VARIATIONS IN THE FUR PRODUCTIVITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA IN RELATION TO SOME ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS A T h e s i s submitted i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f the requirements f o r the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS i n the Department of ZOOLOGY THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA ROGER YORK EDWARDS Vancouver, Canada A p r i l , W O VARIATIONS IN THE PUR PRODUCTIVITY OP NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA IN RELATION TO SOME ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS by Roger York Edwards Abstraot The yearly reports of 155 registered trap l i n e s In northern and northeastern B r i t i s h Columbia have been analysed and grouped into seven d i s t i n c t areas e x h i b i t i n g physiographic and vegetational differences. The trap l i n e data hate been reduced to production figures, indicating for each speoies, the number of square miles necessary to produce one pelt. Por most species these production figures have been found to be highly variable among the seven sub-areas. An analysis of the region with respect to providing suitable environment for the various species has suggested reasons for production v a r i a b i l i t y . The speoies coyote, wolf, weasel, squirrel,and muskrat appear to be taken i n numbers inversely proportional to the size of trap l i n e s . The, size of l i n e s , i n turn, appears to be an expression of the human popu-l a t i o n density, habitat modification, depletion of populations of expensive fur species, and other faotors. The fur speoies .. fox, marten, f i s h e r , mink, wolverine, lynx and beaver appear to be taken,,.in numbers proportional to the abundance of the species concerned. Highest production appears to r e s u l t from the most favourable environmental conditions. Raccoon, otter, skunk, and cougar are not abundant,and the number of pelts produced is low. In Appendix B, the value of fur i s examined for a limited area about Fort Nelson. When the value i s calculated to compare with wood value from a forest with a 100 year rotation, the fur has a gross value of over eight million dollars. .Acknowledgments I wish to express my thanks and appreciation to Dr. Ian McTaggart Oowan for assistance and encouragement throughout the f u l l course of this study. The B.C. Game Commission rendered f u l l assistance. Without free access to the i r f i l e s this study would not have been possible. Gf the many employees of that organization I wish to e s p e c i a l l y thank Inspector R.E. A l l a n . Mr. A.E. C o l l i n s of the B.C. Forest Service gave enthusiastic help, describing country he has seen, and arranging for the examination of his reports on forest conditions i n northern B r i t i s h Columbia. I would l i k e to sincerely thank the following for their interest and assistance; Dr. P.A. l a r k i n , Mr. James Hatter, and Dr. V.C. Brink of the University of B r i t i s h Columbia; Dr. I. Butler of the University of Toronto; and Dr> R.I. Peterson and Mr. S.C, Downing of the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology. F i n a l l y , I wish to thank my parents, without whose interest and assistance I could not have attended t h i s u n i v e r s i t y . T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s P a g e I n t r o d u c t i o n 1 M a t e r i a l a n d M e t h o d s 6 T h e T o p o g r a p h y o f N o r t h e r n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . . . . . . 8 l o c a t i o n o f t h e B o r e a l F o r e s t i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . . . 10 T h e B o r e a l F o r e s t i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a 11 S e c t i o n s o f t h e B o r e a l F o r e s t . . . . 16 F o r e s t S e c t i o n 1 1 7 F o r e s t S e c t i o n 2 1? F o r e s t S e c t i o n 3 2 4 F o r e s t S e c t i o n 4 30 F o r e s t S e c t i o n 5 34 F o r e s t S e c t i o n 6 . 3 5 F o r e s t S e c t i o n 7 3 7 S u m m a r y o f t h e D e s c r i p t i o n s o f F o r e s t S e c t i o n s . . . . 38 F a c t o r s A f f e c t i n g F u r P r o d u c t i v i t y 4 1 T h e F u r P r o d u c t i v i t y o f N o r t h e r n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . . . 4 7 R a c c o o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 F o x 50 C o y o t e 53 W o l f 55 M a r t e n . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 F i s h e r • 66 W e a s e l 73 Page Mink 75 Wolverine Otter. . 8 2 Skunk 83 Oougar 85 Lynx 87 Squirrel . . . . . . 92 Beaver • • •• 95 Muskrat 98 Conclusions and Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Literature Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Appendix A • • H 8 Appendix B ... 122 L i s t of I l l u s t r a t i o n s F i g . No. Page 1. The Transition from the Coast Forest L to the Stikine Plateau . . . . . . . . . . . 21 2. The L i a r d P l a i n 26 3. Factors A f f e c t i n g the Productivity of Trap Line 42 4. Red Fox Production Trends by Forest Sections 51 5. Coyote Production Trends by Forest Sections 55 6. Wolf Production Trends by Forest Sections. . 58 7. Marten Production Trends by Forest Sections* 61 8. Marten Production Trends, from West to East, upon the Great P l a i n s . . .. • • «, » 61 9. Fisher Production Trends by Forest Sections. 68 10. Fisher Production Trends, from West to East, upon the Great Pla i n s . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 11. Weasel Production Trends by Forest Sections; 74 12i Mink Production Trends by Forest Sections. . 77 13. Mink Production Trends, from West to East, upon the Great Plains. . . . . . . 77 14. ?Jolverine Production Trends by Forest Sections . . . . . . . . . . . 8l 15. Wolverine Production Trends, from West to East, upon the Great P l a i n s . . . . . . . . . 81 16. Lynx Production Trends by Forest Sections. . 89 17... Squirrel Production Trends by Forest Sections 94 18. Beaver Production Trends by Forest Sections. 96 19. Muskrat Production Trends by Forest Sections 100 F i g . Up... Page 20. The Average Size of Trap Line i n each • Forest Section 100 21. The Physiography of B r i t i s h Columbia, north of latitude J54 degrees 119 22. The Extent of the Boreal Forest i n B r i t i s h Columbia 120 23. The Area Covered by Trap Lines from which Productivity is Calculated . . . . . . . . . 121 VARIATIONS IN THE FUR PRODUCTIVITY OP NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA IN RELATION TO SOME ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS Introduction Fur has played a leading role i n moulding the history of Canada^ and over large areas of Canada i t i s s t i l l the major harvest of the land. Fur was an early stimu-lous to Canadian exploration, settlement, and establishment of trade; the r i c h returns i t gave to modest investment le d to the f i r s t European interest i n the Amerioan' North. There followed a vigourous and frequently destructive e x p l o i t a t i o n of t h i s r i c h resource that has persisted to the present day. Despite several centuries of widespread e f f o r t to take fur, and i t s importance to the economy of modern Canada, z. accurate knowledge concerning nearly a l l aspects of the biology of most fur-bearing animals is lacking. Only recently has the desire to f u l l y u t i l i z e this resource, without un-necessarily damaging i t , culminated In research. This study was undertaken in the hope that i t might contribute to this desired knowledge, in showing how environment may affect fur production. For this study a more or less naturally defined area was sought which exhibited some ecological uniformity throughout. An area with some vegetatlonal uniformity was a natural choice. Vegetation in i t s e l f is an expression of the climatic, edaphic, orographic, and other factors acting upon It. The Boreal Forest In British Columbia, as defined by Halliday (1937), constitutes the area studied, and variations within the tree structure of this forest are largely the basis for its subdivision into Forest Sections. In describing the vegetation of these areas, trees are stressed more than is lesser vegetation. It i s f u l l y r e a l -ized that vegetation is not forest alone, and that trees are not the sole constituents of a forest. This stress upon trees is from necessity. Most of northern Br i t i s h Columbia is poorly known to science, and best known to persons who have travelled through i t , or lived there for short periods. Their published reports, i f they describe any part of the vegetation, describe the trees. It i s , thus, possible to construct from their writings a more or less complete 3. picture of trees and tree aggregations throughout the region, and impossible to do so f o r a l l plants except i n a few l o c a l areas. Since trees are to be stressed, Halliday's forest c l a s s i f i c a t i o n i s admirably suited as a basis f o r defining the Boreal Forest, and i t s subdivisions. The area descriptions are admittedly long. This study necessitated as oomplete a description of the region involved as was possible. Since the region has yet to be f u l l y explored, and published accounts of known areas are few and scattered throughout the l i t e r a t u r e , most pertinent knowledge has been included. The cireumpolar coniferous forests of the Northern Hemisphere are probably the most productive fur producing areas in the world with respect to v a r i e t y and q u a l i t y . This d i s t i n c t i o n f a l l s upon the Northern Hemisphere alone beoause of the r e s t r i c t e d land areas l y i n g at comparable la t i t u d e s about the South Pole. Despite the economic importance of boreal fur-bearers, there i s but a l i m i t e d l i t e r a t u r e concerned with them. This seems to be p a r t i c u l a r l y true of Eurasia, although this apparent condition may stem from an incomplete knowledge of e x i s t i n g l i t e r a t u r e rather than from an actual soarcity. In North America the l i t e r a t u r e dealing with these mammals i s la r g e l y economic i n treatment, or i f bio-l o g i c a l usually i s based upon data c o l l e c t e d primarily for economic purposes and tends to be rather general. It i s upon such data that most studies of cycles are based, and considering the s t r i c t l y boreal species, the l i t e r a t u r e on t h e i r cycles probably surpasses i n volume the l i t e r a t u r e concerning a l l other b i o l o g i c a l aspects. Our knowledge of the ecology of fur bearers i s l i m i t e d . Prom the d i f f i c u l t y i n becoming f a m i l i a r with many species, conclusions are frequently drawn from a few observations. The r e s u l t Is a s c a r c i t y of information with even this frequently unusable because of c o n f l i c t i n g statements. The present study i s both b i o l o g i c a l and economic i n nature. While b i o l o g i c a l aspects have been stressed throughout, It is inevitable that the production of f u r should be governed by factors of both kinds, frequently working to-gether almost Inseparably. Since this study i s based upon production figures, both b i o l o g i c a l and economic factors have to be considered, despite a greater i n t e r e s t i n the former. The bases of t h i s study are the annual reports of a l l white trappers i n the area concerned during the period I929 to 1948. Data from a t o t a l of 155 trap l i n e s are used. The periods of time for which data are a v a i l a b l e averages 10„8 years per trap l i n e , and the average size of trap l i n e i s 1^3.7 square miles. From these figures, f o r most f u r -bearing species, average annual production has been c a l -culated f o r seven sections of the Boreal Forest which are more or less d i s t i n c t on the basis of vegetation, physiography, and i n some cases, animal d i s t r i b u t i o n . V a r i a t i o n s i n p r o d u c t i o n among these s e c t i o n s have been examined i n the l i g h t o f broad e c o l o g i c a l and economic d i f f e r e n c e s known to e x i s t , and causes f o r some v a r i a t i o n s suggested. S t u d i e s of t r a p l i n e p r o d u c t i o n a r e few. P e t e r s o n and C r i c h t o n (1949) have examined the p r o d u c t i o n of a smal l a r e a i n the Chapleau D i s t r i c t of O n t a r i o , and Hess (1946) has p u b l i s h e d the c a t c h of one On t a r i o Clay B e l t t r a p l i n e f o r a f o u r t e e n y e a r p e r i o d . These appear to be the o n l y such p u b l i s h e d accounts f o r areas comparable to n o r t h e r n B r i t i s h Columbia. N e i t h e r : i s s of much va l u e f o r comparison w i t h B r i t i s h Columbia. The f i r s t a rea has an a t y p i c a l l y h i g h p r o d u c t i o n because I t i s a d j a c e n t t o an untrapped p r e s e r v e . F i g u r e s i n the second paper, t r e a t i n g o f one t r a p l i n e , may not r e f l e c t p r o d u c t i o n f o r any l a r g e r a r e a . Materials and Methods This study i s based upon two aggregations of data. The most important is the figures of f u r production. Also necessary was a reasonably complete description of the region to which the fur data applied. The fur data o/«vr« compiled from the annual statements of trappers, i n d i c a t i n g the number of f u r animals trapped i n a given trapping season. These records have been kept since B r i t i s h Columbia pioneered i n the registered trap l i n e system, beginning the method i n 192^. The change over was not complete i n remote d i s t r i c t s u n t i l several years l a t e r . These data hav* been kept through the years i n the f i l e s of the B.C. Game Commission, which f i l e s also contain maps of a l l r e -gistered trap l i n e s from which areas may be calculated. From these data production figures were calculated, on the basis of the number of square miles necessary, on the average, to produce one p e l t of a given kind in one trapping season. Production figures used throughout this work are a l l i n t h i s form, rather than i n the form, animals taken per square mile. The trap l i n e data are grouped into forest sections and production figures are the average f i g u r e s , f o r a l l l i n e s i n the section, f o r a l l years that they operated. To say a l l l i n e s Is not s t r i c t l y true. They are a l l l i n e s operated by white trappers, f o r there i s no record of the catch from l i n e s held by Indian trappers. Thus the production figures are based upon trap l i n e s registered by white trappers only, and are not necessarily the same as f o r Indian held l i n e s . This condition i s true f o r a l l sections, however, and should not in i t s e l f have much bearing upon the v a l i d i t y of comparing the calculated production figures of the various sections. The second body of data consists of descriptions of the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c features of the area, with respect to physiography and for e s t s . Changes within these features are noted. The data thus consist; of fur production with noted va r i a t i o n s , and of descriptions of what, i n a general way, constitutes environment of fur animals, with variations noted. With an additional knowledge of the broad environmental r e -quirements of the f u r mammals involved, I t has been possible to suggest reasons, on the basis of environmental v a r i a t i o n , for variations i n f u r production throughout the region. 8. The Topography of Northern B r i t i s h Columbia The two physiographic provinces represented i n northern B r i t i s h Columbia contrast s t r i k i n g l y i n t h e i r topo-graphy. On the one hand i s the Great P l a i n s , showing l i t t l e r e l i e f ; on the other the C o r d i l l e r a n Region characterized by high, rugged mountain masses and elevated plateaux (Moore, 1944). , The Great P l a i n s , while f l a t i n general, exhibits i n -creased r e l i e f as i t approaches the mountains. F o o t h i l l s com-prise Its western portions while along the eastern p r o v i n c i a l boundary, except south of the Peace River, the land i s low and r o l l i n g . The mountainous regions west of the Great P l a i n s i s composed of four more or less d i s t i n c t mountain masses, an. extensive area of high plateau, and a low, lntermountain p l a i n (Bostock, 1948). The mountain masses consist of the Coast Mountains bordering the coast i n the extreme west, the Rocky Mountain System bordering the Great Plains to the east, and between these two, the Cassiar and Omineca Mountains p a r a l l e l and adjacent to the Rockies with the Skeena Mountains con-necting the ranges of the Coast and Omineca Mountains (fig.21). The Cassiar, Omineca, Skeena, and Coast Mountains form a •U', enclosing an area of high plateau. Most of this area consists of the Stikine Plateau, drained by the Stikine and Taku Rivers. This plateau Is continuous with the Yukon Plateau to the north, which has but a small area within B r i t i s h Columbia about the headwaters of the Lewes River, a 7. t r i b u t a r y o f the Yukon ( f i g . 21). The narrow Rocky M o u n t a i n T r e n c h s epara te s the Cass iar— Omineca Mountains f rom the Rocky M o u n t a i n s . N o r t h of l a t i t u d e 59 degrees N . , the se two mountain masses d i v e r g e , w i t h the low L i a r d P l a i n l y i n g between them. T h i s f l a t p l a i n ( f i g . 2) i s c o n t i n u o u s w i t h the Great P l a i n s to the e a s t , f o r the b r o a d L i a r d Gap t r a v e r s e s the Rocky Mounta in System n o r t h o f the Rocky Mountains p r o p e r which end a b r u p t l y a t the L i a r d R i v e r ( C a m s e l l , 1936). Thus the L i a r d P l a i n , w h i l e i s i t a low l n t e r m o u n t a l n p l a t e a u , appears to be c o n t i n u o u s w i t h , and s i m i l a r t o , the G r e a t P l a i n s . Location of the Boreal Forest i n B r i t i s h Columbia As may be seen from the map of Halliday (1937), the Boreal Forest" i n B r i t i s h Columbia i s roughly a triangular area, bounded by provincial boundaries to the north and east, and l y i n g north of a l i n e drawn from the northwest oorner of the province to the point were the Rocky Mountains out obliquely across 120 degrees west longitude. This forest occupies the entire area l y i n g east of the Rocky Mountain system, to-gether with the area drained by the upper l a i r d River, by the Stikine and Taku Rivers* and by the most southerly headwaters of the Lewes River. The Boreal Forest does not have a continuous d i s -t r i b u t i o n throughout th i s large area. Only the lowest areas of the C o r d i l l e r a Region are forested, and trees are confined to r i v e r v a l l e y s i n the high plateaux. The Liard P l a i n and Great Plains are completely covered by forests. Within the extensive mountain masses, the Boreal Forest i s almost com-pl e t e l y absent. The Boreal Forest in Br i t i s h Columbia The Boreal Forest Region of Halliday (1937) is the largest and most northern forest region in North America. It covers most of Canada, from the Atlantic coasts of Quebec and Labrador to the mountains in the west. In the west, north of latitude 57,degrees N., i t penetrates the Cordillera Region, and follows the river valleys and intermountain plateaux into Alaska. Closely a l l i e d forest regions occupy the Cordillera to the south. The Boreal Forest is principally coniferous, especially so in climax. White spruce (Picea glauca)occurs throughout the entire region as a characteristic tree. It forms the climax forest over the whole region, east of Alberta associated with balsam f i r (Abies balsamea). Black spruce (Picea marlana), tamarach (Larlx la r l c l n a ) , and jack pine (Plnus bankslana) occur throughout the region, primarily as componants of serai stages. Wide ranging broad-leaved trees are aspen(Populus tremuloldes), balsam poplar (Populus balsamlfera) and paper birch (Betula papyrlfera). Throughout most of this vast region stands of mixed white spruce and "balsam f i r are climax. Potentially, stands of pure balsam f i r alone may be climax for that species is more tolerant than spruce, but this condition is rarely attained because of the susceptibility of f i r stands to In-sect attack, and because the spruce has a slight reproductive advantage from its habit of layering. 