Salmon River near Salmon Arm were the
following:—
(a) Bank erosion and flooding of low bottom-lands along the Lower Salmon
River.
(b) The change in run-off regimen of the lower reaches of the river that might
result from an up-stream diversion for irrigation of Grandview Flats.
Approximately a 23-mile-long stretch of the Lower Salmon River valley was investigated. A series of profiles were run across the valley, and, when possible, water-table
elevations were obtained. Certain stream measurements were also carried out while
the party was in the field.
Irrigation
The Crown lands in the Castlegar-Slocan district of the West Kootenay area have
in the past been served by numerous irrigation systems, many of which are no longer
operating. Parts of these areas are occupied by Doukhobor settlements.
The work this year consisted of investigating present systems, sources of water-
supply, and development of methods of bringing the land under irrigation.
Irrigable areas, previously outlined by the Land Utilization Branch, were surveyed
for multiplex control and include the following:— Acres
Ootescherie $. 2,315
Brilliant 244
Raspberry 160
Shoreacres 328
Glade 619
Champion Creek 494
Total 4,160
Further investigations will be required in 1953 to complete such areas as Krestova,
Upper Pass Creek, and land in the vicinity of Grand Forks.
Fraser River Suspended Sediment Survey
Field work on the Fraser River suspended sediment survey has been expanded this
year to include two more permanent sampling-stations at Marguerite Ferry and at the
Resources and Development meter section south of Lillooet. V 136
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Irrigation Surveys
<j
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O
O
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Completed Work
Altimeter Stage
DOUKHOBOR LAMDS
SURVEY FOR. IRRIGATION
I95e
Fig. 5. V 138
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
These two stations, in addition to the original ones at Hope and Quesnel, should
provide valuable data below the points where the Quesnel River enters the Fraser River
and also immediately above the confluence of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers.
Miscellaneous measurements at other points on the river, as in past years, were
obtained when the sampling schedule of permanent stations permitted.
Listed below are the various stations with the number of measurements and samples
taken during 1952:—
Number of
Sampling-station Measurements
Hope
Quesnel
19
13
Marguerite 11
Lillooet Meter Station 13
Big Bar Ferry (Jesmond) 3
Prince George 1
Hansard Ferry 1
Nechako River at Isle St. Pierre 1
Samples
692
349
219
104
64
16
15
13
Totals 62
1,477
The laboratory analysis of samples, as in past years, is being carried out by the
British Columbia Research Council.
Calculated results to date have shown that the Fraser River is not a heavy sediment-
bearing stream in comparison with streams in the United States and other parts of the
world. It does, however, carry an appreciable load on rising stages during summer
run-off.
Snow Surveys
During the past winter the British Columbia Snow Survey Bulletins, published on
February 1st, March 1st, April 1st, May 1st, May 15th, and June 1st, have been much in
demand, and a total of 2,000 copies were mailed to interested persons and agencies.
A check on the accuracy of these run-off forecasts is very favourable, showing the
following results: One forecast more than 20 per cent in error, four forecasts more than
10 per cent in error, eleven forecasts less than 10 per cent in error, and six forecasts less
than 5 per cent in error.
Details of the particular courses used in arriving at the above figures are shown
below:—
Accuracy of Run-off Forecasts, 1952
Stations Forecast
Forecast
Actual
Difference
from Actual
Percentage
Difference
Columbia at Nicholson1
Columbia at Revelstoke1 3
Columbia at Birchbank1
Kootenay at Wardner1
Elk at Stanley Park1
Lardeau at Gerrard1,.
Duncan at Howser1
Slocan at Crescent Valley1
Inflow to Kootenay Lake1
Inflow to Okanagan Lake2
North Thompson at Barriere2
Inflow to Stave Lake2
Inflow to Powell Lake2
Inflow to Lois Lake2
Capilano at North Vancouver Intake2
X 1,000
Ac.-Ft.
1,920
15,720
37,750
4,360
1,295
548
1,780
1,790
15,950
386
7,390
1,020
1,030
254
184
X 1,000
Ac.-Ft.
2,054.5
17,507.0
37,915.0
4,085.7
1,129.3
529.3
1,794.2
1,768.6
16,077.0
433.1
7,576.2
1,179.1
1,147.3
272.5
235.8
X 1,000
Ac.-Ft.
— 134.5
-1,787.0
— 165.0
+274.3
+ 165.7
+ 18.7
— 14.2
+21.4
— 127.0
—47.1
— 186.2
— 159.1
— 117.3
—18.5
-51.8
-6.5
— 10.2
—0.4
+6.7
+ 14.6
+3.5
—0.8
+ L2
—0.8
— 10.8
—2.5
-13.5
-10.2
—6.8
-22.0
1 April to August, inclusive.
2 April to July, inclusive.
3 Forecast of Columbia at Revelstoke in error because reported flow is Columbia at Twelve Mile Ferry, which
includes Illecillewaet River; Columbia at Revelstoke gauge is discontinued. mm
PLATE! 11
Spirit 0
River
SNOW SURVEYS
WATER RIGHTS BRANCH
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
BRITISH COLUMBIA
10
h
Scale.
so
u
too
LEGEND
Established B.C. Snow Courses
Co-related U.S.A. ,,
Co-related Stream Gauging Stations
Main Watershed Boundaries
Sub
Name
.£Alli'£6nHar.
m>.. M
-j-BW"'"""'
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Course
No.
11 Glacier
12A Field
15 Revelstoke
15A Revelstoke
Mountain
16 Ferguson
17 Farron
18 Sandon
19 Nelson
20B New Kimberley
20A Sullivan Mine
22 Blue River
23 Powell River
23A Powell River
24 Powell River
24A Powell River
24B Powell River
25 Kinbasket Lake
Course
No. Name
25A Middle River
26A New Tashme
27 Brookmere
28 Burwell Lake
28A Hollyburn
29 Palisade Lake
29A Dog Mountain
30 Loch Lomond
31 Bouleau Creek
32 Marble Canyon
33 Kicking Horse
34 Quartet Lake
35B Klesilkwa
41 Upper Elk River
42 Old Glory
Mountain
43 Gray Creek
Name
i
(
Course
No.
46 Copper
Mountain
47 Nickel Plate
Mountain
48A Monashee Pass
49 Porcupine
Ridge
50 Mount Cook
51 Trophy
Mountain
52 Yellowhead
53 Mount Albreda
54 McBride
55 Postill Lake
56 Tranquille Lake
57 Pass Lake
58 Freda Lake
59 Barkerville
60 Tatlayoko Lake
61 Wells Mountain
62 Kidprice Lake
63 Tahtsa Lake
64 Whitesail Lake
65 Pondosy Lake
66 Nechako
67 McGillvary Pass
68 Fernie Ridge
69 Penticton Res.
70 White Rocks Mtn.
71 Longworth
72 Hansard
73 Precipice
74 Tenquille Lake
W^4
Tbfit*
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\ V^miM River I
cumberi|£nd
Jervis
^L/nlet
Sauamish/
m m Ham
.-^AHCOU1
%gPt. Renfrew
1mm
BAREE NAT- Snow Surveys and Sedimentation Studies
Mount Albreda snow course; elevation, 6,300 feet. Marker at 15 feet
indicates depth of snow in winter.
Plate 10. V 140 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Four new courses located for correlation with the Fraser River Basin run-oft' were
established at Longworth (71), Hansard (72), near Atnarco (73), and north-west of
Pemberton on the Lillooet River (74).