'Z. Drainage throughout t h i s forest Is generally poor, with swamps and bogs being t y p i c a l . These are usually matted with Sphagnum, overgrown with various heaths (Ericaceae), and, depending upon the stage of succession, are grown to shrubby alder (Alnus sp.) , tamarach, black spruce or combinations of these. Serai forests on d r i e r s o i l s tend towards pure stands of aspen, or Jack pine. The l a t t e r are c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of poor, dry s o i l s and are t y p i c a l of areas swept by hot f i r e s , or repeatedly burned. White b i r c h stands form pure forests less frequently, usually occurring as scattered individuals or groups, most commonly i n aspen stands and stands of young spruce and balsam, but frequently, also" i n openings i n the mature climax. Balsam poplar occurs i n the l i m i t e d but r i c h and w e l l watered bottomlands, especially on new a l l u v i a l s o i l s . I t s d i s t r i b u t i o n thus tends to be li m i t e d to narrow b e l t s para-l l e l i n g streams and r i v e r s . In many areas, dry, exposed s i t e s are forested by dwarfed black spruce and tamarach. The s i t e s where these may grow, especially i n the case of tamarach, are not l i m i t e d to bogs, but rather to areas where they can successfully" compete. In B r i t i s h Columbia, the Boreal Forest Is bordered by two plant formations, and two closely related but quite d i s -t i n c t forest regions. The Coast Forest has l i t t l e influence upon the Boreal Forest. The high, rugged Boundary Ranges of the Coast '3. Mountains completely separate the two r e g i o n s except where they meet i n narrow r i v e r v a l l e y s t r a v e r s i n g the mountains. Of these the S t i k i n e v a l l e y i s the most Important. - B r i n k and F a r s t a d (1949) c o n s i d e r i t a major gap i n the coast ranges. In a d d i t i o n H a l l i d a y (1937) shows narrow connections i n the v a l l e y s of the Taku and A l s e k R i v e r s . As Swarth (1922) found i n h i s s t u d i e s a l o n g the S t i k i n e , the ecotone i s narrow. At the c l o s e of the l a s t i c e age, g l a c i e r s p r o b a b l y o b s t r u c t e d these few c o r r i d o r s through the mountains. DivergentAof l i f e on the humid coast on one hand, and the a r i d l e e of the mountains on the o t h e r / l a t e r enabled the s h a r p l y c o n t r a s t i n g environments to almost as a f f e c t i v e l y b l o c k the gaps as d i d the i c e i t s e l f . The -influence of the Sub-alpine F o r e s t Region i s e v i d e n t throughout the whole of the B o r e a l F o r e s t i n B r i t i s h Columbia. A c c o r d i n g to H a l l i d a y ' s map, the two r e g i o n s meet oh a harrow f r o n t on the divide'between the F i n l a y and Kechika R i v e r s i n the Rocky Mountain Trench, and a l o n g the e n t i r e east slope of the Rocky Mountains i n B r i t i s h Columbia south of l a t i t u d e 57 degrees N. I t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t there are f u r t h e r narrow connections between the two a l o n g the southern edge of the S t i k i n e P l a t e a u . I n s e v e r a l ways the B o r e a l F o r e s t i n B r i t i s h Columbia can be regarded as an ecotone between more t y p i c a l p a r t s of that f o r e s t , and the"Sub-alpine F o r e s t ( H a l l l d a y , o p . c i t . ) . I t e x h i b i t s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of both, but s i n c e a t lower elevations at least the climax i s one of white spruce, i t s closer a f f i n i t y to the Boreal Forest i s evident. Black spruce occurs throughout, though i t avoids the dry lee of the Coast Mountains. Aspen, balsam poplar, and several v a r i e t i e s of paper biroh are universal. Tamarach is found throughout those sections east of the Cassiar Mountains. Balsam f i r (Abies balsamea) does not occur, however, and jack pine (Pinus banksiana) has a limited d i s t r i b u t i o n i n the northeastern corner of the province. It i s evident that this forest, while modified, has many tree species c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of the Boreal Forest. Three trees from the Sub-alpine Forest have invaded this region. Lodge pole pine (Pinus contorta) replaces jack pine as a common tree on poor s o i l s , frequently i n pure s e r a i stands covering large areas. In the forests at higher altitudes, alpine f i r (Abies lasiocarpa) may almost completely replace white spruce as a climax dominant. The alpine f i r , i n association with Englemann spruce (Plpea englemannl) forms the climax of the Sub-alpine Forest. Englemann spruce i s recorded i n the Boreal Forest from a r e s t r i c t e d area along the east slope of the Rockies. From d i f f i c u l t i e s i n i d e n t i f y i n g the spruces, i t may be that t h i s speoies has a wider d i s t r i b u t i o n , as yet undetected. The influence of tundra i s marked i n most northern forests i n B r i t i s h Columbia. Upon the Stikine and Yukon Plateaux t h i s influence i s most noteworthy, for here forests are lar g e l y confined to r i v e r v a l l e y s that traverse vast tundra-covered tablelands. The forests of the H a r d Pl a i n , and the northern part of the Great Plains, while low and i n general well below timberline; border upon tundra for long distances, the former being completely surrounded by this plant formation. In forests approaching timberline there i s a progressive change i n both forest structure and tree f^jr-m. Forests become more open than those at lower elevations, l a r g e l y a result of decreased temperatures and amounts of l i g h t rendering the trees less tolerant (Tourney and Korstian, 1947). As to tree form, decreases i n t o t a l increment result i n small size, and there i s a tendency towards stouter form than f o r the same species at lower elevations (Tourney and Korstian, o p . c i t . ) . A grassland influence i s pronounced i n the forests about the Peace River, where aspen parklands are character-i s t i c . Pockets of this ecotone oocur elsewhere upon the Great Plains, and upon the H a r d P l a i n , but these are i n -dicative of a s l i g h t tendency towards grassland ecotone i n areas i n the lee of high mountains rather than of an ecotone throughout c l o s e l y approaching grassland conditions. Most of the forest i n which these i s o l a t e d pockets occur may indeed be ecotone, but i f so i t s structure more c l o s e l y resembles coniferous forest than i t does grassland. It i s believed that the strongest evidence supporting this stand i s that the o r i g i n a l range of the coyote, ani open country and hence o r i g i n a l l y a grassland species, was confined to the section about the Peace River. While i t now Occurs throughout the drainage of the Liard River, i t apparently occupied t h i s t e r r i t o r y recently, and with the i n d i r e c t aid of man. Sections of the Boreal Forest Although the Boreal Forest, from the A t l a n t i c to Alaska,, exhibits a degree of uniformity throughout, the differences i n climate, e s p e c i a l l y of temperature and pre-c i p i t a t i o n peoulariar to this vast area, have had an e f f e c t upon the vegetation. Thus Halliday (1937) has recognized twenty-seven Sections i n h i s Boreal Forest, of which s i x cover appreciable areas i n B r i t i s h Columbia. Throughput th i s study, H a l l i d a y 1 s sections have been followed clo s e l y , and have been modified i n only two major ways* F i r s t , his foot-h i l l s Seotion (B 19) has been divided into two areas, with those parts north and south of the Peace River considered separately. Secondly, his Aspen Grove Section (B 17) and Mixedwood Seotion (B 18) about Fort St. John have been lumped, and the boundaries changed to conform to the maps of Whiteford and Craig (1918), and Brink and Farstad (1949) showing suitable a g r i c u l t u r a l areas i n the d i s t r i c t . As Brink and Farstad (op.cit.) c l e a r l y indicate, t h i s area i s synonymous with areas of grassland and open wooded range. Thus, seven sections of the Boreal Forest are con-sidered i n t h i s study. These sections w i l l be described with as much d e t a i l as i s possible for a vast, partly mount-ainous area with large portions as yet undescribed by t r a v e l l e r s . Forest Seotion 1. This forest section covers a li m i t e d area i n the northwest corner of the province, l y i n g wholly within the area drained by the southern most waters of the drainage system of the Yukon River. Bostock (I948). describes the area as being wholly within the T e s l i n Plateau, the most southern of a number of more or less d i s t i n c t plateaux that cover most of the central parts of the Yukon T e r r i t o r y . In the aggregate, these lesser plateaux form the Yukon Plateau. The Te s l i n Plateau i s thus continuous to the north and south withi other plateaux* and i s bounded on the east and west by high mountain ranges, on the former by the Stikine Ranges of the Gassiars, the l a t t e r by the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains (Bostock, 1948) . This plateau i s an area of high, partly eroded tablelands with valleys, cut down to elevations of from 2,000 to 2,500 feet, traversing an undulating upland with an elevation of about 5Q00 f e e t . The area i s characterized by a number of long lakes l y i n g i n deep v a l l e y s . The most important of these are Tagish lake, A t l i n lake, Surprise Lake and T e s l i n Lake.. Between A t l i n and T e s l i n Lakes the tablelands are higher than elsewhere, with several small mountain ranges present, as about Surprise lake (Swarth, 1 9 2 6 ) . The tablelands have been rounded, and the r i v e r v alleys widened by erosion, but t h i s condition i s not as marked as i n the related plateaux to the north. By contrast, however, the Stikine Plateau to the south i s l i t t l e modified. The forest area occupying this high, cold plateau i s synonymous with Halliday.'s ( 1 9 3 7 ) Yukon Section i n B r i t i s h Columbia. It invades the province as two d i s t i n c t tongues of forest, one narrow and enveloping T e s l i n lake, the other broader and enclosing the lakes to the west. The tongues are probably not completely separated by tundra, since Swarth ( 1 9 2 6 ) walked from A t l i n lake to T e s l i n Lake, via Surprise Lake ; encountering only scattered patches of meadow. The forest at t h i s high l a t i t u d e and a l t i t u d e tends to be confined to the valleys of major r i v e r s , and i s ex-cluded from large areas of these by a r i d conditions induced by the high mountains to the west. South, and southwest facing slopes tend to be treeless and covered with grasses (Halliday, 1 9 3 7 ) , while v a l l e y f l o o r s are l a r g e l y forested with open stands of aspen, forest growth i s best on middle slopes facing north and northeast where trees are stunted but conditions are nevertheless more favourable than i n the dry climate below, or i n the exposed, cold s i t e s above. White spruce i s the dominant climax tree. Alpine f i r i s found throughout the spruce forests, replacing spruce progressively with increased a l t i t u d e . As the forest nears timberline (approximately 3 8 0 0 f e e t ) f i r completely r e p l a c e s .spruce (Swarth, 1 9 2 6 ) . C o l l i n s . ( 1 9 4 4 ) , i n h i s unpublished f o r e s t s u r -vey; s t a t e s that merchantable f o r e s t s are c o n f i n e d to l a k e edges and narrow bottomlands. Most commercial stands, he s t a t e s , have been logged i n the past f o r t y y e a r s . T h i s would i n d i c a t e almost complete removal of climax spruce f o r e s t s w i t h t r e e s of commercial s i z e . On the v a l l e y f l o o r s , aspen covers l a r g e areas i n open g r a s s y stands, seeming to invade b e t t e r s o i l s f o l l o w i n g the burning of spruce stands ( W h i t f o r d and C r a i g , 1 9 1 8 ) . lodgepole pine occurs i n s m a l l , l o c a l groves as s e r a i stages on poorer s o i l s . As i n any area w i t h marked topographic, features., the c l i m a t e v a r i e s c o n s i d e r a b l y from l o c a l i t y . G e n e r a l l y the c l i m a t e i s c o l d and dry w i t h an annual average p r e c i p i t a t i o n of about e l e v e n inches, a f i g u r e comparable to that of Kamioops. Swarth ( 1 9 2 6 ) vdescribes the f o r e s t e d v a l l e y s about the v i l l a g e of A t l i n as broken i n many p l a c e s by t r a c t s of swamp, grass-covered or overgrown w i t h willow t h i c k e t s , i n t e r -spersed w i t h many s m a l l l s k e s . The prominence of l a r g e l a k e s and Swarthfs frequent mention of marsh, swamps, and small^ l a k e s p o i n t to a poor drainage throughout. F o r e s t S e c t i o n 2 . An i r r e g u l a r l y shaped f o r e s t l i e s southeast of the T e s l i n P l a t e a u e n t i r e l y w i t h i n the drainage system of the S t i k i n e R i v e r and i t s t r i b u t a r i e s . T h i s f o r e s t l i e s w i t h i n the S t i k i n e P l a t e a u of Bostdok (1948), an area composed i n t u r n of s i x more or l e s s d i s t i n c t but r e l a t e d plateaux of s m a l l e r s i z e . These plateaux are continuous w i t h the T e s l i n P l a t e a u to the n o r t h , but e x h i b i t d i f f e r e n c e s i n a l t i t u d e and topography that s e t them a p a r t . The S t i k i n e P l a t e a u i s w a l l e d on three s i d e s by ex-t e n s i v e mountain masses. The Ooast Mountains form an almost unbroken b a r r i e r to the west, t h e i r presence almost completely b a r r i n g the i n f l u e n c e of weather or l i f e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of the Coast F o r e s t ( f i g . 1 ) . To the south and east a continuous s e r i e s of mountains shuts out i n f l u e n c e s from the plateaux of the southern i n t e r i o r , and the i n f l u e n c e of the Great P l a i n s p e n e t r a t i n g the C o r d i l l e r a to the east* These mountains are formed by the ranges of the Skeena Mountains to the south, the Omineca Mountains to the southeast, and the C a s s i a r Mountains to the e a s t . L i k e the T e s l i n P l a t e a u to the n o r t h , the S t i k i n e P l a t e a u i s high and c o l d , w i t h a dry c l i m a t e from l y i n g i n the l e e of the Coast Mountains. Contrasted w i t h the T e s l i n P l a t e a u , i t i s g e n e r a l l y of s l i g h t l y lower e l e v a t i o n , being about 4000 f e e t h i g h (Bostock, I948). I t s surfaoe i s l e s s eroded however, w i t h a marked f l a t t n e s s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c throughout, a c o n d i t i o n most marked i n i t s n o r t h e r n h a l f . In being l e s s eroded major r i v e r v a l l e y s are narrow, and streams flow through shallow depressions upon the p l a t e a u s u r f a c e . This c o n d i t i o n c o n t r a s t s markedly w i t h the Yukon P l a t e a u where v a l l e y s are wide, F i g . l . T h e T r a n s i t i o n f r o m t h e C o a s t M o u n t a i n s t o t h e 3 t i k i n e P l a t e a u . T h e T a k u R i v e r i s i n t h e f o r e g r o u n d , a n d t h e H s k i n a R i v e r v a l l e y i n t h e r i g h t d i s t a n c e . Y o n a k i n a M o u n t a i n o o o u p i e s t h e c e n t r e o f t h e p i c t u r e . F o r e s t s i n t h e f o r e g r o u n d m a y b e o f t h e C o a s t F o r e s t t y p e . B e l l L a k e i s i n t h e r i g h t d i s t a n c e . zZ. f r e q u e n t l y w i t h broad bottomlands, and the uplands have been eroded to a r o l l i n g topography. I n g e n e r a l t h i s p l a t e a u i s devoid of mountains, except f o r the r e g i o n about Dease Lake, where ranges are i n t e r s p e r s e d w i t h p l a t e a u i n a manner that l e a d -Bostock to wonder whether to i n c l u d e that area w i t h t h i s p l a t e a u , or the C a s s i a r Mountains. T h i s f o r e s t s e c t i o n i s the same as the S t i k i n e P l a t e a u S e o t i o n as mapped by H a l l i d a y , w i t h the e x c e p t i o n that a v a i l a b l e i n f o r m a t i o n f i x e s i t s boundary a short d i s t a n c e e a s t of Dease Lake i n the v i c i n i t y of Cottonwood Greek. H a l l i d a y extended t h i s s e c t i o n through the C a s s i a r Mountains to the e a s t e r n boundary of the mountains. The e x i s t e n c e o f an im-portant gap i n the C a s s i a r Mountains, f o l l o w i n g the Dease R i v e r has been t e n t a t i v e l y suggested by B r i n k and F a r s t a d (1949) and i s a p p a r e n t l y assumed by H a l l i d a y (1937) . Bostock (1948) g i v e s no i n d i c a t i o n of i t . C o l l i n s (1944) has mapped a continous narrow s t r i p of f o r e s t t r a v e r s i n g these mountains, and Dawson ( I898) mentions r e l a t i v e l y broad bottomlands f o l l o w i n g the Dease at l e a s t from Cottonwood Creek eastward, though between Dease Lake and Cottonwood Greek h i s d e s c r i p t i o n s suggest a narrow v a l l e y crowded c l o s e l y by mountains. The evidence would suggest that the proposed gap, i f present, i s narrow. From the stand point of c o n s i d e r i n g i t as an avenue f o r the spread of lowland l i f e between the f o r e s t s on e i t h e r s i d e of the mountains, i t would appear to be fa v o u r a b l e o n l y to hardy forms. T h i s f o r e s t has the mapped form o f an i r r e g u l a r oross. One arm f o l l o w s the S t i k i n e R i v e r , from west of Telegraph Greek n o r t h e a s t a l o n g T a n z i l l a Greek to enc l o s e Dease l a k e . Another extends from the r e s t r i c t e d b a s i n of Taku R i v e r , f o l l o w i n g i t s t r i b u t a r y the I n k l i n southeast, c r o s s e s the d i v i d e and f o l l o w s the S t i k i n e to i t s headwaters i n the Omineca Mountains, As i n the plateaux to the n o r t h , f o r e s t s are c o n f i n e d to the v a l l e y s , the t a b l e l a n d s s u p p o r t i n g a l p i n e v e g e t a t i o n . I n a r e g i o n of narrow v a l l e y s , such a f o r e s t cannot cover e x t e n s i v e areas* C l i m a t i c c o n d i t i o n s appear to be much as on the T e s l i n P l a t e a u . Next the Coast Mountains some areas are too dry to support f o r e s t s , and n e i g h b o r i n g areas may support pure stands of aspen. Dawson ( 1 8 9 8 ) n o t i c e d t h a t as he pro-gressed