In addition, two new snow courses were located in the Okanagan — one at the
Penticton Reservoir (69) at the request of the city and the other on White Rocks
Mountain at the request of S. M. Simpson Limited, of Kelowna.
The data for all snow measurements made since snow surveying began in British
Columbia, up to and including 1952, are now compiled and will be published as a
summary in the near future.
Water Resources
The preparation of plans and assembling of reports, made by the Water Rights
engineers, take up the major portion of this section's time. Included with this are miscellaneous drawings for the International Columbia Engineering Committee and the Fraser
River Basin Board.
The revision of the publication " Water Powers of B.C., 1924," was completed for
final checking before going to the printer.
Six of the more important power reports were revised, to bring them up to date,
and include Nanaimo River, Nass River, Marble Canyon, Benson River, Khtada River,
and Brown River. WATER RIGHTS BRANCH
sdNv?nonl NI d'H CQ-nVlSNI
V 141
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SQNVSnOH± NI 'd'M 0.3T.V1SNI COAL, PETROLEUM AND NATURAL
GAS BRANCH V 144
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Coal Petroleum and Natural Gas
Helicopter at site of Toad River
Joint Project No. 1, located at confluence of Liard and Toad Rivers,
Peace River District. This site is
accessible only by helicopter or
river-boat from Fort Nelson.
'■-
Bridge across Prophet River built by
Phillips Petroleum Company.
£
Tenaka No. 1 Well, Phillips Petroleum Company, 2 miles west of
Mile 246, Alaska Highway. Abandoned August 2nd, 1952; depth,
9,220 feet.
Pacific Atlantic Flathead No. 1
Well, Pacific Petroleums Limited.
Location, Lot 7335, Kootenay District. COAL, PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS BRANCH V 145
COAL, PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS BRANCH
T. B. Williams, M.Sc, Ph.D., P.Eng., Controller
GENERAL SUMMARY
The rapid growth of activities of the Branch described last year continued through
1952. The staff during the year increased from ten to twelve.
Four meetings with scientific bodies, including representatives of industry, representatives of the Federal Government and those of the other Provinces, were attended by
the Controller. These meetings are of very great value to the Province. Not only do
they keep the Branch informed of activities, present and planned, but contacts are made
with personnel of the coal and the petroleum industries. Our maps have occupied prominent positions at these meetings. The discussions which have followed have been some
of the best advertising which our industry has had. Some of the resulting contacts have
been turned over to the Department of Trade and Industry.
In the Coal Division no further field work was done, the Assistant Controller
devoting his time to computing, plotting, and reporting the work done by his own and
the various other parties which had, during the previous six field seasons, investigated
the coal-deposits north and south of Pine River, at about 120 miles by road west of
Dawson Creek.
The extension of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway into Prince George renews hope
of an ultimate means for transportation of this excellent coal.
Licences were let during the year on the area covering the old Suquash Collieries,
on Broughton Strait, on the east side of Vancouver Island. An effort is now under way
to open up this coal-deposit, which is situated on tide-water.
The Controller kept in touch with the research work on the development of a fire-jet
engine done under the supervision of the Federal Department of Mines and the Mechanical Engineering Department of McGill University by Professor D. L. Mordell, Gas
Dynamics Laboratory, St. Anne de Bellevieu. The Branch has supplied a ton of very
pure, low-ash coal for this work.
Permitting and licensing of petroleum and natural-gas holdings continued at a high
rate throughout the year (see chart "Petroleum and Natural Gas Permit Progress").
Most of the supposedly promising acreage in the Province has now been taken up, and a
keen rivalry has sprung up for holdings which have reverted to the Crown.
Drilling activities greatly increased during the year. These have been confined to
the north-east and south-east parts of the Province. The magnitude of the area covered
is indicated by the fact that the Toad River Project No. 1 Well on the Liard River, where
drilling was suspended for the winter at a depth of 1,643 feet, is 830 miles from Pacific-
Atlantic Flathead No. 1 Well drilling in the south-east corner of the Province at a depth
of about 10,000 feet.
Considering that petroleum investigation got into its stride late in 1947, the development may, when the many disappointments inherent to petroleum work are borne in
mind, be said to be almost phenomenal. During the year Dr. G. H. Hume, Federal
Director-General of Scientific Services, stated that the gasfield discovered at Fort St.
John, with an estimated reserve of over one and a half trillion cubic feet, is the largest in
Canada. Oil accompanies part of this gas. In addition, oil is being discovered at different horizons in the test-holes.
The construction of the Trans Mountain Oil Pipeline Company's line from Edmonton
to Vancouver is well under way. It is hoped that the Province's oil, which may be
developed along its route, will be brought to it by branch lines.
Permission for the building of the West Coast Transmission Company's gas-line from
the Fort St. John area to Vancouver has been granted. Permission to extend the line V 146 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
into the north-western United States is awaited. The requisite amount of gas reserve to
justify this construction was proven by late summer. Further reserves have since been
proven, and still more are confidently expected as large, as promising areas remain
untested.
At the year-end twelve wells were drilling and two locations were awaiting rigs. An
additional operation had been suspended till spring.
Preparations were made to open, early in 1953, a branch office in Dawson Creek
under a district engineer. R. R. McLeod, of the head-office staff, will fill this position.
Revisions of the " Coal Act" and of the " Petroleum and Natural Gas Act" have
been prepared for the 1953 Session of the Legislature.
The Branch assisted in the beginning of a new industry for British Columbia known
as "gas-ice." Its purpose is to develop and compress natural carbon dioxide for the
purpose of refrigeration. This industry should ultimately be a great help to fishermen
and fruit-growers.
LABORATORIES
The work of the Chemical Laboratory continued. All work on coal, oil, gas, air,
and water samples coming to the Government for chemical testing is now done by this
laboratory. Work was continued on a back-log of samples taken by the Branch's geologists since 1946.
The Sample Laboratory has dealt with an increased number of cores and cuttings.
This work has been done by S. S. Cosburn, Chief Sample Examiner and Assistant
Petroleum Engineer, with R. M. Milke assisting in the mechanical part of the work.
Mr. Cosburn, assisted by R. R. McLeod, has made most field inspections.
During the fall Mr. McLeod spent three weeks working with the Conservation Board
engineers of Alberta.
Sundry Revenue of the Branch for the Year Ended December 31st, 1952
Collections under "Coal and Petroleum Act"—Leases, fees, and
sundry $1,975.65
Collections under "Coal Act"—Licences, leases, and fees 2,409.30
$4,384.95
Collections under "Petroleum and
Natural Gas Act," 1947,
1950, and 1951—
Permit and licence fees and
rentals $1,383,832.23
Sundry 1,931.45
1,385,763.68
Total $1,390,148.63
COAL DIVISION
N. D. McKechnie. M.A.Sc, P.Eng., Assistant Controller
Licences under the " Coal Act "
Number Acres
Licences issued 1 96.0
Licences renewed 23 11,580.8
Licences subsisting 24 11,676.8 COAL, PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS BRANCH
Leases under the " Coal and Petroleum Act"
V 147
Type of Lease
Renewed
Subsisting
Number
Acres
Number
Acres
2
4
380
2.518
22
2
14
12,453
112
rviai
8,124
Totals
6 1 2.898
38
20,689
Total Licences and Leases.—Sixty-two, covering 32,365.8 acres.
Field Operations
The Coal Division undertakes surveys of Crown coal lands, as directed, for the
purpose of estimating the quantity and quality of coal available for mining.
Since its inception in 1946, field work has been confined to an area in the Peace River
coalfield contiguous to a proposed route of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway along the
Pine River valley. Field work on this project was completed in the fall of 1951, and
the time since has been spent in organizing the data for the final report.
No field work was undertaken during 1952.
PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS DIVISION
J. D. Lineham, B.Sc, Petroleum Engineer, Assistant Controller
Explorations and development during 1952, especially in the Peace River District,
have proceeded at an unprecedented rate.
Surveys to determine the possible existence of petroleum and natural-gas reservoirs
have included many types of investigation, but more particularly surface geology, seismograph, gravity meter, air-borne magnetometer, core drilling, and deep drilling.
Considerable development in the Fort St. John area has been accomplished as a
result of a continuous drilling programme that has been maintained since the first gas
discovery well in that general area was brought in in November, 1951. Other areas in the
Province have also received attention, but to a much lesser degree.
The demand for land under petroleum and natural-gas permits was exceptionally
strong for the first six months of the year and then gradually decreased as the desirable
acreage available was reduced to a minimum. As a result, the increase in permits issued
was ten times that of the previous year.
In general, oil and gas exploration to date in the Province has been confined largely
to geological investigation. Although this stage of exploration is in reality only beginning, sufficient work has been done to indicate that we may expect increased drilling
activity during 1953.
Permits
The acreage held or applied for at the end of the year was almost double that at the
termination of 1951. Of the total area of 34,790,555 acres, approximately 91 per cent
is situated in the Peace River District, with the remaining acreage distributed amongst
thirteen other land recording districts.
During the year, 477 exploration permits, covering 23,619,212 acres, were issued,
and in the same period 18 permits, involving 1,363,282 acres, were terminated. A total
of 325 applications for 15,295,030 acres was submitted.
At the end of the year, 564 permits, covering 34,577,616 acres, were in good
standing, and 8 applications, involving 212,939 acres, were being processed.
Permits are held by 69 companies and 123 individuals. V 148
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Seventy-four permit extensions and 95 renewals, involving 115 permits, were
approved.
A total of 297 assignments was approved, involving 270 permits.
Year-end acreages are indicated in the following table:—
Permit Type
1949
1950
1951
1952
No.
Acres
No.
Acres
No.
Acres
No.
Acres
Geological, 1947 ,,
Geological and Geophysical,
1947
20
2
1,945,940
432,000
52
2
52
4,633,102
467,200
5,390,901
20
1
12
230
1,222,424
251,520
360,828
18,909,508
14
2
8
540
794,800
509,592
Amended Act, 1950
290,453
Amended Act 1951
32,982,771
22
2,377,940
106
10,521,203
263
20,744,280
564
34,577,616
PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS PERMIT PROGRESS
Geophysical Subsurface Licences
Twelve licences to conduct geophysical exploration were issued during 1952.
The amount of geophysical exploration being done in British Columbia is increasing
steadily. The major part of this work, to date, has been accomplished in the Peace River
District, although surveys of limited extent have been carried out in the Flathead Valley
and the New Westminster district.
During the past twelve months approximately fifteen seismic crews have operated in
the general area between Dawson Creek, Fort Nelson, and the British Columbia-Alberta
Boundary. In the greater part of the Peace River District seismic work can be done only
during the winter months, after the muskeg freezes. It follows that in most areas equip- COAL, PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS BRANCH
V 149
ment must be removed before the spring thaw. This natural condition of the terrain
contributes to the difficulties faced by the exploration teams.
In addition to seismic exploration, there were parties in the field doing aeromagnetic
and gravity meter surveys.
Licences
The continuous drilling programme maintained during the year resulted in a marked
increase in the number of Crown petroleum and natural-gas licences.
A total of 107 applications for licences, involving 1,060,366 acres, was submitted
during the year, and 108 licences, including 1,065,486 acres, were issued.
In the same period three licences, covering 3,840 acres, were terminated. Thirty
assignments, involving twenty-nine licences, were approved, and eight were renewed.
At the end of the year 139 licences, covering 1,403,117 acres, were in good standing,
and no applications were carried over.
Leases
No leases were applied or issued under the provisions of the " Petroleum and Natural
Gas Act." The only existing leases involving petroleum and natural gas are those being
held under the provisions of the " Coal and Petroleum Act, 1936." These number twenty-
four and include 12,565 acres.
Summary of Petroleum and Natural-gas Permits, Licences, and Leases
as of December 31st, 1952
Land Recording District
Permits
Permit
Applications
Licences
" Coal and Petroleum Act, 1936,"
Leases
Total
No.
Acres
No.
Acres
No.
Acres
No.
Acres
19
24
11
2
6
13
14
1
14
4
2
1
453
219,204
864,655
177,104
84,053
58,688
437,840
507,444
9,862
695,722
1
1
1
1
4
17,092
20,000
6
7
2
124
66,911
77,103
10,240
I
8 4.131
307,338
961,758
188,096
84,053
58,688
437,840
507,444
9,862
695,722
6,704
34,462
40,560
49,279
32,824,431
3
2
1
10
752
6,062
642
34,462
19,920
49,279
31,419,383
Kamloops.
20,000
640
149,785
1,248,863
6,400
Totals
564
34,577,616
8
212,939
139
1,403,117
24
12,565
36,206,237
Drilling
(a) Permits to Operate Drilling Equipment.—Eighteen were issued, five expired,
and twenty-four remain in good standing.
(b) Drilling Licences.—Twenty-four were issued.
(c) Wells.—During 1952 a total of twenty-nine wells was in some stage of operation
and two additional locations were prepared. Of these wells, twelve were shut in as
potential gas-wells, five were plugged and abandoned, one was suspended for the winter
months, and at the end of the year two were testing and nine were drilling.
Twenty-six of the wells were situated in the Peace River District, two in the Kootenay
District, and one in the New Westminster District.
One of the new locations is in the Peace River District and one in the New Westminster District. V 150
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
The footage drilled to December 31st by wildcat and development wells was 139,844
feet, more than twice the footage for 1951. In addition, considerable core drilling was
done.
D
R 1 L
A N
LING ACTIVITY
NUAL FOOTAGE
140
130
120
110
H
"100
in
"" 90
a
z 80
:*>
1 50
r-
40
30
20
■
10
■
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952 COAL, PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS BRANCH
The following is a summary of wells drilled in 1952: —
V 151
Name of Well
Company
District
Date
Spudded
Date
Completed
Total
Depth
Results
Peace River
Fort St. John
Pacific Fort St.
No. 3
Pacific Fort St.
No. 4
Pacific Fort St.
No. 5
Pacific Fort St.
No. 6
Pacific Fort St.
No. 7
Pacific Fort St.
No. 8
Pacific Fort St.
No. 9
Pacific Fort St.
411ied
No. 1
John
John
John
John
John
John
John
John
John
John
John
John
John
John
John
John
John
ritish
1
Lake
atural
lo. 1
1
tPro-
1
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Van Tor Explorations
Ltd.
B.C. Oil & Gas Development Syndicate
Central Leduc Oils Ltd.
Texaco Exploration
Co.
Phillips Petroleum Co.
Del Rio Producers Ltd.
Pacific Petroleums Ltd.
Akamina Pincher
Creek Oils Ltd.
Out West Oils Ltd.
Peace River
Peace River
Peace River
Peace River ....
Peace River....
Peace River....