from Telegraph Creek to Dease Lake, the v e g e t a t i o n became p r o g r e s s i v e l y more i n d i c a t i v e of moister c o n d i t i o n s , but even on the e a s t e r n f r i n g e s of the pla t e a u the c l i m a t e i s dry (Johnston, I 9 2 6 , Watson and Mathews, 1944). Tree s p e o i e s and t h e i r a l t i t u d i n a l d i s t r i b u t i o n appear t o be s i m i l a r to c o n d i t i o n s on the T e s l i n P l a t e a u . Unforested areas are s c a t t e r e d throughout the lower e l e v a t i o n s , and grasses predominate over l a r g e areas. Spruce dominates the lower s l o p e s , w h i l e above 3000 f e e t above sea l e v e l a l p i n e f i r may occur i n almost pure stands. C o l l i n s ( I 9 4 4 ) , from the standpoint of a f o r e s t e r , c o n s i d e r s t h i s f o r e s t as i n f e r i o r , and l a r g e l y u s e l e s s commercially. In h i s o p i n i o n , the ou t s t a n d i n g f e a t u r e of t h i s area i s i t s e x t e n s i v e areas of g r a s s l a n d c o v e r i n g l a r g e s e c t i o n s near the headwaters of the S t i k i n e , w i t h a s i m i l a r area of l e s s e r extent about the U a h l i n R i v e r , a headwater of the Taku. From the f l a t nature of the uplands, t h e i r drainage i s poor w i t h many r e s u l t a n t marshes and swamps. Large l a k e s are few i n the narrow v a l l e y s , a l t h o u g h s e v e r a l , n o t a b l y Dease Lake and Tuya Lake are found a l o n g the e a s t e r n edge of the p l a t e a u . In t h i s same ar e a i s the most noteworthy con-c e n t r a t i o n of s m a l l e r l a k e s (Bostock, I948). F o r e s t S e o t i o n 3» For e s t s e c t i o n 3 occ u p i e s a c e n t r a l p o s i t i o n between the f o r e s t s on the plateaux to the west, and the f o r e s t s on the Great P l a i n s to the e a s t . I t l i e s a g a i n s t the n o r t h e r n boundary of the province midway between i t s two n o r t h e r n c o r n e r s and i s dra i n e d by that part of the l i a r d R i v e r and i t s t r i b u t a r i e s l y i n g , west of the Rocky Mountains. Most of t h i s f o r e s t l i e s upon the L i a r d P l a i n , w i t h the southern p o r t i o n of the L i a r d P l a t e a u to the east i n -cluded (Bostock, I948). I t s p o s i t i o n i s best e n v i s i o n e d by re g a r d i n g i t as l y i n g i n the apex of a *v» caused by the divergence Of the C a s s i a r Mountains to the west, and the Rocky Mountains and L i a r d P l a t e a u , g e o l o g i c a l l y r e l a t e d to these mountains^ on the e a s t . rJ?o the n o r t h i t reaches w e l l w i t h i n the Yukon T e r r i t o r y , and i s there e v e n t u a l l y bounded by mountains and hig h plateaux.. The r e g i o n i s c l a s s i f i e d as a p l a i n from i t s r e -l a t i v e , r a t h e r than i t s a c t u a l a l t i t u d e . In a p h y s i o g r a p h i c province of lower r e l i e f i t would undoubtedly be c a l l e d a p l a t e a u . The whole area l i e s under 3000 f e e t above sea l e v e l , and most of i t s c e n t r a l p o r t i o n i s 1000 f e e t lower. I t s s u r f a c e has l i t t l e r e l i e f , Bostock (I948)' d e s c r i b i n g i t as an area of low wooded h i l l s and broad timbered v a l l e y s ( F i g . 2 ) . The H a r d P l a t e a u to the e a s t i s a c o n t i n u a t i o n of the Rooky Mountains, which end r a t h e r a b r u p t l y at the l i a r d R i v e r . I t i s lew i n the south and r i s e s to merge w i t h the Mackenzie Mountains, w e l l to the n o r t h . I t s southern most p o r t i o n has v a l l e y f l o o r s only 2000 f e e t above sea l e v e l . I t i s t h i s depressed area that r e s u l t s i n c o n t i n u i t y of the f o r e s t from the H a r d P l a i n to the Great P l a i n s i n what i s probably the most important gap i n the Rooky Mountain System (Gamsell, 1936; B r i n k and F a r s t a d i 1949). T h i s f o r e s t more or l e s s completely covers the H a r d P l a i n , penetrates to the Great P l a i n s to the e a s t , and as d e s c r i b e d under F o r e s t S e c t i o n 2, probably t r a v e r s e s the G a s s i a r s to the west as a narrow arm r e a c h i n g n e a r l y to Dease Lake* T h i s l a s t f e a t u r e c o n s t i t u t e s the only major d i f f e r e n c e between F o r e s t S e c t i o n 3 of t h i s study, sn& H a l l i d a y ' s Upper H a r d F o r e s t S e o t i o n . I n other words, H a l l i d a y b e l i e v e d that h i s S t i k i n e F o r e s t penetrated the C a s s i a r Mountains to meet the Upper H a r d F o r e s t , w h i l e evidence r e s u l t i n g from t h i s study, suggests that the c f o r e s t of t h i s narrow gap e x h i b i t s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the Fig.2 . The Liard Plain;looking south from about seven miles east of Lower Post. The mean-dering Liard River Is i n the foreground, with the mouth of the Hyland River at the extreme l e f t . Bote the f l a t topography, and the Cassiar Mountains in the far distance. L i a r d F o r e s t . D e s c r i p t i o n s of the type of f o r e s t found i n t h i s i ntermountain p l a i n are i n r a t h e r sharp disagreement. H a l l i d a y ( 1937) s t a t e s that the area i s h e a v i l y f o r e s t e d w i t h "white spruce the dominant and most abundant s p e c i e s " . Munro and Cowan (1947), i n c l u d e t h i s area i n t h e i r Peace R i v e r Parkland B i o t i c Area, which i s d e s c r i b e d as h a v i n g a "pre-dominance of mature aspens growing i n semi-open stands";. Dawson ( 1 8 9 8 ) d e s c r i b e s the western portions" as "open or p a r t i a l l y wooded w i t h groves of black pine and aspen p o p l a r " . He s t a t e s t h a t i t has a dry c l i m a t e , and patches of g r a s s l a n d s are f r e q u e n t . W h i t f o r d and C r a i g ( 1 9 1 8 ) , d e s c r i b i n g the same western p o r t i o n s , more p a r t i c u l a r l y the basins of the Dease and Kechika R i v e r s , note that much of the area has been burned, and that there are l a r g e areas of fire-made p r a i r i e . Aspen i s not mentioned, the f o r e s t types present being d e s c r i b e d aa lodgepole pine, and white s p r u c e - a l p i n e f i r * Rand (1944) f o l l o w i n g the A l a s k a Highway presents a wealth of d e t a i l e d d e s c r i p t i o n s of the country, which are, however, d i f f i c u l t to reduce to an a l l embracing p i c t u r e . I n r e a d i n g h i s account, i t seems evident that aspen stands are an important f o r e s t type from Munch0 Pass to Lower Post. However, spruce stands are a l s o p r e v a l e n t , and lodgepole pine covers l a r g e a r e a s . The w r i t e r can f i n d nothing to suggest the e x i s t e n c e of aspen parkland as an e x t e n s i v e f e a t u r e . MoConnell ( I 8 9 8 ) , f o l l o w i n g the L i a r d downstream from Lower Post; noted the common t r e e s i n the f o l l o w i n g order, b l a c k ( l o d g e p o l e ) pine, white spruce, aspen, and balsam poplar, w i t h o c c a s i o n a l groves of l a r c h . Hear the mouth of Smith R i v e r he climbed a h i l l , and l a t e r wrote of a " r o l l i n g p l a t e a u , dotted w i t h innumerable small l a k e s and marshes. The p l a t e a u i s everywhere densely wooded", w i t h the p r i n o i p a l t r e e s - w h i t e spruce, b l a c k pine, l a r c h , poplars, b i r c h , w i l l o w and a l d e r . With study, order comes from t h i s apparent chaos. T h i s i s a low, r e l a t i v e l y f l a t area, l y i n g i n the l e e of the C a s s i a r Mountains, a rugged, wide mountain mass. As on the plateaux to the west, and as w i l l be seen l a t e r i n the de-s c r i p t i o n s of the f o r e s t s l y i n g to the east of the Rockies, mountain masses i n t e r c e p t i n g the moisture l a d e n w e s t e r l y winds tend to reduce r a i n f a l l i n areas immediately to the east of them. I t i s evident that Dawson^ g r a s s l a n d s and aspen stands, and Whitford and C r a i g ' s g r a s s l a n d s , are s i t u a t e d i n t h i s dry western s e c t i o n . As Dawson noted w h i l e c r o s s i n g the S t i k i n e P l a t e a u , the c l i m a t e i n t h i s area probably beoomes wetter as one progresses to the east, and t h i s change i s r e f l e c t e d i n the v e g e t a t i o n w i t h g r a s s l a n d s and aspen park-lands becoming l e s s e x t e n s i v e , and spruce f o r e s t s more ex-t e n s i v e . H a l l i d a y , then, was d e s c r i b i n g the e a s t e r n h a l f ^ f o r i t agrees q u i t e w e l l w i t h McConnell's d e s c r i p t i o n known to be made i n the e a s t . There oan be no doubt that the whole area i s r e -l a t i v e l y dry, though as H a l l i d a y s t a t e s , i t i s more humid than i s the S t i k i n e P l a t e a u . T h i s r e a s o n i n g i s strengthened by most authors i n t h e i r d e s c r i p t i o n s of e x t e n s i v e burns. 7 It i s also probably true that there are patches of grasslands, or patches of forest-grassland eoetone i n the form of aspen parkland throughout the area. As noted by Raup ( 1 9 3 4 ) , such seems to be a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c feature of the western Boreal Forest, such patches occurring w e l l into the MacKenzie Drainage System. It i s questionable, however, that these warrant the c l a s s i f y i n g of the whole area as parkland. Rand,'s (op.cit.) mention of aspen forests throughout the eastern sections does not weaken the argument. As mentioned previously, the area has been burned over large areas. Aspen stands are c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of c e r t a i n types of Boreal Forest burns. In some sections of the area i t -is apparent that lodgepole pine forests have overgrown burns. Rand mentions large areas so forested, and Dr. V.C. Brink (personal communication) t e l l s of looking north along the v a l l e y of the Kechika, and across the v a l l e y of the Liard, at a forest that was pine as f a r as could be seen. Af t e r writing tbs above, reference was made to the recent, unpublished description and map of C o l l i n s (1944).' This report has necessitated l i t t l e change i n the above analysis. He describes most of the area as covered with • immature coniferous stands i n the eastern and ce n t r a l portions, with an inorease i n deciduous species to the west, with some accompanying grasslands* This report substantiates the existence of a large muskeg country south of the Liard, as described by MoConnell ( 1 8 9 8 ) . There i s such an area south of Lower Post, enclosing the lower reaches of both the Dease and K e t c h i k a R i v e r s , where muskegs and l a k e s cover l a r g e a r e a s . The data would suggest, t h e r e f o r e , that w h i l e g r a s s -l a n d s and aspen parklands p a r a l l e l the mountains to the west, and probably occur i n patches throughout, most f o r e s t s are of the white spruce type i n climax, mixed w i t h a l p i n e f i r on h i g h moist s l o p e s , while l a r g e areas are i n s e r a i pine and immature spruce. Drainage throughout t h i s f o r e s t i s probably poor. The low r e l i e f of the a r e a and the broad, f l a t v a l l e y s suggest such a c o n d i t i o n . Gamsell (1936) mentions broad, f l a r i n g v a l l e y s and meandering streams, w h i l e McConneTl ( o p . c i t . ) , v a r i f l e s poor drainage i n the uplands. F o r e s t S e c t i o n IV T h i s s e c t i o n and the three to f o l l o w , cover a l l of the Great P l a i n s w i t h i n B r i t i s h Columbia. T h i s s e c t i o n i s the most n o r t h e r n of the four,.and c o n s t i t u t e s a l a r g e a r e a i n the n o r t h e a s t e r n corner of the province. I t embraces a l l of the r e g i o n , east of the mountains dr a i n e d by the l i a r d R i v e r , and i t s major t r i b u t a r y , the P o r t K e l s o n R i v e r . To the west of t h i s s e c t i o n H e the Rocky Mountains, i n g e n e r a l n e i t h e r as h i g h nor as rugged as south of the Peace R i v e r , but w i t h a c e n t r a l core o f mountains that r e -semble these h i g h southern ranges (Bostock, 1948; see a l s o O d e l l , 1949),. The mountains terminate at the l i a r d R i v e r , and north of that r i v e r the western boundary of t h i s s e c t i o n i s f o r m e d b y t h e l i a r d P l a t e a u , l o w i n t h e s o u t h , a n d r i s i n g t o t h e n o r t h . T o t h e n o r t h a n d e a s t t h e l i m i t s o f t h e s e c t i o n c o i n c i d e w i t h p r o v i n c i a l b o u n d a r i e s . T h e s o u t h e r n l i m i t i s s e t a t t h e h e i g h t o f l a n d b e t w e e n t h e N e l s o n d r a i n a g e a n d t h a t o f t h e P e a c e . O t h e r t h a n s e p a r a t i n g t w o r i v e r s y s t e m s t h i s b o u n d a r y h a s l i t t l e t o p o g r a p h i c s i g n i f i g a n c e . M o s t o f t h i s a r e a l i e s b e l o w , 3 0 0 0 f e e t a b o v e s e a l e v e l , w i t h o n l y s m a l l a r e a s o f t h e s o u t h e r n e x t r e m i t y , e x -c e e d i n g t h a t h e i g h t ( B r i n k a n d F a r s t a d , 1 9 4 - 9 ) . I n g e n e r a l t h e r e i s a d e c r e a s e - i n a l t i t u d e f r o m s o u t h t o n o r t h , u p l a n d s t o w a r d s t h e h e a d w a t e r s o f t h e P o r t N e l s o n R i v e r h a v i n g a n a l t i t u d e o f f r o m 2 ^ 0 0 t o 3 0 0 0 f e e t , w h i l e a l o n g t h e dQth p a r a l l e l , u p l a n d s a r e a b o u t 1 0 0 0 f e e t l o w e r ( W h i t f o r d a n d C r a i g , 1 9 1 8 ) . T h e t o p o g r a p h y o f t h e a r e a i s i n f l u e n c e d b y t h e m o u n t a i n s i n t h e w e s t e r n s e c t i o n , w h e r e f o o t h i l l s f o r m a t r a n -s i t i o n f r o m o o r d i l l e r a t o p l a i n . E v e n t h e p o r t i o n s l y i n g e a s t o f t h e f o o t h i l l s a r e m u c h f r a g m e n t e d ( H a l l i d a y , 1 9 3 7 ) . P u b l i s h e d i n f o r m a t i o n c o n c e r n i n g t h e f o r e s t s o f t h i s s e c t i o n i s m e a g r e . T h e e x t r e m e , n o r t h e a s t c o r n e r , u n t i l r e c e n t y e a r s , a n d p o s s i b l y e v e n a t t h i s d a t e , h a s n o t b e e n a c c u r a t e l y m a p p e d . I t i s p r o b a b l e t h a t m o s t o f t h e a r e a i s f o r e s t e d . T h e w h o l e o f t h i s f o r e s t s e c t i o n i s p a r t o f H a l l i d a y ' s M i x e d w o o d F o r e s t S e c t i o n , a l a r g e a r e a c o v e r i n g m o s t o f c e n t r a l A l b e r t a , p a r t o f S a s k a t c h e w a n , a n d r e a c h i n g s o u t h e a s t n e a r l y t o W i n n i p e g . H e d e s c r i b e s t h i s v a s t a r e a a s h a v i n g a m a r k e d u n i f o r m i t y t h r o u g h o u t . T h i s s t a t e m e n t a p p e a r s t o b e i n a c c u r a t e , a t l e a s t i n s o f a r a s " u n i f o r m i t y " i s recognized i n this study*. Halliday seems to describe well conditions i n t h i s province when he mentions "a prominent series of rounded h i l l s , out by deep r i v e r v a l l e y s " . Some doubt a r i s e s , however, when for so large an area he describes the forest. Its main feature seems to be a r e l a t i v e abundance of deciduous species. Its position would v a r i f y this statement since i t borders upon aspen parkland on the south, and extends well north i n the lee of the C o r d i l l e r a with scattered parkland patches suggesting a tendency toward a climate favourable to grassland. However, he desoribes jack pine as growing through-out. While t h i s species occurs i n northeastern B r i t i s h Columbia, i t i s almost completely replaced by lodgepole pine ( C o l l i n s , 1944). The small scale map i n the Trees of Canada (1949) shows i t s B r i t i s h Columbia range to be n e g l i g i b l e , and shows lodgepole pine covering most of the section. It i s further questioned that Halliday»s F o o t h i l l s Section to the south, characterized i n part by abundant lodgepole pine, should have i t s northern l i m i t s at the low height of land between the drainage systems of the Peace and Port Nelson Rivers, when the mountains, with their accompanying f o o t h i l l s , and presumably with similar climatic e f f e c t s ; extend north an additional two f u l l degrees to the Li a r d River. In the lig h t of present incomplete knowledge there i s some j u s t i f i c a t i o n , however, f o r expecting a change i n the forest i n the northern h a l f of t h i s section. This region has no mountain b a r r i e r immediately to the west, but instead a plateau. The nearest mountains intercepting the westerlies are the Cassiars,'west of the L i a r d P l a i n . It i s tenable, then, that the climate i n the north, though no doubt dry, i s moister than that of areas either to the west or south. It i s partly f o r t h i s reason and partly for convenience i n sub-dividing the plains forest that the southern boundary of t h i s section corresponds with that of Halliday. U n t i l further i n -formation i s available, the w r i t e r considers this section as, generally, with higher p r e o i p i t a t i o n than has Forest Section 3 to the west, or Forest Section 5 to the south, and with less tendency towards grassland ecotone conditions i n i t s vegeta tion. Oollins report (1944) on the forests of t h i s region c l e a r l y indicates a change of forest conditions coincident with the topographic change from a mountain influence in- the west to plains i n the east. While he maps the western section as a mosaic of extensive burns, immature coniferous stands, and stands of non-commercial cover, l a r g e l y aspen, the vast area east of the Alaska Highway, and northeast of the Fontas and Fort Nelson Rivers i s mapped as poorly drained, and l a r g e l y covered with swamp and muskeg. Descriptions by Rand (1944) suggest that drainage i s poor with swamps a not infrequent feature of the country. Rivers tend to l i e i n broad* frequently deeply cut Valleys, and maps of the area indicate a r e l a t i v e abundance of lakes when compared to the other four eastern forest sections. 