Peace River
Peace River...
Peace River.
Peace River
Peace River.....
Peace River
Peace River
Peace River....
Peace River.
Peace River
Peace River....
Peace River.....
Peace River
Peace River....
Peace River
Peace River
Peace River
Peace River
Peace River .....
Peace River
Peace River
Kootenay
Kootenay
New Westminster
New Westminster
July 5, 1951
Jan. 2
Jan. 18
Mar. 7
Mar. 8
Mar. 25
Mar. 13
May 19
June 16
Dec. 29
Sept. 7
Sept. 20
July 3
July 24
Oct. 9
Nov. 11
Nov. 2, 1951
Feb. 28
July 17
Aug. 6
Aug. 31
June 3
Oct. 4
Nov. 7
Feet
5,667
4,272
6,908
7,514
6,781
4,773
6,691
6,554
7,791
800
6,441
6,403
5,141
8,437
6,582
4,245
Tested in 1952;
standing capped.
Standing capped.
1 3
Standing capped.
Standing capped.
Standing capped.
Standing capped.
Standing capped.
Standing capped.
No. 10
Pacific Fort St.
No. 11
Pacific Fort St.
No. 12
Pacific Fort St.
Dec. 14
Standing capped.
No. 14
Pacific Fort St.
No. 15
Pacific Fort St.
No. 16
Pacific Fort St.
Sept. 3
Dec. 31
Standing capped.
Plugged and abandoned.
No. 17
Pacific Fort St.
No. 18
Pacific Fort St.
Dec. 17
Plugged and abandoned.
No. 19
Pacific Fort St.
Dec. 22
June 4
Sept. 23
Aug. 7, 1949
Aug. 16
Dec. 4
Aug. 3
Oct. 7
Dec. 2, 1951
Aug. 31
Sept. 5
July 20
Dec. 15
1,221
7,590
6,875
5,957
6,170
2,970
1,643
5,005
9,220
5,072
10,310
434
80
No. 20
Peace River E
Dominion No
Nov. 24
Standing capped.
No. 1
Peace River N
Gas No. 8
Jan. 12, 1950
Tested in 1952;
standing capped.
Red Willow No.
Jan. 15
Plugged and abandoned.
ject No. 1
ter months.
Aug. 2
Era
Rio
^o. 1
Flat-
Era
doned.
Central Del
Stoney Lake
head No. 1
Akamina Trans
Wilrich No. 1
Out West No. 1.
Sept. 8
Plugged and abandoned.
Genei
tAL
The series of permit-location maps was continued and improved during the year.
These maps, covering all areas in which permits are situated, have proved to be very
popular with the industry. The monthly report concerning all location changes was also
continued. V 152 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
At the request of industry and the public in general a monthly report of all petroleum
and natural-gas operations within the Province was commenced at the end of September.
This report is similar in style to that published by the Alberta Petroleum and Natural
Gas Conservation Board. A nominal subscription fee is charged.
During the last quarter of the year the first issue of the Schedule of Wells Drilled
for Oil and Natural Gas in British Columbia was published. This publication includes all
pertinent data concerning wells known to have been drilled to January 1st, 1952. Annual
supplements will be published. The information on wells is arranged to conform with the
system used in other oil-producing Provinces. This Schedule of Wells is available at the
offices of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Division for a fee of $1.
COAL AND PETROLEUM CHEMICAL LABORATORY
K. C. Gilbart, M.Sc, P.Eng., F.C.I.C, Chief Chemist
The laboratory is operated on the research level and was set up in 1947 to study coal,
crude-oil, gas, and water samples. The amount of work performed in 1952 was about
the same as in the previous year but covered a wider variety of materials and with less
emphasis on coal. A total of 206 samples was tested during the year, of which 49 were
coal, 5 petroleum, 13 petroleum seeps, 96 gas, 37 water, and 6 miscellaneous materials.
Thirty-eight of the coal samples were diamond-drill cores obtained in previous years
but which were not analysed at the time. These have been worked over to round out
some seam-correlation problems. Seven samples of coal were received from the Department of Mines for analysis. The study of coal-seam correlation by ash analysis has been
held up because of the difficulty of getting more spectrographic analyses. There is a
growing interest in the germanium content of coals. The time has come when some
agency should make a study of the germanium content of British Columbia coals. The
first samples of coal from the newly reopened Suquash Collieries on Vancouver Island
have arrived for analysis.
Specimen samples of oil from drill-stem tests made at wells in the Fort St. John
gasfield show a wide variety of gravities, ranging from a heavy dark-green oil of 28°
A.P.I, to a white naphtha of 58° A.P.I. Many of the supposed oil samples coming in
are from seepages. These are of a wide variety of materials, and each has to be investigated according to its characteristics. Another sample of Butte Inlet " Northwind Oil "
has been received, but it is probably from the same bulk sample collected during the
winter of 1950-51. So far we have not been able to get any more information regarding
its origin.
The gas-analysis apparatus has been kept busy during the year. Some eighty-seven
samples of mine-air have been tested for the Inspection Branch of the Department of
Mines. Some of these samples showed a considerable content of fire-damp. The laboratory analysis gives a check on the safety-lamp tests made in the mine. In addition, eight
samples of gas from carbon-dioxide seepages were tested. The laboratory is not equipped
to make detailed analyses of natural gas from oilfields. These samples are sent out as
custom work to a laboratory where a Podbelniak is available.
Closely associated with the search for oil and gas is the formation water which is
encountered during drilling, often in the expected pay-zones. Another thirty-six samples
of water have been tested during the year. Many of these waters are heavy brines, with
up to 250,000 parts per million of salts in solution. Sometimes these waters contain
hydrogen sulphide, which complicates the analytical work. We will soon have sufficient
analyses available to designate typical formation waters for the Fort St. John field.
The only new piece of equipment purchased during the year was a drilling mud
filtration press suitable for field operation, and which is also used in the laboratory to
obtain clear samples of oil or water from some of the drill-stem samples submitted for COAL, PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS BRANCH V 153
test. A sudden expansion of drilling activity may make it necessary to purchase new
equipment. Establishment of a field office will also necessitate some testing equipment.
COAL AND PETROLEUM GEOLOGICAL LABORATORY
S. S. Cosburn, B.Sc., P.Eng., Chief Sample Examiner
The laboratory work consisted mainly of washing, examining, logging, and bottling
of 10-foot samples. Some core was logged in the laboratory.
Well Samples
During the year 3,250 samples were handled and logged from the following wells:
Pacific Act Kiskatinaw No. 1, Pacific Fort St. John No. 3, Pacific Fort St. John No. 4,
Pacific Fort St. John No. 7, Peace River Allied Fort St. John No. 2, and Phillips
Daiber Al.
The library of well samples has now on file samples from thirty-four British Columbia wells. Samples are bottled, systematically filed, and card-indexed, and include over
12,000 samples.
A portion of each bagged sample was sent to the Canadian Department of Mines
and Technical Surveys at Calgary.
Several interesting specimens of coal, petroleum, and rock were added to the laboratory museum. Most of the petroleum samples came from the Peace River area of British
Columbia; this includes samples of high-grade oil from five different horizons in the Fort
St. John gasfield.
Core
Eight hundred and twenty feet of core were logged from the following wells: Pacific
Atlantic Flathead No. 1, Pacific Fort St. John No. 4, Pacific Fort St. John No. 5, Pacific
Fort St. John No. 7, Phillips Tenaka No. 1, and Toad River Joint Venture No. 1.