3Y. Forest Seotion 5 This forest section l i e s south of the preceding /Section, bounded on the west by the Rocky Mountains and on the east by the B r i t i s h Columbia - Alberta Boundary* I t s southern l i m i t i s fixed i n part at the Peace River, and east of thi s by the r e l a t i v e l y small j i r r e g u l a r , Forest Section 6 astride the Peace River, next to the eastern pr o v i n c i a l boundary. This section i s continuous to the north, east, and south with forested plains, i t s only prominent physiographic boundaries being the mountains, and i n part the Peace River to the south. The mountains at t h i s l a t i t u d e have been described as low and merging gradually with the plains (Whitford and Craig, I918). The topography i s rough and broken, a f o o t h i l l s countryj descending to the east as a series of flat-topped plateaux, frequently deeply cut by r i v e r v a l l e y s (Halliday, 1937). Brink and Farstad, (1949) show the area as l y i n g below 3000 feet, except along the divide to the north, while elevations i n i t s southern regions l i e mainly between 2000 and 2500 feet (Whitford and Craig, o p * c i t . ) . As in areas to the north and south, the climate tends to be dry, with an annual p r e c i p i t a t i o n Of about f i f t e e n inches. This section i s forested throughout, and comprises the forested area north of the Peace River, and drained by that river* with the exception of the previously mentioned section i n the south-east corner. Forest Section 5. then, i s almost the same as H a l l i d a y 1 s F o o t h i l l s Forest Seotion l y i n g north of the Peace River. This forest Halliday has desoribed as being i n the nature of an ecotone between the Boreal and Subalpine Forest Regions, with lodgepole pine a frequently ooourring subclimax dominant. White and black spruce form the main forest cover. G o l l i n ^ s ( I 9 4 6 ) unpublished report on the Peace River Block gives a few notes on this area. The tendenoy f o r poorer drainage with increased distance from the mountains holds for this section, although the result i s not as extreme as to the north. The drainage of the Beaton River i s de-scribed as having numerous muskegs, while the valley of the Halfway to the west i s heavily burned. The influence of extensive aspen parklands i n the immediate v i c i n i t y of the Peaoe River undoubtedly has a bearing on the forest cover of this section, with an increase i n area covered by deciduous tree species as compared to Section 4 . Drainage i n Section 5 appears to be better than i n the Fort Nelson drainage to the north. Maps show few lakes; and the country, i n being generally rougher with sharply cut r i v e r valleys, has more rapidly flowing r i v e r s and o f f e r s l i t t l e opportunity for lake formation. Forest Section 6. Forest Section 6 i s a r e l a t i v e l y small area, following the Peace River west for two degrees of longitude from the eastern provincial boundary. It has an ir r e g u l a r shape from i t s arms tending to follow the t r i b u t a r i e s of the Peace for varying distances upstream from t h e i r mouths. The Peace River bisects the section into more or l e s s equal halves. The entire region i s continuous with plains on a l l sides* It i s characterized by d i s t i n c t i v e s o i l s and a re-sultant c h a r a c t e r i s t i c vegetation, and delimited on this basis. The; area coincides as nearly as is possible to the small-soale maps of Whitford and Craig (1918) and Brink and Farstad (1949) showing those parts of the region suitable for a g r i c u l t u r e . Most of this section l i e s at elevations between 1800 and 2400 feet, and has been desoribed as an area of low r e l i e f / sloping gently towards the major streams (Brink and Farstad, op.cit..). From being enclosed more or less completely i n a region showing f o o t h i l l s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s i t i s probable that surrounding areas show a greater r e l i e f * t h i s feature a f f e c t i n g to some extend the topography of; the section here under con-sideration. The entire seotion l i e s well below timberline, but i t i s not completely forested, large areas support grasslands, Whitford and Craig ( I 9 I 8 ) estimating that about one h a l f of the Peace River Block i s i n "fire-made p r a i r i e " . Since this seotion includes only those parts of the now nonexistent Peaoe River Block most l i k e l y to be i n p r a i r i e , t h i s figure may be higher for Forest Section 6. It i s probable that most of the area i s i n grassland, or aspen parkland* while re-l a t i v e l y recent a g r i c u l t u r a l a c t i v i t y has spread throughout large areas (Rand, 1944; Cowan, 1939)• These open forests tend to merge with spruoe and lodgepole pine stands on higher slopes (Halliday, 1937) and patches of such coniferous forest also occur on the lowlands where suitable edaphic and topo-graphic conditions p r e v a i l (Raup, 1934; Cowan, 1939)• C o l l i n s (1946) has made a forest reconnaissance of the area, and re-ports that while large, is o l a t e d climax forests of white spruoe occurred i n 1930, such stands have been logged u n t i l there i s only a remnant remaining. He reports extensive burns i n the predominating aspen stands. His map shows c l e a r l y that large areas are either cleared for agriculture, open grassland, or grown to aspen. According to Cowan (op.cit.) streams are numerous i n those parts of t h i s section that he v i s i t e d , while lakes and ponds, are not a prominent feature. C o l l i n s (1946) reports muskeg conditions i n and near parts of this section. Forest Section 7 The l a s t forest section to be considered consists of that part of the province, east of the Rocky Mountains and south of the Peace River, exclusive of that area occupied by Forest Section 6. This seotion i s i n r e a l i t y continuous with Section 5, and Ha l l i d a y dioes not d i f f e r e n t i a t e between these two i n his forest c3a s s i f i c a t i o n . Topographically they are probably f a i r l y similar, the f o o t h i l l s dominating the physical oharaoter of both. However Bostock (1948) notes a difference / ' 38. i n the nature of the f o o t h i l l s , . South -of the Peace River they tend to be less mountainous than north of that r i v e r . Dawson (1881) has described the two topographical features pre-dominating. From an elevation on the o u t s k i r t s of the foot-h i l l s , near the Pine River, he noted a broken h i l l y plateau r i s i n g to the south, while to the north the view was "sea-like and unlimited".. The forest i s probably s i m i l a r to that of Section 5. Whitford and Craig (1918) describe the predominant forest as being of Englemann spruce and alpine f i r . The work of Raup (1934) i n th i s region confirms suspicious that .the f i r s t authors describe the Sub-alpine Forest of the mountains and not the forest of the plains and lower f o o t h i l l s . Raup observed that, with the exception of lodgepole pine* trees of this; mountain forest are rather r i g i d l y confined to the mountains. Dawson ( l 8 8 l ) observed grasslands and extensive burns i n the lee of the mountains as he descended the Pine River after crossing Pine Pass. He did not encounter what he considered p r a i r i e , however, u n t i l he reached the v i c i n i t y of Pouce Coupe. Summary of the Descriptions of Forest Sections The area that has been described i s a large one, and the accounts have come from many sources* In these accounts there has been an attempt to give descriptions adequate for a country that is largely wilderness and thus not known to most readers, and at the same time an attempt to keep the account b r i e f . In view of the amount of descriptive material pre-sented i t seems necessary, even at the r i s k of some r e p e t i t i o n to b r i e f l y point out trends, and differences, i n fac t o r s characterizing the seven forest sections. A few new data are included here because they are suited to a discussion based upon comparison, rather than of the areas as e n t i t i e s . Sections 1 & 2 have r e l a t i v e l y small areas of forest cover because of t h e i r high alt i t u d e . In Section 1 t h i s con-d i t i o n has been accentuated through logging. The f i v e eastern sections are more or le s s completely forested with the ex-ception of Section 6 where grassland and aspen parkland, with some a g r i c u l t u r a l areas, predominate. Here, climax spruce forests have been removed. The climate of Section 1 .& 2 i s dry and cold; those< sections to the east generally more humid. In a l l sections, since a l l tend to be bounded on the west by high-mountains, there i s increased p r e c i p i t a t i o n from west to east.. There i s a tendency for t h i s condition to be r e f l e c t e d i n forest structure, with deciduous trees most abundant i n western areas An exception i s Seotion 6, where parklike aspen stands pre-dominate throughout. Climate i s r e f l e c t e d i n the extent of recent burns. C o l l i n s (1944) shows large burns on the western plateaux, few recent burns en the H a r d Plain, and on the Great Plains, many burns next the mountains, but few eastward. • Muskeg i s a prominent feature of the eastern portions of those sections on the Great Plains.. There thus seems to be not only an eastward inorease in p r e c i p i t a t i o n throughout these sections, but a s i m i l a r gradient towards poorer drainage. Muskeg i s also a feature of the central portions of the L i a r d P l a i n . Section 1 might be mentioned here as being well supplied with large lakes. South of the Peace Biver the Rockies, formerly with a north-south axis, turn toward the Alberta boundary. Seotion 7 i s thus under the influence of a. f o o t h i l l topography and climate to Agreater degree than i s any other Great Plains section. The influence of grasslands, and ecetone, as exam-p l i f i e d by aspen parkland, dominates Section 6, and i t s i n -fluence i s undoubtedly extended into part of Sections j? & 7. It i s possible that these two l a t t e r areas are influenced also by the Sub-alpine Forest to- a degree not present i n other sections, since t h i s forest i s continuous with t h e i r western borders. This Sub-alpine forest influence i s a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c feature of the whole area under study and appears to be weakest i n the northeast where lodgepole pine does not completely replace jack pine. V / . F a c t o r s A f f e o t i n g Fur P r o d u c t i v i t y The f a o t o r s a c t i n g to vary the c a t c h of f u r w i t h i n a g i v e n area are many, and o f t e n i n t e r r e l a t e d i n a complex f a s h i o n . I t i s not the purpose of t h i s d i s c u s s i o n to deal w i t h a l l such f a o t o r s , f o r such a c o n s i d e r a t i o n would not only be u n n e c e s s a r i l y l o n g , but suoh an attempt would imply a complete knowledge o f a s u b j e c t that i s ' a c t u a l l y not f u l l y understood. There w i l l f o l l o w , r a t h e r , b r i e f c o n s i d e r a t i o n s of those i n f l u e n c e s that appear to be of primary importance. F i g u r e 3 i s an attempt to summarize the i n f o r m a t i o n presented here. From i t , i t may be seen that two broad c o n d i t i o n s are regarded as i n f l u e n c i n g the number of animals taken, these being the abundance of the animals concerned, and the e f f e c t i v e t r a p p e r e f f o r t . In essense, one i s b i o -l o g i c a l , the other economic. In a n a l y s i n g animal abundance there are two view-p o i n t s that may be taken, the b a s i c view whioh seeks cause, and the r a t h e r s u p e r f i c i a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n going no deeper than e f f e c t . So l i t t l e i s known r e g a r d i n g f a o t o r s i n f l u e n c i n g f u r bearer pop u l a t i o n s (with notable e x c e p t i o n s In a few s p e c i e s ) that i t s seems h a r d l y j u s t i f i e d to take a b a s i c view-point here, and i n f l u e n c e s upon animals i n g e n e r a l have been giv e n broad treatment by a number of authors f a r b e t t e r q u a l i f i e d than t h i s w r i t e r . For an e x c e l l e n t summary of the l i t e r a t u r e i n t h i s f i e l d see Solomon (I949). NUMBER OF TRAPPERS <« WEATHER * CENTRE OF ABUNDANCE FIG.3 Factors Affecting the Productivity of Trap Lines 43. From the standpoint of e f f e o t , r a t h e r than cause, the f i g u r e shows that f i v e c o n d i t i o n s i n f l u e n c e f u r animal abund-ance. Inherant d e n s i t y i s of importance. Some animals where they o c c u r s a r e never very common, while o t h e r s , to go to the other extreme, may be e x c e e d i n g l y numerous. Thus the g r i z z l y bear, even where i t i s most abundant, can never reach the abundance of f i e l d mice even when the l a t t e r may be i n m a r g i n a l h a b i t a t . Provided that an animal occurs i n an area, the number present i s i n f l u e n c e d by the success c f the s p e c i e s t h e r e . Many s p e c i e s are mere s u c c e s s f u l , and hence more numerous, i n some ar e a s than i n . o t h e r s , and the areas where there i s the most success are c e n t r e s of abundance. The p o s i t i o n of a trapped area w i t h r e l a t i o n to such c e n t r e s w i l l have a marked i n f l u e n c e upon the numbers taken. Past t r a p p i n g i n t e n s i t y , i f great i n r e l a t i o n to the s i z e of the p o p u l a t i o n trapped, may reduce animal numbers, and hence subsequent f u r c a t c h . F l u c t u a t i o n i n numbers and m i g r a t i o n , i n f l u e n c e the f u r p r oduction of an area, The former phenomenon has been thoroughly e s t a b l i s h e d as o c c u r r i n g i n f u r p o p u l a t i o n s . M i g r a t i o n has not been c o n c l u s i v e l y shown to be so widespread, but r e f e r e n c e s to i t i n the l i t e r a t u r e are s u f f i c i e n t l y f r e q u e n t to suggest that i t may be of some importance, at l e a s t l o c a l l y . The f a c t o r s i n f l u e n c i n g e f f e c t i v e t r a p p e r e f f o r t appear from the f i g u r e to be more numerous than those i n f l u -e n c i n g animal abundance, but t h i s i s the r e s u l t of an attempt to i n v e s t i g a t e these f a c t o r s w i t h more thoroughness. At the same time, there i s no olaim for completeness regarding this part of the figure. The longest chain of faotors i s i n i t i a t e d by the exploitable resources of the trapped area considered, or of i t s v i c i n i t y . The riohness of resources w i l l tend to be re-flec t e d i n a proportional density of human population. In-creased population w i l l , i n the long run, have three effeots. There w i l l be a tendency towards an increased number of trappers, reduced trap l i n e size, and the modification of vegetation, and c e r t a i n other elements, that constitute animal environment. The increase i n trappers i s a trend hardly co r r e l a t i n g perfectly with population, f o r an area with no resident humans may have trappers i n season, and be-yond a ce r t a i n human density fur-bearers may be exterminated. Reduced trap l i n e size i s , i n part* a function of competition for areas to trap brought about by an increase i n trappers. Thus, the vast wilderness trap l i n e s contrast markedly with those of small size i n ru r a l communities. This increase i n trappers and decrease i n area trapped results i n an o v e r a l l inorease i n e f f o r t to obtain fur, for a given unit of land i s more thoroughly trapped. In an area exploited by humans, i t i s frequently d i f f i c u l t to determine which i s the m o r e : important oause of fur-bearer extinction or depletion of numbers, heavy trapping e f f o r t , or habitat modification* The modified habitat can d i r e c t l y a f f e c t animal abundance, through agriculture, f i r e , draining, and other related factors* It may also increase trapper e f f o r t , i n rendering trap l i n e s more accessible, which again would influence trapline size because of an increase i n trappers. Habitat modification thus acts both upon animal abundance, and upon e f f e c t i v e trapper e f f o r t . Weather i s another factor that has t h i s dual role. Vegetation, i n a sense, owes i t s existence, and the geo-graphical extent of i t s success/ to weather, Animals, i n being dependent upon vegetation, owe t h e i r d i s t r i b u t i o n to weather, and the same factor may influence animal abundance in time as well as space. The direct e f f e c t of weather upon populations i s also important. In addition weather can i n -fluence trapper e f f o r t , both through decreasing l i n e access-i b i l i t y , or a more extreme condition of the same influence, decreasing the number of trappers. In other words, i n severe weather, a potential trapper may not attempt to trap. Another set of fact o r s acting upon e f f e c t i v e trapper e f f o r t .is- tk«.t..:-: stemming from the influences of business. When fur demand i s high as compared to the supply the auction price of fur increases. This price trend i s r e f l e c t e d i n the prices the trapper receives* Supply, i n turn, i s l a r g e l y a r e f l e c t i o n of past trapping suooess, and demand a function of fashion. With increased prices, the individual trapper may not only increase h i s e f f o r t , but more trappers be drawn into the f i e l d , with a further increase i n o v e r a l l e f f o r t r e s u l t i n g . This e f f e c t i s probably not so pronounoed under a registered trap l i n e system, but i t probably exists i n modified form. While the number, and area, of l i n e s i s r i g i d , there i s s t i l l room fo r increased e f f o r t i n l i n e owners, and the aotual number of trappers can inorease since assistants are lawful. Brioe works i n another way. Fur has been classed as of two kinds, coarse, and f i n e . Coarse furs are those, suoh as muskrat and weasel, that have a lew value. Fine furs have a r e l a t i v e l y higher value, as f o r example f i s h e r and fox. Since the f i n a n c i a l gain i s greater i n obtaining f i n e fur, a l l other things being equal, greater e f f o r t w i l l be put into obtaining such fur. But i f fine fur i s scarce, as i n i n -tensely trapped areas, more e f f o r t must be put into obtaining coarse fur i f trapping i s to be made a f i n a n c i a l suooess. These conditions need'not always operate, however. Where muskrats are exceedingly abundant, even though fine f u r may be p l e n t i f u l , the more p l e n t i f u l coarse fur may render i t a more valuable harvest because of the large numbers obtainable* F i n a l l y , trapper s k i l l i s an important influence upon effeotive trapper e f f o r t . S k i l l r e s u l t s l a r g e l y , from con-ditions p r e v a i l i n g i n the past. There are other factors that have come to mind. For, example, wars and economic depressions c e r t a i n l y can influence the number of trappers, and the term past trapping involves a. host of i n t e r r e l a t e d faotors. This tabulation has been d i r -ected towards the enumeration of what appear to be the most important factors* with emphasis upon any given time rather than upon previous time. The influence of some of these factors upon the fur production of northern B r i t i s h Columbia to "are presented elsewhere i n t h i s paper. V7. The Far P r o d u c t i v i t y of Northern B r i t i s h Columbia Seventeen s p e c i e s of mammals have been r e p o r t e d taken by white t r a p p e r s i n the B o r e a l F o r e s t of B r i t i s h Columbia. S i x t e e n of these a r e i n c l u d e d i n t h i s study. The bears have not been included because they have l i t t l e f u r v a l u e , are r a r e l y taken, and most important, records do not i n d i c a t e the s p e c i e s concerned. Of the s i x t e e n i n c l u d e d , the raccoon .is i of a c c i d e n t a l o c c u r r e n c e . The o t t e r appears to be r a r e , and the skunk and cougar are found i n a r e s t r i c t e d a r e a . Most f u r prod u c t i o n i s from the s p e c i e s fox, coyote, w o l f , marten,-f i s h e r , weasel* mink, w o l v e r i n e , l y n x , s q u i r r e l , beaver, and muskrat. There i s no datum w i t h which to compare, and hence assess the magnitude of pr o d u c t i o n . When a f o r e s t s e c t i o n i s . s a i d to have high p r o d u c t i o n f o r a g i v e n s p e c i e s , i t i s onl y h i g h i n r e l a t i o n to other s e c t i o n s * As an example, f o x pr o d u c t i o n from the S t i k i n e P l a t e a u i s termed low. Yet a study of fox pr o d u c t i o n i n the coast f o r e s t may f i n d t h a t f o x prod u c t i o n from l i n e s b o r d e r i n g t h i s p l a t e a u i s r e l a t i v e l y h i g h . Thus the term hig h and low can apply to !the same pro-d u c t i o n l e v e l . A c t u a l p r o d u c t i o n f i g u r e s are g i v e n i n Table 1. F i g u r e s 4 to 1? i n d i c a t e p r o d u c t i o n trends . A l l p r o d u c t i o n f i g u r e s are g i v e n as the number of" square m i l e s trapped that are on the average, ne c e s s a r y to produce a p e l t each year. Table 1. C a l c u l a t e d Fur P r o d u c t i o n by F o r e s t S e c t i o n s . The f i g u r e s i n d i c a t e square m i l e s to produce one p e l t per year f o r the peri o d I929 - 1948. F o r e s t S e c t i o n s 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Red Fox 156.0 432.6 145 .4 15.7 23.4 25.2 20.7 Coyote 34.8 109.6 538.9 818.4 104.8 11.6 20.8 Wolf 95.3 91.7 348.6 418*3 241.7 124 .8 261.6 Marten 445.8 80.3 40 .8 12.9 34.7 452 .5 46 .4 F i s h e r -- —• 260.0 664.4 468.6 348.4 159.0 Weasel 6.4 21.1 56.2 12.6 7.4 1.4 2.0 Mink 19.2 65.I 58.9 40 .2 121.1 230.8 81.7 Wolverine 236 352 426 697 1059 9232 830 O t t e r 1783 1298 1334 1526 4385 3029 Lynx 54.7 220.1 34 .5 24.8 78.3 324.0 84.5 S q u i r r e l 2.8 67.8 33.1 •7*7 li - 7 0 .2 0*1 Beaver 23.2 24.0 14 .0 6.1 26.7 348*4 39.9 Muskrat 4.9 23.2 61.4 29.3 33.3 2.0 2*3 For several species, The Great Plains north of the Peace River have been examined f o r production trends from west to east. In these ca l c u l a t i o n s , four p a r a l l e l areas bounded by the meridians of longitude 120 to 124 i n c l u s i v e have been used, and production calculated for these i n the same manner as for forest sections. The fluctuatious i n numbers of fox, lynx, weasel* marten, and f i s h e r have been examined thoroughly for c y c l i c trends, and the remaining species have been examined l e s s thoroughly. It has been found that most species, as re-presented by the numbers trapped, fluctuate considerably from year to year, and that some tend to be c y c l i c . Fluctuatious are not always synchronous among the forest sections, but lags of a year or two are frequent. These do not appear, however, to bias production figures based on the twenty year period* Raccoon (Procyon l o t o r ) One trapper has reported a raccoon taken i n the area studied. This animal was taken i n the trapping season 1941-42 by J. Suprenant i n Forest Seotion 7, i n a trap l i n e on the headwaters of the Kiskatinaur River about f i v e miles west of Beaverlodge Lake. Rand (1948) records the species as rare i n Alberta, where i n the west i t occurs as f a r north as Banff, with escaped captives taken f a r t h e r north. This single animal may have been an; escape from the Pouoe Coupe country to the north, or the Grande P r a i r i e area to the east, both with r e l a t i v e l y high human populations. Red Fox (Vulpes fulya) The productivity of red fox, by forest sections, f a l l s into two well defined areas with differences i n pro-duction. The intermountain Eorest Sections 1, 2, and 3 are r e l a t i v e l y low producers, as compared to the four sections • upon the Great Plains ( F i g . 4). Prom the apparent continuity of Seotion 3, the l i a r d P l a i n , with the forest of the plains one would have thought that fox production, i f d i v i s i b l e into two d i s t i n c t areas, would be so divided by the Cassiar Mount-ains. While the fox i s a forest animal i n a broad sense, i t i s not most successful i n uniformly climax, coniferous^ forests.. Forests, interspersed with meadows, clearings or burns appear to favour the speoies, as i s shown from i t s pre-sent abundance i n the north eastern United States, and as i s mentioned f o r northern Alberta by Soper (1942). The animal i s also able to exist beyond timberline, as i s noted on the barren grounds by Clarke (1940) and for alpine tundra by Rand (I945). While i t i s agreed that the red fox can l i v e upon tundra, at least i n those areas with neighboring forest, such habitat under most conditions must be marginal. It i s not ' t y p i c a l l y a tundra species. Thus the r e s t r i c t e d Forest Sections 1 and 2 may l o g i c a l l y be said to be low producers of red fox pelts because the species i s not as common there as Fig.4. Red Fox Production Trends by Forest Sections 5Z upon the lower, more or less wholly forested Great Pla i n s . It might even be oorreot to carry the analysis further and suggest that Section 2 i s the lower producer of the two be^ cause of i t s r e l a t i v e l y greater areas of surrounding alpine tundra, a r e s u l t of the plateau surface being l e s s eroded and i t s forested r i v e r bottomlands thus, by comparison, l e s s ex-tensive. Upon the Great Plains production i s r e l a t i v e l y high throughout, and while v a r i a t i o n e x i s t s , i t i s not marked ( f i g . 4). Since there seems to be a cl e a r cut d i v i s i o n between the density of the species i n the C o r d i l l e r a on one hand, and the Great Plains on the other, production from the Great Plains was examined with respect to the influence of the Rooky Mountains. As has been done for a number of other species, data for the plains north of the Peace River was tabulated for the four areas bounded by meridions of long-itude. Por these four areas, production was one pelt per 16.5, 13, 17, and 45 square miles, i n order from east to west. I f i n the most westerly area two large trap l i n e s that are probably under trapped are omitted from the c a l c u l a t i o n , the indicated production of t h i s s t r i p bordering the mountains r i s e s from One pelt per 45 square miles, to a pelt per 27 square miles. This l a s t figure i s s t i l l 63 percent lower than the s t r i p adjacent to i t . The p o s s i b i l i t y of the low production of the three Gordilleran forest sections con-tinuing down the Rocky Mountains and influencing the Boreal F o r e s t i m m e d i a t e l y a d j a c e n t t o t h e s e m o u n t a i n s i s a p p a r e n t . T h e r e a p p e a r s t o b e n o e v i d e n t r e a s o n f o r t h e p r o -d u c t i o n o f F o r e s t S e o t i o n 3 t o r e s e m b l e t h a t o f t h e w e s t e r n p l a t e a u x r a t h e r t h a n t h a t o f t h e G r e a t P l a i n s , w i t h w h i o h i t i s c o n t i n u o u s a n d m o s t s i m i l a r a s t o t o p o g r a p h y a n d f o r e s t c o v e r . O n e i s t e m p t e d t o s u g g e s t t h a t t w o s u b s p e c i e s o f t h e a n i m a l h a v e r a n g e s c o i n c i d i n g w i t h t h e t w o a r e a s o f d i f f e r e n t p r o -d u c t i o n . A s i s e v i d e n t f r o m t h e w o r k o f A n d e r s o n (1946), h o w e v e r , t h e r e i s l i t t l e b a s i s f o r s u c h a n e x p l a n a t i o n , f o r t h e t a x o n o m y o f t h e s p e c i e s w i t h i n t h i s p a r t o f t h e p r o v i n c e i s i m p e r f e c t l y u n d e r s t o o d . C o y o t e ( O a n i s l a t r a i l ' s ) W h i l e t h e c o y o t e o c c u r s t h r o u g h o u t n o r t h e r n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , t h e r e i s s t r o n g e v i d e n c e t o s u g g e s t t h a t p r i o r t o 1900 i t w a s , i n t h i s r e g i o n , c o n f i n e d t o t h e v i c i n i t y o f t h e P e a c e R i v e r w h e r e p r a i r i e c o n d i t i o n s a r e m o s t m a r k e d . D i x o n (I938) d e s c r i b e s t h e s p e c i e s a s a r e c e n t i n v a d e r o f A l a s k a a n d a t t r i b u t e s t h e s p r e a d o f t h e a n i m a l t o h u m a n i n f l u e n c e s . D o b i e ( 1 9 4 - 9 ) b e l i e v e s t h a t t h e s p e c i e s e n t e r e d t h e Y u k o n a n d A l a s k a i n t h e g o l d r u s h d a y s ( a b o u t 1898), w h e n i t f o l l o w e d t h e c a m p s a n d l i v e d o n d e a d a n d d y i n g h o r s e s / R a n d ( 1 9 4 5 } s a y s i t r e a c h e d t h e P e l l y R i v e r i n 1912. a n d t h a t i t e n t e r e d t h e H a r d P l a i n 4 0 y e a r s a g o , f o l l o w i n g m e n t r a i l i n g h o r s e s f r o m t h e s o u t h ( R a n d , 1 9 4 4 ) . I t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t m e n p a s s i n g t h r o u g h t h e s e f o r e s t s o a u s e d f i r e s t h a t o p e n e d t h e c o u n t r y s i d e a n d c h a n g e d t h e v e g e t a t i o n t o f a v o u r t h e c o y o t e * a l t h o u g h t h e y p r o b a b l y o n l y i n c r e a s e d t h e f r e q u e n c y o f f i r e s i n a d r y r e g i o n w h e r e n a t u r a l b u r n s m u s t h a v e b e e n a f e a t u r e o f t h e c o u n t r y s i d e b e f o r e t h e a r r i v a l o f m a n . . . T h e c o y o t e i s a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a n i m a l o f o p e n a n a s e m i - o p e n c o u n t r y , w h e r e t h e r e i s a t l e a s t a g r a s s l a n d i n -f l u e n c e t e n d i n g t o o p e n t h e f o r e s t . I t i s n o t a n i n h a b i t a n t o f d a r k f o r e s t s , a s i s e v i d e n t f r o m i t s p r i m i t i v e r a n g e . D o b i e ( 1 9 4 9 ) h a s s h o w n t h a t t h e s p e c i e s h a s b e o o m e o o m m o n e a s t o f t h e M i s s i s s i p p i o n l y w i t h t h e c l e a r i n g o f t h e f o r e s t s ; w h i l e a p p a r e n t l y , f o r e s t s b a r r e d i t f r o m s u i t a b l e o p e n r a n g e s i n A l a s k a , Y u k o n T e r r i t o r y , a n d n o r t h e r n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a u n t i l r e c e n t y e a r s . A s h a s b e e n s h o w n b y B r i n k a n d F a r s t a d ( 1 9 4 9 a ) f o r e s t a t p r e s e n t a p p e a r s t o b e s u p p l a n t i n g g r a s s -l a n d i n c e n t r a l a n d n o r t h e r n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . I t w o u l d a p p e a r t o f o l l o w t h a t t h e i n v a s i o n o f t h e c o y o t e i n t o t h e n o r t h w e s t i s n o t d u e t o n a t u r a l c h a n g e s o f t h e v e g e t a t i o n i n f a v o u r o f t h i s s p e c i e s . P r o d u c t i o n o f c o y o t e p e l t s i n t h e s e v e n f o r e s t s e c t i o n s s h o w s t h e t r e n d s o f o t h e r c o a r s e f u r r e d s p e c i e s , w i t h h i g h e s t p r o d u c t i o n i n t h o s e s e c t i o n s w i t h t h e h i g h e s t h u m a n p o p u l a t i o n s a n d t h e s m a l l e s t t r a p l i n e s ( P i g . 5 ) . A s i n t h e w o l f , h o w e v e r ; v a r i a b i l i t y i n t h e s u i t a b i l i t y o f e n v i r o n m e n t a p p e a r s t o h a v e m o d i f i e d p r o d u c t i o n . F o r e s t S e c t i o n s 3 a n d 4 h a v e d i s p r o p o r t i o n a l l y l o w p r o d u c t i o n * p r o b a b l y b e c a u s e o f t h e i r b e i n g r e l a t i v e l y m o r e c o m p l e t e l y f o r e s t e d , w i t h l a r g e a r e a s o f m u s k e g a n d s w a m p . S e c t i o n s J5 a n d 7 o w e t h e i r r e l a t i v e l y S6~ Fig.5. Coyote Production Trends by Forest Sections. high production, i n part, to the p r a i r i e influence of Forest Section 6, adjacent to both. The high western plateau Forest Sections 1 and 2 have a r e l a t i v e l y high production. It i s evident that coyotes are f a i r l y successful i n t h i s recently occupied area, and i t i s possible that production i s governed by factors s i m i l a r to those a f f e c t i n g wolf. Small trap l i n e s and the s c a r c i t y of fine f u r species i n Section 1, and a natural s c a r c i t y of fine fur i n Section 2 have lead to i n -creased trapper e f f o r t i n a region where game i s p l e n t i f u l on high open ranges ra r e l y covered by deep snow. Wolf (Canus lupus) The wolf occurs throughout the region here con-sidered,- and i s frequently taken by trappers on registered l i n e s . It must be remembered that this species, to-gether with coyote and Cougar i s not taken upon registered trap l i n e s alone, but a l l are species for which bounties are paid and which may be hunted by anyone. Thus, while production from Indian l i n e s does not figure in this study, there i s an add-i t i o n a l unknown production from the white population for these three species. Wolf i s a coarse fur, and as might be expected, pro-duction by forest sections tends to follow the trends of other coarse fur, though not with the close c o r r e l a t i o n to trap l i n e size exhibited by muskrat and weasel.. Rand (1944) writing of the area adjacent to the Alaska Highway i n Section 4 where trap l i n e s are large says that " l i t t l e e f f o r t i s made to se-cure wolves except when bothering traps, as the time and trouble i s more p r o f i t a b l y spent on more valuable f u r s " . Varying density of the species appears to have modified pro-duction although the influence of trap l i n e size i s s t i l l generally evident. Production i s greatest i n the two western sections on the high plateaux and i n Forest Seotion 6 , lowest i n Forest Sections 3 and 4, and intermediate between these two i n Sections j5 and 7 (Fig. 6 ) . This trend follows the trends of trap l i n e size ( F i g . 20) i n general; but with one note-worthy exception i n Forest Section 2 . Forest Sections 1 and 6, i n having small trap l i n e s which are probably intensely trapped, are among the highest producers of wolf p e l t s . Their high production i s thus not necessarily a result of r e l a t i v e l y higher wolf populations i n these sections. The equally high production of Section 2, i n an area where trap l i n e s are comparable i n size to those of Sections 4 and 5» may be indicative of wolves being more p l e n t i f u l i n that section than i n any other. This reasoning i s further substantiated by bounty payment figures, wherein Telegraph Greek i s one of the most important centres i n the province with respect to the payment of wolf bounties (Mair, 1949). While there are other sections i n which wolf pelt production i s at variance with trap l i n e size, and the differences may be due to variations i n topographic and vegetational c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the sections involved, the Fig.6. Wolf Production Trends by Forest Sections. differences ma>y not be s i g n i f i g a n t , for they are r e l a t i v e l y slight • In Forest Section 2, there i s l i t t l e published i n -formation regarding the ungulate species occurring or of t h e i r abundance* Caribou are r e l a t i v e l y numberous upon the extensive treeless tablelands (Dr. V.C. Brink, personal communication), and the l i g h t snowfall of the entire region probably leaves these animals more or l e s s accessible to wolves throughout the> year. Mountain sheep are said to be abundant. E l y et a l . (1939) have described this region as one of the fi n e s t hunting grounds i n North America. Since food studies of the wolf show that i t i s ; primarily, an ungulate predator (Murie, 1944; Cowan, 1947), this condition may i n part explain wolf abund-ance i n Seotion 2* There may be another factor operating to give high production, i n Forest Seotion 2 which, while d i r e c t l y an econ-omic factor, i s the result of environmental conditions. This section i s notably low i n the production of fine far animals requiring a forested environment. Thus the t e r r e s t r i a l species fox, lynx, and marten a l l are produced i n small numbers i n the area and f i s h e r i s absent. The only fine fur species taken i n r e l a t i v e abundance are the aquatic heaver and mink. This scarcity of high priced fur species appears to be the result of a r e s t r i c t e d f orest area occurring at high elevations. As a result of this fine fur scarcity* i t would appear natural for trappers to take more coarse fur than would be the oase where fine fur i s abundant. In many ways this condition i s comparable to that of areas of r e l a t i v e l y dense human pop-ul a t i o n , with the exception that there i s not the same com-pe t i t i o n for trap l i n e s ; It might be argued that i f this economic factor i s important in the high wolf production of Forest Seotion 2, that both muskrat and weasel production for that area should be of a l e v e l comparable to sections with small trap l i n e s * It appears, however, that these species are net s u f f i c i e n t l y abundant for t h i s factor to operate. It has been shown that but for a small area i n the north muskrat i s not taken In numbers i n this section, while weasel production, i n being lower than i n sections with similar trap l i n e s i z e , may be a r e f l e c t i o n of equally l i g h t populations. It would appear, then* that the magnitude of wolf production is governed primarily by the f a c t o r s a f f e c t i n g other ooarse fur species. Seotion 2 i s an exception however, wherein an apparent abundance of the species, combined with a s c a r c i t y of fine f u r species as a result of environmental conditions, have probably influenced production to the extent that i t resembles that of sections with small trap l i n e s . Marten (Martes americana) The most s t r i k i n g feature of marten production computed for the seven sections i s the near absence of the animal i n the widely separated Forest Sections 1 and 6 (Fig. 7). Since these areas have been heavily trapped, and as has been shown* have been heavily logged r e l a t i v e to the 1 2 3 ^ 5 6 7 FOREST SECTIONS Fig.7. Marten Produotion Trends by Forest Sections W. E. GREAT PLAINS Fig.8. Marten Production Trends,from West to East, upon the Great Plains. r e s t r i c t e d areas of merchantible spruce which were once pre-sent, i t appears that these two factors have combined to nearly exterminate t h i s animal. The marten i s easy to trap (MoCracken and Van Cleve, 1 9 4 7 ) and i s widely accepted as re-quiring climax coniferous forest i n which to liv e . . Removal of climax forest through burning, logging, or clearing for a g r i -culture i s usually followed by the disappearance of marten from the area affected. It i s not surprising, then, that the two forest sections supporting the highest human populations have the lowest marten production. Of the remaining f i v e seotions, Section 2 has a production about one ha l f that of the lowest of the others* This condition might l o g i c a l l y be attributed to the r e l a t i v e l y small portion of the Stikine Plateau that i s forested, but i t i s probable that another major factor l i e s i n the extensive and many burns reported by C o l l i n s ( 1 9 4 4 ) for t h i s entire area. It i s evident that marten do successfully inhabit forests approaching tree l i n e . Clarke ( 1 9 4 0 ) reports i t i n outlying stands upon the barren grounds, and Robinson ( 1 9 4 6 ) states that i t l i v e s i n the high wooded valleys of the Mackenzie Mountains. It seems doubtful that such habitat, where climatic conditions are severe, and where an only moderately r i c h fauna and f l o r a undergoes an admittedly intense but rather b r i e f productive season, can support as high a marten population as climax forests at lower l a t i t u d e s or a l t i t u d e s . In this con-nection, Dixon (1938) records i t i n Alaska as most abundant i n