All the core was logged in the field, except that from Phillips Tenaka No. 1, which
is stored in the laboratory. Core from Phillips Lone Mountain Nos. 1 and 2, Phillips
Sunset Prairie Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, and Phillips Daiber Al was stored with the Department of Public Works at Pouce Coupe in October.
Throughout the year, oil-company geologists availed themselves of the facilities for
examining samples, core, and electrical logs in the sample laboratory. DYKING COMMISSIONER DYKING COMMISSIONER
V 157
DYKING COMMISSIONER
G. Bruce Dixon, B.Sc, M.E.I.C, P.Eng., Dyking Commissioner and
Inspector of Dykes
In our report last year we referred to reports of former years and pointed out that in
1946 we approached the matter from the standpoint of legislative background and brought
this up to date in 1947 and 1948.
In 1948 we tried to develop the practical and physical side, which was supplemented
in 1949 and 1950. In the year under review no material changes have been experienced.
This office administers the dyking affairs of the following districts under the provisions of the " Dyking Assessments Adjustment Act, 1905," with amendments: Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows No. 1, Pitt Meadows No. 2, Maple Ridge (Dyking and Drainage), and
Matsqui (Dyking and Drainage). In addition, it serves the following districts under the
provisions of the " Drainage, Dyking, and Development Act ": Sumas, West Nicomen,
Dewdney, and South Westminster. We also act as receiver for the East Nicomen District,
organized under the provisions of the " Water Act," and as one of the elected trustees of
the South Dewdney and Mission Dyking Districts under the provisions of the " Water
Act." Financing for the annual maintenance requirements in each district is attended
to and the operations involved supervised, and finally all expenditures, including those
districts' proper share of the office overhead, are recovered by assessments against the
lands of each owner in the several districts.
River-bank erosion, McDonald's Landing
West Nicomen.
?(MMmBSX V 158 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
FINANCIAL
The table which follows attempts to present detail which may be of interest:-
District
Rate per Acre
Maintenance
Capital
Proceeds
Debt at
Sept. 30,
1952
Sinking
Fund
(at Cost)
Maturity
Date
Accrued
Renewal
Reserve
Sept. 30,
1952
Coquitlam..
Maple Ridge .
Pitt Meadows No.
Matsqui
Maple Ridge Drainage-
" A "
" B "
" C "
Matsqui Drainage—
" A "
" B "
" C "
Dewdney—
" A "
" B " _...
" C "
" D "
" E "
West Nicomen....
Sumas—
" A "
" B " and " C '
" D " to " G ".
" H "
" I "
" J "
South Westminster—
" A "
" B "
" C "
" D "
South Westminster supplemental levy—
" A "
" B " ...
" C ".
" D "
East Nicomen _
South Dewdney
$3.00
2.40
3.25
2.50
.40
.20
.10
.50
.50
.50
1.50
1.50
1.50
1.50
1.50
1.00
3.50
2.10
1.05
.525
.525
.525
1.00
.76
.39
.20
$0.70
.60
.75
.50
.28
.14
.07
.40
.20
.10
1.02
.76V2
.51
.25</2
1.19
.60
1.15
.81
.64
.32
.16
4.37
3.3245
1.71
.87
.50
.38
.20
.10
2.50
4% of assessed value of
land
I
$11,266.85
24,563.02
4,240.68
30,191.92
]■ 2,560.98
J
]
]■ 3,324,15
J
1
I
y 7,204.82
10,786.17
85,784.30
f 8,031.23
2,949.99 s
7,283.72
$78,269
190,807
18,856
180,185
70,859
99,351
573,649=
Nil
$83,301!
28,261 =
Sept. 30, 1986
Sept. 30, 1986
Sept. 30, 1986
Sept. 30, 1986
Sept. 30, 1986
May 1, 1953
Sept. 30, 1986
$7,778.91
15,565.62
2,590.42
13,612.48
1,944.44
3,889.42
7,778.59
63,174.39'
July 1, 1960
1 September 30th, 1952.
2 December 31st, 1952.
3 March 31st, 1952.
4 $25,300 has been used from this account in purchasing equipment and enlarging Sumas high-level canal.
5 Less 5 per cent discount.
Apart from pumping costs, which are more or less fixed, the greatest single factor
contributing to maintenance and operational costs is the ever-present necessity of combating river-bank erosion. It presents itself in every district, but the problem is most
acute at Matsqui and East and West Nicomen. At Matsqui the problem is of such importance that early in the year the local Ratepayers' Association actually went on record
and presented a memorial requesting that up to $10,000 be expended for this purpose.
The Provincial and Federal Governments made contributions in similar amounts, and
this office was asked to undertake the work. A survey was made regarding the supply of
suitable rock for the purpose, and it was decided that it would be wise to open up a quarry
in an area which we had acquired for the district at the base of Sumas Mountain near
the east end of the dyke. Competitive prices were obtained for breaking and loading in
trucks, but the best figure of $1.75 per ton was thought excessive; therefore, a small
crew was assembled, consisting of a foreman, two miners, and two muckers. An air-
compressor was rented from the Department of Public Works, and drill-steel, water-pipe,
and air-hose were purchased. We were fortunate in having experts of the Explosives DYKING COMMISSIONER
V 159
Division of the Canadian Industries Limited advise us, and a tunnel 65 feet in length was
driven into the rock. At two strategic points, cross-cuts were driven 30 feet long on one
side and 40 feet on the other, and used as a " coyote hole." Four charges were spaced
10 feet apart in each of the cross-cuts. Care was taken in back-filling, tamped sand and
gravel being transported for the purpose. The eight charges, with a total of 6.25 tons
of explosives, were detonated simultaneously with very satisfactory results. Near-by
telegraph, telephone, and railway lines were undamaged, and it is estimated that 24,000
tons were broken at a cost of 35 cents a ton. Approximately 7,700 tons were hauled
by truck and used for bank revetment on the easterly 2.5 miles of river-bank adjacent
to the dyke. There still remains approximately 16,000 tons stockpiled for future use, and
the quarry, which is the property of the Matsqui Dyking District, is in good shape to
supply further material, when required, at reasonable cost.
Early in the year an old dam constructed across a former river-channel from the
main shore to Island C in Section 33, Township 23, of the East Nicomen District showed
signs of failure, and as its failure would jeopardize a considerable length of the main
dyke, no time was lost in attending to the situation. A bulldozer was employed to move
and to stream-line a gravel-bar to assist in deflecting the force of the current should the
dam fail; finally, the shoulder was paved with coarse pit material, and now the situation
appears improved.
Some 2 miles farther down the river a sand-bar island known as " Ya-ais-trick,"
part of an Indian reserve, lying parallel to the East Nicomen shore, was cut through by
the river's current, and the force was directed to McKimmon Point, where considerable
erosion was taking place. This had been combated by placing heavy rock to protect the
bank. Changes in the river along this reach during the year appear to have been beneficial. However, it requires watching, and prompt attention should the change become
adverse. The north bank of the Fraser River near the junction of the Pitt River in the
Maple Ridge Dyking District has started to give cause for concern. Funds have not permitted the taking of remedial measures, but the situation is being watched. During the
year a meeting of all interested parties in the valley was attended, with reference to making
an organized effort to combat river-bank erosion. River-bank erosion is, of course, not
confined to the Fraser River, and stretches of the Kootenay River require attention,
notably at Nick's Island and in the Creston district.