the heavier spruce stands at lower elevations. It follows then that the climax f o r e s t s of S e c t i o n 2 are probably i n -capable of producing the h i g h marten p o p u l a t i o n s of f o r e s t s , j u s t as f u l l y climax, In lower s e c t i o n s . I t would a l s o appear probable that the s i m i l a r l y h i g h f o r e s t s , i n S e o t i o n 1, now depleted, never contained a l a r g e numbers of marten. The productions of F o r e s t S e c t i o n s 3, 5* and 7 tend to be s i m i l a r , w i t h the l a s t the lowest, as might be expected from i t s g r e a t e r i n f l u e n c e from S e o t i o n 6 and i t s s m a l l t r a p l i n e s i n d i c a t i v e of more e f f i c i e n t t r a p p i n g i n the past. F o r e s t S e c t i o n 4 has the h i g h e s t marten p r o d u c t i o n , y i e l d i n g one p e l t per year on approximately 13 square m i l e s trapped. This h i g h c a t c h i s almost e n t i r e l y due to a s m a l l , h i g h l y productive area about F o r t Nelson* The seven t r a p l i n e s w i t h i n , or p a r t i a l l y w i t h i n , a r a d i u s o f s i x t e e n m i l e s of t h i s community, plus one j u s t o u t s i d e t h i s c i r c l e a l o n g the south bank of the Muskwa River, have produced 41 percent of a l l marten p e l t s f o r which there are records f o r the s e c t i o n d u r i n g the period 1930 - 1 ° 4 8 . At the same time these e i g h t t r a p l i n e s represent only 18 percent of the e n t i r e area trapped i n t h i s s e c t i o n during the same p e r i o d . This f i g u r e i s based upon square mile years, where a square m i l e trapped for two y e a r s , and two square m i l e s trapped f o r one year, are both c o n s i d e r e d as two square m i l e years* The v i c i n i t y of F o r t Nelson contains the f i n e s t stands of lowland, merchantable spruce i n the e n t i r e B o r e a l F o r e s t i n B r i t i s h Columbia. C o l l i n s (1944) has recorded l a r g e r t o t a l areas of merchantable timber f o r the M a r d P l a i n ( F o r e s t S e c t i o n 3) a n d t h e h i g h p l a t e a u x t o t h e w e s t t h a n f o r F o r e s t S e c t i o n 4. T h e p l a t e a u x h a v e t h i s t y p e o f f o r e s t i n -o r e a s e d b y s m a l l b u t h e a v i l y t i m b e r e d a r e a s o f C o a s t F o r e s t i n t h e v a l l e y s o f t h e C o a s t R a n g e , h o w e v e r , a n d t h e s e f i g u r e s h a v e l i t t l e m e a n i n g f o r t h i s s t u d y . T h e r e l a t i v e l y l a r g e a r e a o f m a t u r e t i m b e r i n F o r e s t S e c t i o n 3 i s n o t r e f l e c t e d i n a p r o p o r t i o n a l l y h i g h m a r t e n y i e l d . . T h i s m a y b e a r e s u l t o f t h e p a u o i t y o f t r a p l i n e s i n t h e e a s t e r n p a r t s o f t h e s e c t i o n w e r e s p r u o e f o r e s t a p p e a r s t o b e m o s t w i d e s p r e a d . A w e s t t o e a s t t a b u l a t i o n o f t h e d a t a f o r F o r e s t S e c t i o n s 4 , 5 a n d 6 , n o r t h o f t h e P e a c e Kiver, i n t o t h e f o u r a r e a s b o u n d e d b y m e r i d i p u s o f l o n g i t u d e , s h o w s a t e n d e n c y t o -w a r d s d e c r e a s e d p r o d u c t i o n w i t h i n c r e a s e d d i s t a n c e f r o m t h e m o u n t a i n s . I n o r d e r f r o m w e s t t o e a s t , t h e t r a p l i n e s i n t h e s e a r e a s p r o d u c e o n e p e l t p e r 1 6 , 1 6 , 45, a n d 1 2 4 s q u a r e m i l e s ( F i g . 8) . I f t h e e i g h t h i g h p r o d u c i n g l i n e s a b o u t F o r t K e l s o n a r e r e m o v e d f r o m t h e d a t a f o r t h e t w o m o s t w e s t e r l y a r e a s , a n d d a t a f r o m t h e l o w p r o d u c i n g F o r e s t S e o t i o n 6 i s r e m o v e d f r o m t h e e a s t e r n a r e a s , t h e t r e n d i s l e s s m a r k e d , t h e f o u r p r o d u c t i o n f i g u r e s b e o o m i n g , i n t h e s a m e ••-5 o r d e r , 2 0 , 35, 43, a n d 85 s q u a r e m i l e s . T h e t r e n d s t i l l s e e m s t o b e n o t e w o r t h y , h o w e v e r . I t w o u l d a p p e a r t h a t t h e m a r t e n i s a m o n g t h o s e a n i m a l s m o s t a d v e r s e l y a f f e c t e d b y t h e i n f l u e n c e s o f h u m a n p o p u l a t i o n s , s i n c e i t a l o n e i s n e a r l y a b s e n t f r o m b o t h F o r e s t S e c t i o n s 1 a n d 6 . O r , i f t h i s i s n o t t r u e , a n a l t e r n a t i v e e x p l a n a t i o n may l i e i n a r a t h e r sedentary h a b i t of the s p e c i e s * In other words, t h e r e may be o t h e r s p e c i e s wherein r e s i d e n t s are s i m i l a r l y a f f e c t e d by humans, but wanderers from a d j a c e n t areas, may.keep up p r o d u c t i o n , as has been suggested f o r f i s h e r i n S e o t i o n 6. In view of the r a t h e r s t r i c t h a b i t a t requirements of marten f o r climax c o n i f e r o u s f o r e s t , both probably a p p l y , f o r e s t removal e x t e r m i n a t i n g the r e s i d e n t p o p u l a t i o n , and p r e v e n t i n g the entrance of wanderers. The trends i n other s e c t i o n s i n d i c a t e a r e l a t i v e l y low p r o d u c t i o n i n high f o r e s t approaching t i m b e r l i n e , and high p r o d u c t i o n i n lowland spruce f o r e s t s of h i g h commercial v a l u e . The deorease i n p r o d u c t i o n eastward from the mountains i s probably p a r t l y due t o an i n f l u e n c e of F o r e s t S e o t i o n o i n the south, and p a r t l y due t o the e x t e n s i v e muskeg and swamp country i n the e a s t e r n h a l f of S e o t i o n 4., Marten occur i n these e a s t e r n areas, but i n s m a l l numbers. From t h i s data, i t i s worth n o t i n g a s u g g e s t i o n that those areas most pro-ductive of marten seem to be the lowland spruce f o r e s t s of h i g h e s t q u a l i t y , and hence of h i g h e s t value to the sawmill. T h i s c o n d i t i o n i s f u r t h e r s u b s t a n t i a t e d by personal ex-perience i n Manning P r o v i n c i a l Park, B.C. were a s m a l l stand of c l i m a x f o r e s t , on a good lowland s i t e , and w i t h by f a r the l a r g e s t t r e e s i n the park; was p r o d u c t i v e o f marten out of a l l p r o p o r t i o n to i t s s i z e r e l a t i v e to the areas of other types of f o r e s t * The reason for t h i s apparent c o r r e l a t i o n may be i n part due to lowlands being both more accessible to the trapper and most able to furnish such superior growing s i t e s . However i n those Fort Nelson l i n e s for which there are records for over ten years, the number of pelts taken fails, to show serious declines f o r long periods. Thus fur production does not seem to exceed the productive capacity of the animals and the y i e l d appears to be sustained. It would appear that such forests provide the most favourable marten habitat. Fisher (Martes pennanti) The f i s h e r approaches the northern l i m i t of i t s range*in northern B r i t i s h Columbia. Rand (I945) has no de-f i n i t e records for the Yukon T e r r i t o r y , but believes that i t does occur i n the south. As w i l l be seen, data from northern B r i t i s h Columbia support this view. Even where the f i s h e r i s most abundant i t appears never to be a common mammal. Gr i n n e l l et a l . (1937) have recorded that i n C a l i f o r n i a , i n good f i s h e r country, i t i s unusual to find more than one or two to a township. As a re s u l t , the animal travels over a f a i r l y large t e r r i t o r y . This habit i s r e f l e c t e d i n many animals being tracked down; rather than trapped. The pelt of the f i s h e r i s one of America's rarest and most valuable furs. As noted In C a l i f o r n i a (Grinnel et al . , 1 9 3 7 ) and i n B r i t i s h Columbia at Anahim Lake and Manning Park from personal contaots with trappers, a f i s h e r crossing a trap l i n e i s pursued, for often i t i s a wanderer that w i l l not return to be trapped. I t s value j u s t i f i e s such s p e c i a l e f f o r t . From t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n i t seems j u s t i f i e d to c o n s i d e r the t r a p p i n g r e t u r n s o f t h i s animal as i n d i c a t i v e of p o p u l a t i o n t r e n d s to a degree not a p p l i c a b l e to most other f u r species* D i f f e r e n c e s i n p r o d u c t i v i t y among the f o r e s t s e o t i o n s show some i n t e r e s t i n g v a r i a t i o n s ( F i g . 9 ) . The s p e c i e s i s a p p a r e n t l y absent from S e c t i o n s 1 and 2, although i t occurs on the coast to the west (Anderson, I946), the i n t e r i o r p l a t e a u to the southeast ( S t a n w e l l - F l e t c h e r , 1943), and on the L i a r d P l a i n to the e a s t . In a l l cases, these areas are separated from the p l a t e a u s e c t i o n s by ex t e n s i v e mountain masses. G-rinnell et a l . (1937) r e p o r t t h a t the f i s h e r i n h a b i t s f o r e s t s of lower e l e v a t i o n than does marten* and Hamilton (1939) s t a t e s that the l a t t e r i s found f a r t h e r n o r t h than i s the former." Since the n o r t h e r n l i m i t of the range of the f i s h e r i s app-roached at t h i s l a t i t u d e i n B r i t i s h Columbia, mountains would here be a more e f f e c t i v e b a r r i e r than they would f a r t h e r south. However, Swarth (1922) has shown'that the Coast Mountains are t r a v e r s e d by f o r e s t i n the v a l l e y of the S t i k i n e . There a l s o appears to be a gap i n the C a s s i a r Mountains, i n the v a l l e y o f the Dease R i v e r , and f i s h e r have penetrated these mountains . from the L i a r d P l a i n a t l e a s t as f a r as A n v i l Mountain, west of the McDame Hudson!s Bay Post. There are two t r a p l i n e s there that have t h e i r c e n t r e s l e s s than twenty m i l e s from the n o r t h end of Dease Lake and both have taken f i s h e r i n s m a l l numbers. From t h i s evidence i t would appear that the s p e c i e s cannot l i v e i n the h i g h , dry, Gold, sorubby f o r e s t s of these F i g . ? . Fisher Production Trends by Forest Sections; W E GREAT PLAINS Fig.10. F i sher Pro duct i o n Trends,frpm We 81 to East, upon the Great P l a i n s ; 4?. n o r t h w e s t e r n p l a t e a u x . T h e r e m a i n i n g S e c t i o n s s h o w a n i n t e r e s t i n g t r e n d ( F i g . 9) . P r o d u c t i o n i n F o r e s t S e o t i o n 3 i s r e l a t i v e l y h i g h , a n d f i s h e r a r e t a k e n t h r o u g h o u t , e v e n p e n e t r a t i n g t h e C a s s i a r M o u n t a i n s , a s n o t e d a b o v e . B y c o m p a r i s o n , S e o t i o n 4 p r o d u c e s h a l f a s m a n y , a h d f r o m t h e r e s o u t h w a r d t h e r e i s a p r o g r e s s i v e i n c r e a s e i n a v e r a g e p r o d u c t i o n t o F o r e s t S e c t i o n 7, w h i c h h a s t h e h i g h e s t a v e r a g e c a t c h o f a l l s e c t i o n s . T h u s t h e w i d e l y s e p a r a t e d F o r e s t S e o t i o n s 3 a n d 7, p r o d u c i n g o n e p e l t p e r 260 a n d 159 s q u a r e m i l e s r e s p e c t i v e l y , a r e t h e t w o h i g h e s t p r o -d u c i n g s e c t i o n s . F u r t h e r a n a l y s i s o f t h e t h r e e n o r t h e r n G r e a t P l a i n s s e c t i o n s ( F o r e s t S e c t i o n s 4 , 5 , a n d 6 ) c l a r i f i e s t h i s v a r i a t i o n i n p r o d u c t i o n . I f t h e d a t a f o r t h e s e t h r e e s e o t i o n s i s r e - , t a b u l a t e d t o s h o w p r o d u c t i o n t r e n d s f r o m w e s t t o e a s t , i t i s f o u n d t h a t m o s t f i s h e r a r e t a k e n i n t h e w e s t e r n h a l f , i n t h e a r e a a d j a c e n t t o t h e m o u n t a i n s ( F i g . 1 0 ) , T h u s t h e a r e a b o u n d e d o n t h e n o r t h b y t h e p r o v i n c i a l b o u n d a r y , o n t h e s o u t h b y t h e P e a c e R i v e r a n d b e t w e e n 123 a n d 1 2 4 d e g r e e s o f w e s t l o n g i t u d e p r o d u c e s o n e f i s h e r f o r e v e r y 3 9 3 s q u a r e m i l e s t r a p p e d , a n d t h i s a r e a i s r e d u c e d t o 2 4 6 s q u a r e m i l e s i f t w o u n u s u a l l y l a r g e t r a p l i n e s , p r o b a b l y u n d e r t r a p p e d , a r e o m i t t e d . T h e t h r e e s i m i l a r l y d e f i n e d a r e a s t o t h e e a s t , b o u n d e d b y m e r i d i o u s o f l o n g i t u d e , i n o r d e r f r o m w e s t t o e a s t , p r o d u c e a f i s h e r p e r y e a r f o r 325, 1033, a n d I890 s q u a r e m i l e s . I t i s e v i d e n t , t h e n , t h a t m o s t f i s h e r t a k e n i n t h e B o r e a l F o r e s t o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , o o m e f r o m a n a r e a a d j a c e n t t o t h e e a s t s l o p e of the Rocky Mountains, turning westward at the l i a r d River to include the H a r d P l a i n . Thus, the high fisher, production areas appear to be those most influenced by mountains as to topography, effioienoy of drainage, climate, and vegetation. The r e l a t i v e l y f l a t , poorly drained areas towards Alberta are decidedly less productive. Insofar as i s possible, trapping methods have been analysed to determine i f these, rather than environment and the natural d i s t r i b u t i o n of the animal, produced t h i s pro-duction pattern. There i s no c o r r e l a t i o n with forest section trap-line size, a factor which r e f l e c t s trapping i n t e n s i t y i n a general way. l i n e s are largest on the H a r d Plain, smallest about the Peace River and southward. Worth of the Peace River there are no appreciable differences i n average l i n e size for the four areas bounded by meridians of longitude. As a furthe test the most abundant fine f u r species i n the region, the red fox* was tabulated l o n g i t u d i n a l l y for the plains north of the Peace River.. It i s believed that i f trapping e f f o r t was governing f i s h e r abundance s i m i l a r trends would appear for fox production. There is no such si m i l a r trend. Pox pro-duction i s nearly constant among the three mos t? easterly areas and there i s a drop i n the area next the mountains whioh may be s i g n i f i g a n t (see under red fox). It i s concluded that the f i s h e r i s probably most abundant where production i s highest. Reasons for the production trends i n the f i v e eastern sections are now p a r t i a l l y c l a r i f i e d . The low pro-duction of Sections 4 and jj i s probably the r e s u l t of low f i s h e r populations i n t h e i r eastern h a l f s , even though their western halves have a high production comparable to sections with highest production. The open, modified Seotion 6 seems to derive i t s f a i r l y high production from adjacent sections, since producing l i n e s are those nearest other sections* I t i s noteworthy that f i s h e r production i n Section 6 i s higher than marten production i n the same area, a condition the more notable When the usual population densities of these species are con-sidered* So l i t t l e i s known of fis h e r ecology i n general and i t s habitat requirements i n pa r t i c u l a r that rather than match requirements with broad environmental conditions known to exist* as has been done f o r most species i n t h i s study, i t i s necessary to suggest what i t s requirements are from conditions e x i s t i n g throughout areas where i t i a most abundantly found. I t would f i r s t be of help to note some apparently unfavourable environments. It has been noted i n C a l i f o r n i a to r a r e l y inhabit the higher forests ( G r i n n e l l et a l , 1?37), a statement substantiated by the absence of the species on the high, western plateaux where most forests are of the scrubby type t y p i c a l of forests nearing their a l t i t u d i n a l or l a t i t u -dinal l i m i t . Further the species i s present i n only small numbers on the poorly drained areas adjacent to Alberta, where muskegs and swamps cover much of the country. It i s noteworthy that f i s h e r are s t i l l taken i n the open, larg e l y deciduous forests of Forest Section 6. It i s a small olue perhaps, but i s suggests that unlike marten, the fish e r i s not so dependent upon climax' coniferous fore s t . The other regions where i t occurs i n greatest abundance, on the Great Plains adjacent to the Rockies and upon the Liard P l a i n , have been noted as having a deciduous influence i n the forest, not only from the dry olimate producing a suggestion of eootone to grassland conditions, but also from Large areas i n decid-uous serai stages because of numerous burns. Pisher prod-uction i s thus highest i n low areas where the olimate appears to be dry, and the forests, have a deciduous element, for the most part s e r a i , but i n some cases climax. This high pro-duction could be the result of high f i s h e r populations i n the mountains bordering t h i s deciduous area. Further knowledge may show this suggestion has merit. It seems improbable, however, that such is the case when the species i s known to be unsuccessful i n forests approaching timberline. These forests are not only cold, but r e l a t i v e l y wet (Halliday, 1937). It i s in t e r e s t i n g to note that i n the Coast Forest, areas producing the most f i s h e r are not the wet forests of the outer coast, but the drier forests, sometimes with a strong de-ciduous element in thei r structure, l y i n g i n the valleys, and approaching conditions of the In t e r i o r ( C F . MacLeod, M.S.). It should also be noted that one of the highest production areas for f i s h e r i n B r i t i s h Columbia i s i n the northern part o,f the dry Montane Forest (Halliday, op^.cit.), about Fort Fraser and Stuart Lake (Anon., 1948), and that t h i s area has been highly productive since the early days of the fur trade (MaeFarlane, I908). This area i s i n r e a l i t y a t r a n s i t i o n from the dry Montane Forest to the wet Sub-alpine Forest (Halliday, o p , c i t . ) . While the information i s general, i t would appear -that f i s h e r are most suooessful i n the d r i e r forests of the province, or perhaps, rather, i n t r a n s i t i o n a l forests bordering such dry areas. It seems to avoid high forest. There i s also evidenoe to c l a s s i f y i t as an inhabitant of s e r a i , deciduous stages in the lower,warmer coniferous forests of the west. Weasel (Mustela erminea) The weasel i s taken throughout the Boreal Forest i n B r i t i s h Columbia i n large numbers, l i k e the muskrat, weasel i s a coarse fur, and is sought with most energy i n areas where fine fur animals are scarce. Along the Alaska Highway Rand (I944) found that trappers pay l i t t l e attention to i t , while Robinson (1946) records that i n the Northwest T e r r i t o r i e s i t i s an "incidental f u r " with l i t t l e e f f o r t made by trappers to take i t . As i n muskrat, production by Forest Sections ( F i g . 11) c l o s e l y follows trap l i n e size (Fig. 20). The calculated c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t of t h i s s i m i l a r i t y i s .821, with P equal to 0.02. It has been noted by several authors that weasel numbers vary with the abundance of small rodents (Dixon, 1938; G r i n n e l l et a l , 1937). It i s generally accepted that climax forests maintain r e l a t i v e l y small rodent populations, and Fig,11. Weasel Production Trends by Forest Seotions that an open or semi-open countryside affords more food and cover for them. It follows that human influences upon a forested region w i l l tend to modify the vegetation i n favour of small rodents, and hence of weasels. Thus two factors appear to operate i n r a i s i n g weasel production i n areas of r e l a t i v e l y high human population. The weasel population i s increased* and trapping e f f o r t to take weasels i s increased. It seems probable that these factors largely govern the pro-duction of weasel pelts i n northern B r i t i s h Columbia. Since a number of forms of weasels occur i n the area studied, and these show some difference as to habitat, preference i t has not appeared j u s t i f i a b l e to search for natural environmental trends. The taxonomy and d i s t r i b u t i o n of weasels i n t h i s region i s as yet imperfectly known. Mink (Mustela vison) The mink i s an aquatic mammal* inhabiting a l l forest sections. Rand (1943) states that country p l e n t i f u l l y supplied with lakes are best producing areas i n the Yukon Te r r i t o r y . Soper (1942) describes i d e a l habitat i n northern Alberta as swampy wi th muskegs, ponds, lakes, sluggish streams, and in general, a poor drainage. G r i n n e l l et a l . (1937) w r i t i n g of C a l i f o r n i a , state that low marshy lands are better habitat than mountain streams. Both G r i n n e l l et a l . (1937) and Rand (1944) state that the abundance, of mink depends l a r g e l y upon the abundance of food* Mink eat many forms of aquatic, semi-aquatic, and even t e r r e s t r i a l l i f e ( G r i n n e l l et a l , o p . c i t . ) . i s pro-bable that the cold, rapidly flowing waters of rugged country, either upon high plateaux or i n f o o t h i l l s adjacent to mountains, w i l l contain a l e s s abundant, l e s s varied fauna then the warmer waters of a sluggish drainage where s o i l deposition has resulted i n a more luxuriant f l o r a . In general, the same reasoning would seem to apply to rapid streams as compared to lakes and ponds. Mink production (Fig. 12) appears to vary i n accordance with the drainage c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the seotions; Forest Section 1* despite the apparent i n t e n s i t y with which i t has been trapped, appears to have maintained numbers of this speoies because of the large part of i t s area covered by lakes. This topography favourable to lake formation i s noted elsewhere as extending into the northern part of Forest Section 2, where two trap l i n e s produce a large proportion of beaver, muskrat, and otter r e l a t i v e to the production of the whole section. The same holds true for mink, these two l i n e s pro-ducing 69 percent of a l l pelts taken i n the seotion. The rest of the plateau, with narrow river v a l l e y s , and high, f l a t , t reeless tablelands y i e l d s r e l a t i v e l y few mink. Forest Seotion 6, the dry parkland section, appears to have the number of mink reduced by heavy trapping for i t s production i s the lowest of a l l seotions. The r e l a t i v e l y low . productions of Sections 5 and 7 may be i n part due to their proximity to Section 6, and t h e i r being influenced by the heavy trapping of that seotion and other influences of i t s 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 F O R E S T S E C T I O N S Fig.12. Mink Production Trends by Forest Seotions .—1 W. E. GREAT PLAINS Fig.13. Mink Production Trends,from West to East, upon the Great Plains. human population. Forest Sections 3 and 4 a r e the highest produoers of the f i v e eastern seotions, and these are both characterized by large, f l a t areas with poor drainage, meandering r i v e r s , swamps, muskegs, and small lakes. These, then, may owe t h e i r high production to large areas of good mink habitat. Sections 5 and 7, while they contain small areas of suoh poor drainage, have a r e l a t i v e l y large part of their area covered by broken f o o t h i l l country. There i s thus rapid drainage over large parts of th e i r surface. I f this f o o t h i l l s topography i s a factor i n lowering mink production, a study of production as compared to distance east of the mountains, as has been done for certain other species, should show higher production adjacent to Alberta, than westward. If production i s calculated for the four areas bounded by meridions of longitude and l y i n g between the 60th p a r a l l e l and the Peace River* the production from west to east i s found to be one pelt for 118, 77, 45, and 46 square miles (Fig* 13). If data from the intensely trapped Section 6 i s omitted from the area farthest east, and the two large trap l i n e s thought to be under-trapped are omitted from the data for the most westerly area, the production figures, given i n the same order, become one pelt for 63, 77, 45 and 32 square miles. These figures suggest higher production on the f l a t plains than i n the f o o t h i l l s , and substantiate the suggestion that Sections 5 and 7 are lower mink producers than Sections 3 and 4 because they contain r e l a t i v e l y smaller areas of what appears to be 7* favourable mink habitat. It i s oonoluded that mink production, with the exception of Forest Seotion 6 which appears to have i t s mink reduced i n numbers by overtrapping, tends to vary according to the drainage c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the sections concerns di Lakes, or a f l a t topography r e s u l t i n g i n sluggish r i v e r s , swamps, and muskegs, appear to result i n a higher production than areas with good drainage. Where poor drainage occurs at high a l t i t u d e s , as i n Section 2, environmental conditions f o r mink do not appear to be favourable. Wolverine (Gulp luseus) The wolverine i s taken regularly i n small numbers in a l l forest seotions except Section 6... It i s probably ex-terminated i n t h i s section, the records showing only two animals taken near Hudson Hope i n the extreme western end of the area. The wolverine is t y p i c a l l y a timberline species ( G r i n n e l l et a l ; 1937) and ranges widely on the tundra and i n high forests (Dixon, 1938). Gierke (1940) records i t far out on the barren grounds, and Dixon (op.cit.). describes i t as completely at home among the high crags of Alaska. Most authors agree that i t i s a wide ranging species, and that i t may wander over a s u r p r i s i n g l y large area. • The production trend from northwest to southeast i n B r i t i s h Columbia's Boreal Forest seems to be s i g n i f i g a n t , and correlates well with the degree of influence from high a l t i t u d e 8o. areas (Fig.. 14). The two high, western forest sections are the highest producers. For a species such as t h i s , l i m i t e d forested areas are no hindrance to a r e l a t i v e l y dense pop-ul a t i o n , for i t oan l i v e equally w e l l on the vast open table-lands, covered over much of their surfaces by r i c h , alpine rangelands. The high production of Forest Section 1 i s note-worthy, i n view of the r e l a t i v e l y high human population there. It must be attributable to animals from surrounding areas wandering onto trap l i n e s , for the. species i s noted for the long distances that i t travels* The low H a r d Pl a i n , bounded by mountains and high plateaux, i s second i n production only to Sections 1 and 2. On the Great Plains, the most northern Seotion 4 i s the highest producing area, and the most southern Section 7, i n being most thoroughly under the influence of the f o o t h i l l s , i s second. Section 5 i s , unaccountable, a lower producer than either Seotion 4 to the north, or Section 7 to the south. Thus, the sections l i s t e d i n order of production, are 1,2,3,4,7, 5 and 6. If, as has been done for some other species, the Great Plains north of the Peace River i s divided into four p a r a l l e l s t r i p s bounded by meridions of longitude, there i s a decrease i n production i n progression from west to east from the Rocky Mountains ( F i g . 15). Thus, i f i n the seotions given above i n order of magnitude of production, the pro-duction of the s t r i p adjacent to the mountains i s sub-sti t u t e d for Forest Sections. 4,1 5, and 6, the order becomes, 1 2 3 4 5 6 ? FOREST SECTIONS Fig;14. Wolverine Production Trends by Forest Sections. K GREAT PLAINS F i g . 15". Wolverine Production Trends,from West to East, upon the Great P l a i n s . 1, 2, 3, (4-3-6), 7. This trend corresponds well with the proximity of timberline to the areas concerned. Sections 1 and 2 are high forests, and no part i s far from vast alpine areas. Seotion 3 i s surrounded by tundra-bearing mountains and tablelands. The s t r i p down the eastern f o o t h i l l s of the Rocky Mountains i s adjacent to tundra i n the north (Halliday, 1?37) but buffered by Sub-alpine Forest as It approaches the Peace River. Section 7 i s s i m i l a r l y almost e n t i r e l y buffered from alpine influences. Upon the Great Plains wolverine are taken through-out the eastern areas as far as the provincial boundary, and i n a few l i n e s are taken with noteworthy r e g u l a r i t y , con-sidering they are not anywhere common animals; The evidence c l e a r l y indicates, however, that forests approaching tundra conditions are the best producers, and such areas appear to be the most favourable forest habitat of the species. There i s unfortunately no data for comparing high forests with tundra i t s e l f . Otter (Lutra canadensis) The otter appears to be of rare occurrence through-out the Boreal Forest of B r i t i s h Columbia. There are no trap l i n e returns to indicate that i t has been taken i n Forest Section 6, and i t has been taken i n other seotions only occassionally (Table 1). These few returns are probably a result of both the few animals present, and trappers finding them d i f f i c u l t to catch and the skin d i f f i c u l t ' to prepare ( R a n d , 1 9 4 4 ) . M o C r a e k e n a n d V a n G l e v e ( 1 9 4 7 ) s t a t e t h a t t h e s k i n o f t h e o t t e r i s e a s i l y r e m o v e d b u t t h a t i t i s d i f f i c u l t t o f l e s h . I n F o r e s t S e c t i o n 6> t h e o t t e r a p p e a r s t o h a v e b e e n e x t e r m i n a t e d . G o w a n (1939) d o e s n o t m e n t i o n i t i n h i s a c c o u n t o f t h e m a m m a l s f o r p a r t s o f t h i s s e c t i o n , a n d S o p e r (I94B) b e l i e v e s i t i s e x t e r m i n a t e d i n a d j a c e n t p a r t s o f A l b e r t a . P r o d u c t i o n f i g u r e s f o r t h e s i x r e m a i n i n g f o r e s t s e o t i o n s a r e v e r y l o w ( T a b l e 1). F i g u r e s f o r ' S e o t i o n s 1, 2, 3, a n d 4 a r e f a i r l y c o n s t a n t t h r o u g h o u t , a n d t h e l o w e r p r o d u c t i o n o f S e o t i o n s 5 a n d 7 p r o b a b l y r e f l e c t s t h e p a s t t r a p p i n g i n t e n s i t y t h a t a p p e a r s t o h a v e e x t e r m i n a t e d t h e s p e c i e s i n S e c t i o n 6. R a n d (I94B) s t a t e s t h a t t h e o t t e r i s r a r e i n A l b e r t a , a n d a l s o i n t h e Y u k o n T e r r i t o r y ( R a n d , 1 9 4 5 ) w h e r e i t i s s u g g e s t e d t h a t t h e s c a r c i t y o f f i s h m a y b e a c o n t r i b u t i n g f a c t o r . I t i s c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e o t t e r i s , i n g e n e r a l , u n -c o m m o n t h r o u g h o u t n o r t h e r n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , a n d t h a t i n s o m e a r e a s i t s n u m b e r s h a v e b e e n f u r t h e r r e d u c e d b y t r a p p e r s . S t r i p e d S k u n k ( M e p h i t i s m e p h i t i s ) T h e s k u n k r e a c h e s t h e n o r t h w e s t e r n l i m i t o f i t s r a n g e o n t h e G r e a t P l a i n s o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . I t d o e s n o t a p p e a r t o p e n e t r a t e t h e C o r d i l l e r a , e v e n t h r o u g h t h e b r o a d , l o w H a r d G a p . R a n d ( 1 9 4 4 ) r e c o r d s s k i n s t a k e n a t t h e j u n c t i o n o f t h e L i a r d a n d F o r t B e l s o n R i v e r s , a n d n e a r t h e T u c h o d i L a k e s ( l a t i t u d e 58 d e g r e e s E,). H e d o e s n o t r e c o r d i t i n the Yukon (1945). It has apparently been unable to reaoh the Stikine drainage east of the Coast Mountains* for there are no records of i t s ooourrence there. Stanwell-Fletoher ( 1 9 4 3 ) records i t as occurring in the.most northerly portions of the southern plateaux of the province, but the Skeena Mountains and high tablelands beyond have probably,prevented i t s spread northward. Munro ( 1 9 4 7 ) has recorded the species as unpopular with trappers, because of i t s odour, and the low value of i t s pelt. It i s probable that.many trapped animals are never skinned. As a result, the number of pelts sold is probably influenced as much by the abundance of fine fur on a trap line as by the abundance of skunks. Most skins taken by trappers have come from those areas drained by the Peace River in Forest Seotion 6, in open and semi-open grassland ecotone. Thirteen.have been recorded from this section. In addition, four have been taken in Section 7 in the same period in two adjacent trap lines in the headwaters of the Wapiti River (55 degrees N. latitude) near the Alberta boundary. . This species is not characteristic.of boreal, coni-ferous forests in California (Srinnell et a l , 1937) and in. Ontario i t i s most abundant in the open and semi-open southern parts of the province where remaining forests are predomin-antly deciduous, or mixed from transition between southern 85. h a r d w o o d s a n d n o r t h e r n c o n i f e r o u s f o r e s t . P a r t i a l l y c l e a r e d l a n d s e e m s t o s u p p o r t h i g h e r p o p u l a t i o n s t h a n d o e s s o l i d f o r e s t i n t h a t p r o v i n c e . It i s n o t e w o r t h y , t h e r e f o r e , t h a t s k u n k s o c c u r i n t h e B o r e a l F o r e s t o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a w h e r e o p e n i n g s , n a t u r a l a n d m a n m a d e , a r e m o s t f r e q u e n t a n d f o r e s t s h a v e a s t r o n g t e n d e n c y t o w a r d s p u r e d e c i d u o u s s t a n d s . I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e t r a p p i n g r e c o r d s f o r t h e s p e c i e s i n F o r e s t S e c t i o n s 6 a n d 7, t h e r e i s a r e o o r d f o r F o r e s t S e c t i o n 4, n e a r K o t c h o L a k e , o n t h e s a m e l i n e t h a t t o o k a o o u g a r t h e r e . T h i s , a l o n g w i t h R a n d ' s r e c o r d s f o r t h e j u n c t i o n o f t h e L i a r d a n d F o r t N e l s o n R i v e r s , p r o b a b l y d e n o t e s t h e northernmost p e n e t r a t i o n o f t h i s s p e c i e s i n t h e p r o v i n c e . T h e K o t c h o l a k e a n i m a l w a s t a k e n d u r i n g t h e t r a p p i n g s e a s o n 1947-48. C o u g a r ( F e l l s o o n o o l o r ) T r a p l i n e r e c o r d s c o n t a i n f e w r e f e r e n c e s t o t h e o o u g a r . G e n e r a l l y s p e a k i n g , t h i s s p e c i e s h a s i t s o e n t r e o f a b u n d a n c e s o u t h o f t h e B o r e a l F o r e s t . M u n r o (1947) r e c o r d s i t t h r o u g h o u t t h e p l a t e a u x o f t h e s o u t h e r n i n t e r i o r of t h e p r o v i n c e , a n d S t a n w e l l - F l e t o h e r (1943) s t a t e s t h a t i t i s o o m m o n a t H a z e l t o n , M u n r o ( o p . c i t . ) h a s n o t e d t h a t n o b o u n t i e s o n c o u g a r h a v e b e e n p a i d at T e l e g r a p h C r e e k , o r A t l i n . I t i s r a r e i n t h e P e a c e R i v e r D i s t r i c t ( C o w a n , 1939) a n d R a n d (1944) r e c o r d s o n l y w a n d e r e r s o n t h e G r e a t P l a i n s a n d L a i r d P l a i n t o t h e n o r t h . T h e r e l a t i v e a b u n d a n c e o f t h i s a n i m a l i n t h e n o r t h e r n p o r t i o n o f t h e s o u t h e r n i n t e r i o r p l a t e a u x a n d i t s 86. apparent absence north of the Skeena Mountains i n Forest Sections 1 and 2 suggest either an ef f e c t i v e barrier formed by the mountains or the i n a b i l i t y of the cougar to l i v e upon.the high, cold, dry plateaux beyond. Trapping data contain records for Sections 4* .6, and 7. That f o r Section 4 may be regarded as unusual. A l l other records are f o r the country south of the Peace River, where three have been taken i n Section 6, and 15 i n Section 7. In t h i s area, the data suggest that those taken are^wanderers. Of these 1 8 animals, one was taken i n the trapping s e a s o n - 1 9 3 4 - 5 5 , one 1 9 4 4 - 4 5 , ten 1 9 4 5 - 4 6 , and six 1946-47. From the many years when none was taken, and the sudden inorease i n catch during the period 1 9 4 5 to 1947, there appears to have been an immigrat ion of cougar into the foot-h i l l s and Great Plains east of the Rookies and south of the Peace River i n that period. Reoords of the cougar north of the Peace River are few. Gowan (1939) mentions his northernmost record as at the junction of Cypress Greek and the Halfway River, near l a t i t u d e 57 degrees W. i n Seotion 5« Rand ( 1 9 4 4 ) reoords an animal taken at Big Muddy Creek (another name for the Keohika River) i n Section 3, and reports of tracks seen at Tobally Lakes i n the Yukon and at Buckinghorse River i n Section 5. To these records may be added one additional reoord north of the Peace River, and the only one i n the records of white trappers i n this area* In the winter 1935-36j C. Brant took one near Eotcho Lake, i n the northeast corner of the province. Of a l l the records s i t e d t h i s one i s located farthest from the mountains. The cougar appears to be of uncommon occurrence i n the Boreal Forest of B r i t i s h Columbia, and seems to be present as wandering animals only i n the forest sections east of the Oassiar Mountains. G r i n n e l l et a i (1937) record i t as an animal of the transional zone i n C a l i f o r n i a , though frequently wandering to higher and lower elevations. Forest Section 7 has produced most of the trap l i n e records and this condition i s possibly the result of animals crossing the mountains, here r e l a t i v e l y narrow, from the Prince George area on the i n t e r i o r plateau where bounty s t a t i s t i c s show that the species i s taken regularly (Munro, 1947),. Section 7 i s the only section with suoh proximity to areas i n the province containing what i s probably a resident cougar population. An alternative source of these animals i s from the Alberta f o o t h i l l s and mountains to the southeast. lynx (Lynx canadensis) The lynx is taken throughout northern B r i t i s h Columbia, the forest sections exhibiting trends i n production, that are s i m i l a r to those of marten* While most authors give only general descriptions of the environmental requirements of lynx a l l agree that i t i s mainly confined to the northern coniferous forests. It goes beyond tree l i n e , both a l t i t u d i n a l l y ^ and l a t i t u d i n a l l y , only upon rare occasion (Dixon, 1938; Clarice, 1940). Its range i n Alberta would strongly suggests that i t does not f i n d grasslands, nor ecotone olosely approaching grassland con-ditions, suitable habitat (Rand, 1948; Soper, 1948). The li t e r a t u r e sheds no l i g h t upon the successional stages of the Boreal Forest most suitable to this species. Since the chief food of the lynx i s accepted as being the varying hare (Lepus ameriCanus) (Seton, 1929), i t i s possible that the habitats most favourable to both species are similar. Maolulioh (1937) has described habitats i n which hares are most numerous and these are a l l se r a i forests where deciduous growth i s most p l e n t i f u l , as i n bogs, swamps, brules, and wet areas overgrown with willows. lynx production in northern B r i t i s h Columbia (Fi g . 