Generally speaking, the year was normal in so far as the districts named above are
concerned. In the case of the Pitt Meadows No. 1 District, however, an epoch-marking
event transpired. It had been practically non-productive for some time, and the Fraser
Valley Dyking Board, in its programme of reconstruction following the flood of 1948,
had ruled that it was not economically sound, according to its formula of cost-benefit
relationship, to spend further moneys in perfecting its reclamation. The lands which it
embraced had, for the most part, reverted to the Provincial Government for unpaid
dyking assessments and, because of their physical condition, had for some time been
reserved from sale. A study was made of this situation by the Land Use Committee of
the Department of Lands and Forests, and, as a result, the lands were advertised for sale
on a basis of tendered price per acre as is, plus an expenditure according to specifications
for dyke renewal and repair, drainage-works, pumping facilities, and clearing of hardhack
for agricultural use. One tender, which met the advertised requirements, was received—
that of Pitt Farms Development Limited—and in September it was accepted. It proposed to pay $9,670 for the land and to expand $116,000 immediately upon necessary
development.
This firm had previously acquired the lands of the North Pitt Meadows Dyking
District, and it is hoped that the two developments together will greatly speed the progress
of this part of the Fraser Valley. V 160 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
The agricultural wealth of the Province through reclamation was greatly added to
during the year by the completion of the works of the Pemberton Meadows District,
which adds some 13,763 acres. In addition, there was a part of Duck Lake in the
Kootenays reclaimed.
The report of 1951 gave a physical inventory of the districts referred to herein.
The figures are unchanged, except in the number of owners, and this item shows an
increase in each district. While this is to be expected, perhaps more so when high land
prices prevail, subdividing into smaller and smaller holdings presents a condition where,
with the present basis of assessment at a uniform rate per acre, conforming to statutory
regulations as regards collections may mean that the cost of collecting assessments against
a holding with a small acreage may be more than the assessment itself. In order to correct
this condition, a legislative amendment is being sought which will establish a minimum
assessment in an amount high enough to cover collection expense. V 162 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Southern Okanagan lands Project
Flume No. 1, Gallagher Lake. Rock-slide destroyed 95 feet of flume,
September 2nd, 1 952.
Oliver domestic water system, new 60,000-gallon storage-tank. SOUTHERN OKANAGAN LANDS PROJECT V 163
SOUTHERN OKANAGAN LANDS PROJECT
D. W. Hodsdon, P.Eng., B.C.L.S., Project Manager
The year 1952 was uneventful in so far as the irrigation system was concerned until
7 a.m. on September 2nd, when a large section of rock dropped from the high cliffs above
No. 1 flume, part of the main system situate on the east side of Gallagher Lake, and
destroyed some 95 feet of No. 216 galvanized-iron flume and 85 feet of supporting trestle.
When this flume went out, all irrigation stopped until repairs could be made. The
accident, occurring as it did in September, caused no real damage to crops. Such an
occurrence at the height of the irrigation season, July or August, would have ruined
ground crops and damaged trees. After nearly four years of operation with no disruption of service, it was disappointing to have such a breakdown occur before the end of
the 1952 irrigation season.
The spare flume-sheets in the Project yard were insufficient in number to close the
gap, and it was necessary to salvage as many as possible of the sheets from the lake,
remove the asphaltic paint, and truck them to a company in Penticton which was able
to set up equipment, reroll them, and have them ready for the repair crew by the time
the trestle had been rebuilt.
Four blowouts occurred in an old 4-inch domestic water-line, and replacement
became an urgent matter. Replacement with a 6-inch line has been completed.
The water-table in this part of the Okanagan Valley is rising each year, as attested
to by the Western Snow Conference, in which this Project has membership. As a result
of the general rise in ground-water in the North-western United States and the south-west
of British Columbia, seepage troubles have arisen, and are causing concern to some
growers. This is a matter which, though not the responsibility of the Project, is of
concern to them. There is no quick remedy for such troubles, and the matter requires
considerable study.
The Black Sage Irrigation District, which had asked the Comptroller of Water
Rights to dissolve the district and let them become part of the Project, was operated
and maintained this year by the Project. This district will not be taken over by the
Project in 1953. The East Osoyoos Irrigation District has also asked to be dissolved
and wishes to become part of the Southern Okanagan Lands Project. This is under consideration by the Comptroller of Water Rights. The Osoyoos Irrigation District is being
rebuilt from a purely gravity system to a dual system—gravity until water from Haynes
Creek becomes insufficient, then a pumping system, using Osoyoos Lake as the source
of supply.
The Project, at the request of the Comptroller of Water Rights, constructed a pipeline from a small lake known as " Peanut Lake " to Osoyoos Lake. This lake had caused
considerable trouble by flooding low-lying orchards and one basement. The system
controls the lake-level at an elevation where no flooding can occur, but allows enough
water lor the pumps of individual growers. Results of the installation are all that could
be desired.
Water was turned into the system on April 20th and shut off on October 20th.
WEATHER
Heavy snowfall in January blocked many public roads and also private roads leading
to growers' houses. In the latter case, many were actually isolated.
A forest fire occurred at Vaseaux Lake on August 18th, and at the request of the
Forest Ranger the Project bulldozer was dispatched to assist in making fire-breaks. The
machine was returned to the Project on August 21st.
Weather is a very important factor in any irrigation area. In 1952 the weather
in the late summer and fall remained unprecedentedly dry for so long a period that the V.164 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
main irrigation pumps or the booster pumps operated until the shut-down of the system,
some six weeks longer than normal. Obviously, this resulted in a much higher power
cost than usual. Trees would have been seriously damaged if pumping had not been kept
up. The coldest day of the year was on January 2nd, when the mercury reached 10
degrees below zero. The hottest days occurred on July 30th and 31st, when the temperature was 102 degrees on both days. In general, the season was dry, warm, or hot
for a period longer than average. Although precipitation in the form of snow and rain was
about normal, most of it occurred prior to the start of the irrigation season, April 20th.
A new 60,000-U.S.G. tank was installed for the Oliver domestic water system. It
might be again mentioned that the verbal agreement between the Oliver Sawmills and
this Project has been satisfactory. The agreement in the past was that, if necessary,
the Oliver Sawmills would start their pumps and send water into a portion of our system.
This they have gladly done and so have prevented the shutting-off of certain industries.
One line has now been replaced and valves installed, so that under normal circumstances
it should not be necessary for the Project to call upon them again.
LAND SALES AND NEW SUBDIVISIONS
Two new subdivisions have been laid out. Blocks 38 to 42, inclusive, of Lot 77,
Oliver Townsite, have a full water-supply laid on, roads completed, and plan approved.
Sale by auction should be early in 1953. Due to the fact that some of these lots are in
a flight-way (approved to the Oliver Airport), they cannot all be sold at present.
Eight small holdings containing approximately 3 acres each have been surveyed in a
portion of Block B of District Lot 2450 (S.), Similkameen Division of Yale District.
Water for these lots will be supplied from the Okanagan River. Presumably the purchasers will supply their own water, but the Project is considering the possibility that
water might be supplied to them from a Government pumping system. This matter
will be taken up in 1953, and these lots will not be on sale until about the middle of
that year.
Sales of land during 1952 to date are as follows:—
Farm lands, 12.03 acres $1,280.97
Oliver Townsite
Osoyoos Townsite 1,600.00
Lake-shore lot (17 of Lot 446) 175.00
Total sales $3,055.97
WORK DONE IN 1952
A portion of the west lateral siphon was replaced in an effort to stave off full replacement and to spread the cost over two years.
Irrigation pumps were repaired, and the discharges of two booster pumps were
altered to give greater efficiency.
One hundred feet of 14-inch pipe to No. 4 irrigation pump was replaced by wood-
stave pipe. The old line was a conglomeration of various pipes and sizes, and had given
so much trouble that a proper replacement was necessary.
The main concrete canal in the southern area has been deteriorating, due to alkali
and other causes, far too rapidly. Originally laid on clay, the frost-heaving has caused
yearly breakages with resulting splitting of the bottom and side panels to a point where
complete replacement of the bottom in many sections has become a necessity. Repairs
were started as quickly as possible after the end of the irrigation season, and a new bottom
designed and laid on 18 inches of gravel. Some 1,636 feet were replaced before weather
made further reconstruction impossible. SOUTHERN OKANAGAN LANDS PROJECT V 165
Repairs to trestles carrying the numerous flumes are perennial and were carried out
as usual. A bridge was built across the canal to facilitate movement of Project trucks.
Pitching of concrete canals, painting of the bottom of metal flumes, and other normal,
annual repair details were carried out. More irrigation-boxes at the growers' expense
were installed. These boxes are necessary when an orchardist decides to change from
the present system of furrow or pipe irrigation to a sprinkler system. It may here be
noted that this Project, as originally designed, is being gradually changed to a point
where individual sprinkler systems are in vogue.
PROPOSED WORK, 1953-54
It is proposed to continue replacement of main concrete canal-bottom where necessary and make general annual maintenance of canals and flumes. The latter involves
pitching canals, repairing trestles, painting flumes, cleaning the entire system, and cutting
and burning the weeds along ditches. No work can be done on concrete canals until
the frost leaves the ground. One major repair in early 1953 is the replacement of the
remainder of the 26-inch siphon supplying water to the west lateral. Some 600 feet
of the small canal near the United States Border must be entirely rebuilt.
A 14-inch line from the present domestic pump-house will be laid to the irrigation-
canal, a distance of some 1,000 feet. The old line, which is more than 30 years old, is
too small. In addition to this replacement, some 900 feet of old 4-inch line will be
replaced by 6-inch line. This is in line with the policy of replacing all of the old water
system as time and money permits.
OLIVER DOMESTIC WATER SYSTEM
This system deserves special mention this year. Use of water rose to an unprecedented high, and during the height of the season it was almost impossible to keep water
in the three 60,000-gallon storage-tanks. Keeping these tanks full, or partially full (since
it is obviously not possible for them to be kept full all the time), is a necessity for fire
protection. Should power go off and no water be available from the storage-tanks, the
only fire protection for this village is a gasoline-driven 250-U.S.G.P.M. pump. A fourth
tank has been erected this year, but unfortunately the original tank is not in good condition and will have to be torn down within the year, which leaves the system again with
only three tanks. A shovel being used for the reconstruction of an irrigation system in
the Osoyoos area will be employed to endeavour to increase the present domestic water-
supply in Oliver. The result is doubtful, and it may be advisable to use Okanagan River
as an additional source of supply. If it is used, this water will require continuous
chlorinating.
Industrial services are metered, but very few individual services are, a fact which
makes the per capita use of water a guess. Project estimate has been 250 to 300 United
States gallons per capita per day. Whatever the usage may have been, it was obligatory
that restrictions be put on during the summer months. These restrictions were not
entirely obeyed, and since there is no provision for policing the area, a great deal of extra
work was forced on the staff to make sure that fire protection was adequate by putting on
an extra pump when required.
The automatic control of the domestic water system is not only working satisfactorily, but also is saving labour. This in itself, however, cannot compensate for excessive
use of water.
MARKET CONDITIONS, 1952
This year, ground-crops had a good return, with the exception cantaloupes, which,
from the growers' point of view, did not have a satisfactory return. Definitely, stone-
fruits did not give the returns which might have been expected after the last few years. V 166 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Pears and apples, at this writing, seem to be assured of being sold at a price which will
give the grower a reasonable return on his investment.
SUNDRY COLLECTIONS, 1952
Collections under the " Soldiers' Land Act" for the Southern Okanagan Lands
Project are as follows:—
Principal $17,760.76
Interest 2,939.41
Lease rentals 1,498.06
Realization 5,640.92
Water rates—
Oliver domestic $15,164.82
Irrigation 57,651.89
72,816.71
Total $100,655.86 UNIVERSITY ENDOWMENT LANDS UNIVERSITY ENDOWMENT LANDS - V 169
UNIVERSITY ENDOWMENT LANDS
M. E. Ferguson, Manager
To the casual observer, there has not been too much visual accomplishment during
1952, but that was due mainly to the fact a large part of the activities consisted of
planning and preparations for our new subdivision, and the visual part of the programme
cannot be undertaken until the details are settled.
LOT SALES
Lot sales were very limited, as we had very few left to sell, but we did dispose of
all but two during the year and must now wait until the new subdivision is completed
before we can embark on any large-scale campaign of lot sales.
BUILDING
Considering the limited number of lots available, we had almost as much building
in 1952 as the previous year, which was an all-time record for the area.
SEWERS
The relief sewer for Acadia Road was completed in 1951 and proved very satisfactory. It is expected the new trunk sewer will soon be started along Marine Drive, which
will eliminate the temporary Acadia Road outfall, besides providing a means of sewering
the new subdivisions.
WATERWORKS
A new supply main was installed and put in operation in May this year. This main
is 18 and 14 inches in size, and thus provides a much more adequate supply of water
for both the residential area and the University campus. In addition to the new main,
the old 100,000-gallon water-tank was replaced with a new 150,000-gallon tank, which
now gives us 300,000 gallons in tank storage for emergencies. We are now in a position
to proceed with the extension of the water system to serve the new subdivision.
TAXATION
In spite of rising costs, the general tax rate was reduced for 1952 sufficient to offset the increase in the school-tax rate. The combined tax rate for 1952 was 36.58 mills.
GENERAL
During 1951 the clearing and burning over our 200-acre tract for the new subdivision was completed. The area is now ready for surveying and posting as soon as
plans are completed. In addition, and adjacent on the south of the newly cleared area,
some 15 acres were cleared and subdivided for four church-sites with a large parking
area adjoining. The first church, which is Anglican, and which is to be known as " St.
Anselm's Church," is now under construction.
Immediately adjoining this large parking area and church-site, a school-site has
been set aside. This site comprises some 11 acres for a junior and senior high school, and
an additional area of over 20 acres will be set aside for school play-fields. It is expected
the first unit of the high school will be started in 1953, since the by-law has now been
passed approving the work.
Toward the end of May, 1952, J. J. Kaller was appointed as engineer to assist in
the many engineering problems and in the planning of the proposed new subdivisions.
With his assistance, it is felt that faster progress will be made in completing plans and
designs of the new units. V 170
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
The firm of Walker & Graham was appointed to prepare subdivision plans for the
new units. Preliminary plans are being prepared, and it is hoped that final plans will be
ready early in 1953.
CONCLUSION
Barring unforeseen and unexpected problems arising, it is expected that the new
subdivision development will proceed rapidly.
STATISTICAL
Table A.—Lot Sales
1950
1951
1952
Number
Value
Number
Value
Number
Value
Unit 1
23
5
$56,423.86
31,854.38
2
8
$7,200.19
43,711.90
2
7
$4,445.12
Unit 2
50,559.38
Totals
28
$88,278.24
10
$50,912.09
9
$55,044.50
Table B.—Number and Value of Building Permits Issued during the Years
Ended December 31st, 1950, 1951, and 1952
1950
1951
1952
Number
Value
Number
Value
Number
Value
56
1
4
1
5
$688,500
60,000
61
2
....
8
....
7
$954,600
240,000
43
3
1
10
7
$821,900
315,000
Churches
57,308
13,700
6,000
4,000
8,300
21,700
2,700
7,800
67
$772,200
78
$1,205,600
64
$1 223,708 UNIVERSITY ENDOWMENT LANDS
V 171
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OsOsOsOsOsOsOsOsOsOs V 172 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
Summary of Collections, 1952
Collections under the " University Endowment Lands Administration Act" are as
follows:—
Land sales—
Principal $70,427.07
Interest 2,545.41
■ ■ $72,972.48
Lease rentals—
Principal $1,364.13
Interest
Loan repayments—
Principal $5,762.42
Interest 3,192.84
Local-improvement taxes—
Principal $8,389.84
Interest 113.61
1,364.13
8,955.26
8,503.45
Repossessed houses—
Principal $1,015.58
Interest 125.80
1,141.38
Domestic water 33,057.61
Sundry collections 18,098.77
Expenditure refunded 145,254.66
Total $289,347.74 LAND SETTLEMENT BOARD LAND SETTLEMENT BOARD V 175
LAND SETTLEMENT BOARD
Clara Stephenson, Secretary
The Land Settlement Board was formed in the year 1917 under the provisions of
the " Land Settlement and Development Act," superseding the Agricultural Credit Commission and being empowered to carry out the undertakings of said Commission.
Having for its main purpose the promotion of increased agricultural production, the
Board was empowered to advance money by way of loans secured by mortgage, to purchase, develop, and colonize lands considered suitable for settlement and to declare settlement areas.
The establishment of settlement areas in Central British Columbia—in the Bulkley
Valley, Nechako Valley, Francois Lake district, and the Upper Fraser River Valley-—
was for the purpose of stimulating the development of these districts by bringing the land
within the reach of the actual settler at reasonable prices. The sale of lands in these areas
has been brisk this year.
Development areas were established at Merville on Vancouver Island, Camp Lister,
Fernie, and Kelowna. The development area at Kelowna is under lease to a tenant for a
term of years. Several settlers in the Merville Area have augmented their holdings this
year by purchasing adjacent lands from the Board.
The Board has under its jurisdiction the administration of the former Doukhobor
lands, which were acquired by the Government under authority of the " Doukhobor Lands
Acquisition Act " of 1939. These lands are largely occupied by Doukhobors on a rental
basis. They are reserved from sale at the present time.
The Board also holds approximately 9,700 acres scattered through the various parts
of the Province, representing properties on which it held mortgages and to which it
obtained title through tax-sale proceedings. Several of these properties, representing
considerable acreage, were sold this year. A large dairy-farm has been established on one
of these properties at Telkwa.
The Board's balance-sheets will appear in the Public Accounts of the Province, as in
the past. The following is a brief summary of the Board's activities and collections for
1952. It will be noted that collections and land sales show an increase over 1951.
During the year the sales made by the Board amounted to $33,951.60. Fifty-five
purchasers completed payment and received title deeds, and seven borrowers paid up in
full and received release of mortgage.
Collections
Loans $15,182.59
Land sales 50,726.47
Dyking loan refunds, etc. 51,03 8.48
Foreclosed properties—stumpage, rentals, etc. 3,892.02
Doukhobor lands—
Rentals 7,559.53
Sales 2,825.22
$131,224.31
Total proceeds received from the sale and rental of Doukhobor lands to December
31st, 1952, amounted to approximately $133,951.60.
REPORT BY I. SPIELMANS, INSPECTOR
As in previous years, the collection of rentals from occupants of Land Settlement
Board lands has constituted the main part of my duties. In addition to rentals submitted V 176 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
direct to Victoria, the total collections through this office for the year ended December
31st, 1952, amounted to $6,909.93.
The amounts collected by localities are tabled hereunder:—
Crescent Valley $70.00
Perry Siding 30.00
Slocan Park 100.00
Brilliant 1,208.75
Pass Creek 259.75
Winlaw 440.00
Kammkue : 120.00
Oteshenie 427.43
Shoreacres 359.55
Glade 166.20
Krestova 60.00
Ostrov 56.00
Raspberry 900.00
Grand Forks ____ 2,712.25
$6,909.93 MAIL AND FILE ROOM
V 179
MAIL AND FILE ROOM
John A. Grant
The number of letters received in the Department during 1952 totalled 129,372, an
increase over 1951 of 5,310. In addition, 27,000 reports and approximately 130,000
statements, vouchers, invoices, etc., were handled.
The recorded copies of letters outward showed a drop of over 10,000. This was a
result of extending the policy of eliminating the recording form letters, acknowledgments,
and certain types of purely routine letters, which was instituted in 1951.
The number of new files created amounted to 10,277, a drop of 2,800 over 1951.
This is no indication of a lessening in demand but rather a palliative initiated by the
File Room due to the serious situation with regard to vault space. Arrangements were
made with all divisions whereby a dozen general files are now used in place of the old
" 01863 " system. The Protection Branch of the Operations Division now uses five new
files every year for each forest district instead of a new file for each fire. A similar
procedure is used with regard to new cars and trucks. Instead of making a new file in
each case, one general file is used. Likewise, the Management Division now uses one file
for scalers' examinations instead of having a new file set up in each case. It is estimated
that these changes have saved creating approximately 4,000 files.
As indicated, these steps were taken due to the looming crisis in vault space. It has
been estimated that after May 31st, 1953, there will be no more room left in the vaults of
the Department. However, relief may come soon, as the Deputy Minister of Lands has
appointed a committee, headed by Dr. D. B. Turner, with power to have all obsolete
and inactive public documents microfilmed and destroyed. This will be an undertaking
of some magnitude, but once under way the problem of vault space will be solved.
The collections of the Department totalled $22,400,000, and increase of $4,900,000
over 1951. T T
Letters Inward
Branch
1952
1951
10-year Average,
1943-52
32,321
73,807
10,727
12,517
32,131
70,498
9,454
11,979
28,987
54,640
8,742
8,528
129.372 1 124.062
100,897
Letters Outward (Recorded)
Branch
1952
1951
10-year Average,
1943-52
21,251
17,623
2,581
7,576
25,724
19,741
7,160
7,040
23,817
15,367
6,313
5,289
49,031
59,665
50,786
Miscellaneous Reports Received
Designation
1952
1951
10-year Average,
1943-52
3,828
542
20,933
1,963
1,937
254
16,009
1,934
1,467
867
13,360
1,902
Totals - ._
27,266
20,134
17,596 V 180
DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS
New Files Created
Designation
1952
1951
10-year Average,
1943-52
" 0 " files
5,019
1,815
3,440
3
5,901
2,283
3,214
1,680
4,283
1,215
2,341
Miscellaneous inquiries (01863) .... .
Totals ... _
10,277
13,078
7,839
VICTORIA, B.C.
Printed by Don McDiarmid, Printer to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty
1953
1,720-1252-9062
BC Sessional Papers
Report of the Lands Service containing the reports of the Lands Branch, Surveys and Mapping Branch, and… British Columbia. Legislative Assembly [1953]
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