16) i s lowest i n Forest Sections 2 and 6. In the former section, where..,red fox and marten are not produced i n large numbers, and where the f i s h e r i s absent, the low lynx pro-duction may be a result of the r e s t r i c t e d forested areas, and the alpine influence throughout those forests that do occur. The speoies was probably never abundant i n Section 6. Soper (I948), writing of an area i n Alberta adjacent to this section, states that the lynx inhabited the mixedwood forest bordering the aspen parklands* but implies that i t probably did not occur i n the parklands themselves. He further states that lynx have been nearly exterminated by trappers i n the large region he studied about, and south of, Fig.16. Lynx Production Trends by Forest Section; the Peace River. Since both Sections 5 and 7 have lower pro-duction than sections immediately to the north, i t i s probable tbat these sections are influenced by both the unfavourable lynx habitat, and heavy trapping i n t e n s i t y of Seotion 6 adjacent to them. In support of t h i s proposed influence, i n Section 7, the nine trap l i n e s farthest from Seotion 6 and hence closest to the mountains, while they represent only 26 percent of the trap l i n e s i n the section, have taken 70 percent of the lynx production of the area. A s i m i l a r c a l c u l a t i o n i n Section 5V wherein a l l l i n e s i n the section north of l a t i t u d e 57 degree H. are considered, do not so convincingly support t h i s suggestion. Here 44 percent of the trap l i n e s have pro-duced 60 percent of the lynx production of Seotion 5. Forest Seotions 3 and 4 are the highest produoers of lynx, and these are the seotions with the largest areas of f l a t , swampy forest r e l a t i v e to their size. Of a l l the sections, these are also those least influenced by either tundra or grassland. An analysis of production i n Seotions 4 and 5 i n the four areas bounded by meridicms of longitude shows but slight variations that are probably not s i g n i f i g a n t ; From west to east the production of these areas i s one pelt for 38, 44, 38, and 53 square miles^ and i f i n the most westerly area two unusually large trap l i n e s are dropped from the data as has been done for other speoies, 58 square miles becomes 35 square miles; F o r e s t S e o t i o n 1 h a s a h i g h e r p r o d u c t i o n t h a n h a s S e c t i o n 2 , d e s p i t e t h e h i g h e r h u m a n p o p u l a t i o n , o f t h e f o r m e r . S e v e n t y - s e v e n p e r o e n t o f t h e l y n x t a k e n i n t h i s s e o t i o n h a v e o o m e f r o m t r a p l i n e s w e s t o f A t l i n L a k e * a n d h e n c e l e a s t a c c e s s i b l e t o t h e o o m m u n i t y o f A t l i n o n t h e e a s t s i d e . I t w o u l d a p p e a r t h a t t h e s p e c i e s h a s b e e n r e d u c e d i n n u m b e r s i n t h e e a s t e r n h a l f o f t h e s e o t i o n b y i n t e n s i v e t r a p p i n g . B o t h S e c t i o n s 1 a n d 2 a r e o f r e s t r i c t e d s i z e a n d l i e u p o n h i g h p l a t e a u x , m o r e o r l e s s s i m i l a r i n t o p o g r a p h y , w e a t h e r , a n d v e g e t a t i o n . T h e d i f f e r e n c e i n l y n x p r o d u c t i o n ( a n d h e n c e i n s o v a l u a b l e a n a n i m a l , p r o b a b l y i n t h e n u m b e r o f l y n x p r e s e n t ) i s m a r k e d , a n d a p p a r e n t l y b u t f o r h u m a n i n f l u e n c e s i n S e o t i o n 1 w o u l d b e e v e n m o r e m a r k e d . R e f e r e n c e t o t h e m a p s o f H a l l i d a y ( 1 9 3 7 ) a n d o f B o s t o c k ( 1 9 4 8 ) s h o w t h a t t h e f o r e s t s o f t h e Y u k o n T e r r i t o r y a r e , a s i n S e o t i o n s 1 a n d 2 , r e s t r i c t e d t o t h e v a l l e y o f r i v e r s t r a v e r s i n g e x t e n s i v e p l a t e a u x . I t h a s b e e n n o t e d p r e v i o u s l y t h a t F o r e s t S e c t i o n 1 i s r e a l l y c o n t i n u o u s w i t h t h e s e Y u k o n f o r e s t s , w h i c h l i e i n w i d e v a l l e y s f r e q u e n t l y w i t h b r o a d b o t t o m l a n d s . T h e f o r e s t s o f F o r e s t S e c t i o n 2 , i n b e i n g r e s t r i c t e d t o r e l a t i v e l y n a r r o w v a l l e y s , a r e h e n c e m u c h l e s s e x t e n s i v e t h a n t h o s e o f t h e Y u k o n . T h e l y n x i s t a k e n r e g u l a r l y a n d i s n o t u n c o m m o n i n t h e Y u k o n T e r r i t o r y ( R a n d , I945). I t m a y b e t h a t i t s a b u n d -a n c e t h e r e , r e l a t i v e t o t h a t o f t h e S t i k i n e P l a t e a u t o t h e s o u t h , i s d u e t o m o r e e x t e n s i v e f o r e s t s , a n d p e r h a p s a l s o t o a b e t t e r g r o w t h o f v e g e t a t i o n i n g e n e r a l u p o n t h e b o t t o m -l a n d s . IZ. The lynx i s apparently not a dweller of mature climax forests, as i s the marten, because l i t t l e such forest occurs i n Section 1 . Its apparent s c a r c i t y i n Section 2 would indicate that the speoies does not thrive i n fore s t s appro-aching timberline. It has been shown that i t does not appear oh a r a o t e r i s t i o l y to inhabit aspen parklands and that r e l a t i v e l y low production i n Seotions 5 , 6, and 7 i s probably in part due to this factor as well as to overtrapping i n the past. Its highest production- i s from Sections 3 and 4 , r e l a t i v e l y low, f l a t , poorly drained areas with, as has been noted by C o l l i n s ( 1 9 4 4 ) , nearly a l l forest i n various serai stages where hares, and hence apparently lynx, f i n d a favourable environment; Red S q u i r r e l (Tamiasoiurus hudsonlous) The red s q u i r r e l i s a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c mammal of the Boreal Forest and occurs throughout that f o r e s t i n B r i t i s h Columbia. While i t i s frequently among the most abundant mammals i n thi s forest, trappers i n B r i t i s h Columbia have only recently come to regard i t as a profitable harvest. The re-cords of white trappers i n the area here considered show that none was reported i n the period 1929 to 1935 i n c l u s i v e , but one trapper took the species i n 1 9 3 6 , nine reported i t i n 1 9 3 7 , and twenty i n 1 9 3 8 . By 1940 the number of trap-lines reporting this species had increased to 45, and from that year to 1948 the production of s q u i r r e l pelts has remained / 93. at a high l e v e l . In1 the following discussion these l a s t nine years only are considered. Sq u i r r e l pelt production by forest seotions follow the trends of a t y p i c a l coarse fur speoies ( F i g . 1 7 ) i n re-l a t i o n to trap l i n e size (Fig. 2 0 ) , with the exception that Forest Section 2 has a low production out of a l l proportion to the others. Omitting the data from t h i s section, the pro-duction of s q u i r r e l pelts by sections, expressed as the average number of square miles required to produce one pelt, was tested for c o r r e l a t i o n w'ith the average size of trap l i n e s i n each section* As has been found for both weasel and muskrat, there i s positive c o r r e l a t i o n , with a c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t of J . 8 6 4 . A f t e r c a l c u l a t i n g t, i t i s found that P Is l e s s than 0 * 0 1 . This strongly suggests that as trap l i n e size decreases there Is inoreased s q u i r r e l production from them, and as has been noted elsewhere, this may be the result of both inoreased trapper e f f i c i e n c y per unit area and the soaroity of fine fur animals i n regions so trapped.-It has been noted that data from Seotion 2 were omitted from t h i s c a l c u l a t i o n . The average size of the trap l i n e s i n this seotion i s 2 0 0 . 1 square miles, while those of Seotion j> average a comparable 2 0 7 w 2 square miles. S q u i r r e l production i n Seotion 5 during the nine year period averaged one pelt for every 1 * 7 square miles trapped for one year (or, more co r r e c t l y , for one trapping season). . If s q u i r r e l pro-duction i n Section 2 were governed by the same faotors as i n 9 V. 1 - 2 3 ^ 5 6 7 FOREST SECTIONS Fig.17, Squirrel Production Trends by Forest Seotions, other seotions, i t follows that i t s production should be com-parable to that of Seotion j>. Its production however; i s one pelt from 67.8 square miles, a noteworthy difference. The red s q u i r r e l i s a forest animal,. It has been shown elsewhere that other forest inhabiting fur-bearing mammals appear to be r e l a t i v e l y l e s s abundant i n the high, scanty f o r e s t s of Forest Seotion 2, as dompared to t h e i r apparent abundance i n other seotions. It i s possible that the red s q u i r r e l i s s i m i l a r l y l e s s abundant i n this forest, this condition re s u l t i n g i n low s q u i r r e l production from trap l i n e s there, Beaver (Castor canadensis) The beaver occurs throughout northern B r i t i s h Columbia ( F i g . 18), In comparing the productivity of the seven forest seotions the most s t r i k i n g feature is the near absence of t h i s species i n Section 6, where on the average i t has required 348 square miles of trap l i n e to produce one pelt per year. Since the sections to the north and south are com-paratively high producers, i t must be concluded that beaver have here been nearly exterminated through overtrapping. There appears to be no reason why environment would be responsible for this low population. I t has been shown that the topo-graphy i s f l a t , and drainage hence favourable to the species. Streams are numerous, and the predominance of deciduous growth suggests an adequate food supply. In t h i s seotion the reduction in numbers took place prior to 1929, for there i s l i t t l e v a r i a t i o n i n the catch during the period I929-I94B. Soper (I948) reports low beaver populations i n adjacent and simi l a r areas to the east i n Alberta, and attr i b u t e s the re-duced numbers to overtrapping. A comparison of productivity i n the remaining s i x seotions reveals rather constant production, with a tendenoy to f a l l into adjacent pairs. The two high plateau forests are intermediate, the two Peace River drainage forests are lowest, and the Liard drainage highest. The difference between the Liard and Peace River drainages i s probably a result of the r e l a t i v e l y high human population i n the l a t t e r area, with most pronounced effect i n Seotion 6 as shown, but with some of the influence penetrating into Sections 5 and 7. The rather scanty forest cover upon the high plateaux has not influenced beaver production there as much as was anticipated. This i s probably l a r g e l y due to the a b i l i t y of beaver to l i v e success-f u l l y above timberline, as noted by several authors (Gowan, 1943; Randi 194-5), where they may l i v e upon deciduous bushes. The many lakes and general poor drainage of Forest Seotion 1 have probably contributed towards high production i n that area. These drainage c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s penetrate into Section 2 and oover a small region. Two trap l i n e s i n this area have produced 57 percent of a l l beaver taken i n the seotion during the entire period. It has been noted that these two l i n e s have also produced 66 percent of the muskrat, and 69 percent of the mink. The aquatic mammal pelt production i n Section 2 i s , thus, l a r g e l y from t h i s r e s t r i c t e d area. It i s also note-worthy that Forest Seotion 3 and 4* the highest producing seotions, are the most poorly drained eastern sections with the largest areas of bog and muskeg. Swarth (1936) recorded beaver as nearly exter-minated about A t l i n . Trapping reoords indicate a marked i n -orease i n produotion i n this Section a f t e r 1 9 4 0 * In the period 1929 to 1939 i t took 7 7 square miles to produce one pelt, while i n the following period* I94O to 1 9 4 7 , 16 square miles trapped produoed a pelt. This increase i n beaver may be due to a decrease of 25 percent i n the human population through the 1930*s, a result of a marked decline upon the Indian reservations (Anon, 1 9 4 4 ) . Beaver i s a fine fur always bringing a r e l a t i v e l y high price to the trapper. In being sedentary to an unusual degree with i t s haunts clearing indicated by buttings, ponds, dams, and houses, i t is easy to locate and easy to trap. Rather uniform produotion throughout northern B r i t i s h Columbia suggests that environmental changes have l i t t l e e f f e c t ^ generally, upon population density. It i s concluded, there-fore, that the e f f e c t of past trapping i n t e n s i t y i s probably the most important factor governing differences i n pro-du c t i v i t y throughout the area. Muskrat (Ondatra gibethica) The muskrat appears to be a common mammal throughout a l l forest seotions. It occurs throughout the Boreal Forest i n the Yukon T e r r i t o r y to the north (Rand, 19.4$) and Clarke (1940) records i t north to the extreme l i m i t of timber i n central Canada. It does not appear to be an alpine tundra speoies. The species i s abundant throughout most of the Great P l a i n s . Soper (1942) has described the habitat supporting highest populations as large marshes, and sluggish r i v e r s and streams. The muskrat i s a coarse fur animal, and as such i t i s probable that the i n t e n s i t y with which i t i s trapped is governed more or l e s s by the abundance of fine f u r animals It would follow that trapper e f f o r t to take muskrats w i l l be high where fine fur species are scarce, and conversely where fine f u r species are abundant there w i l l be a tendency to-wards reduced e f f o r t upon muskrats, and more concentration upon fur species y i e l d i n g higher returns* In this connection i t i s of interest to note that Forest Seotion 6 has the highest muskrat production of a l l forest seotions, i s also highest for the weasel, but i s the lowest producer of the fine f u r s lynx, marten and mink. It i s not maintained that this condition i s absolute, nor holds throughout the data presented. It i s father a tendency, based upon economic theory, undoubtedly affected to varying degrees by animal d i s t r i b u t i o n and the host of other factors influencing fur production. Production by forest sections i s shown i n Figure 19, and t h i s figure has a remarkable s i m i l a r i t y to Figure 20 /co. 1 2 3 4 5 6 . 7 FOREST SECTIONS Fig . 1 9 . Muskrat Produotion Trends by Forest Seotions. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 FOREST SECTIONS Fig.20 . The Average Size of Trap Lines in Eaoh Forest Seotion; l o t . i n d i c a t i n g average trap l i n e size for the seven sections. A test for c o r r e l a t i o n between these two data gives a c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t of . 9 8 5 , with P l e s s than 0 . 0 1 , when the production figures are expressions of the number of square miles to pro-duce one pelt. In other words, there seems to be a marked tendency f o r small trap l i n e s to produce r e l a t i v e l y more muskrats than do large trap l i n e s . It seems probable, however, that a number of i n t e r -related factors act to bring about this c o r r e l a t i o n . It has been suggested previously that trap l i n e size i s probable a function of the size of human populations. There i s a ten-dency, with more people to have more trappers, and to acco-modate more trappers l i n e s must be more numerous and hence smaller. With Increased trapping and increased effeot upon the countryside by more people, many fine fur species de-crease i n numbers, or disappear* Thus, with f i n e f u r scarce, trappers turn to coarse fur, and on smaller trap l i n e s are able to more e f f i c i e n t l y trap a l l parts'of the .line. There i s the further consideration that the growth of an a g r i c u l -t u r a l oommunity takes place usually, in l e v e l country with sluggish drainage where s o i l conditions are good. Both of these conditions combine to produce dense muskrat populations. This condition explains, i n part, the high muskrat production of Forest Section 6, and the high oatch of Seotion 7 may be due i n part to l i n e s adjacent to, and hence influenced by the former section. 'OZ. The high production of Section 1 i s the resu l t of di f f e r e n t f a c t o r s . Mining development has produced the ne-oessary population to result i n small t r a p , l i n e s , but the s o i l s are not r i c h a g r i c u l t u r a l l y . The high muskrat y i e l d appears to stem from an abundance of lakes. Placer mining has created more ponds and lakes (Swarth, 1926) which may be of further importance. It i s of in t e r e s t to note that most of the Stikine Plateau (Porest Seotion 2) i s a very low producer of muskrats. The production figure for t h i s seotion i s l a r g e l y governed by two trap l i n e s in the lake country i n the north which pro-duced ,66 percent of a l l muskrat taken during the period I929-I948. The low production of Section 3 may be the result of the few lakes present, as w e l l as of large trap l i n e s . Seotions 4 and 5, i a having large trap l i n e s , r e l a t i v e l y good drainage i n their western f o o t h i l l s , and a r e l a t i v e abundance of fox, lynx, and marten, are poor muskrat producers. It would appear that muskrat production i n northern B r i t i s h Columbia i s governed to a marked degree by trap l i n e size as determined i n turn by the size of human population. It may also be true that through ohanae a high human pop-u l a t i o n occurs i n one section with favourable muskrat habitat. Agriculture and muskrat habitat often have the same require-ments, as i n Seotion 6, but the small l i n e s about A t l i n are probably a r e s u l t of chance mineral locations by large bodies of muskrat producing waters. It does not appear, therefore, that the c o r r e l a t i o n obtained i s e n t i r e l y the result of muskrats ana humans oonoentrating i n s i m i l a r regions because of similar lana requirements. Conclusions and Summary Speaking of fur i n general, i t bas been shown that the magnitude of fur production of the Boreal Forest i n B r i t i s h Columbia appears to be governed by both b i o l o g i c a l and economic faotors. After basic consideration i t i s i n -escapable that such would be so. The fur bearing mammals are present because of b i o l o g i c a l conditions, and they are trapped because of an economic demand. It i s rather the degree to which each of these groups of factors determined productivity that i s of i n t e r e s t . It i s probable that the two are acting i n determining the production l e v e l i n a l l fur species, and that i n some the two are acting almost inseparably. It has been possible, therefore, to examine the data only f o r what appears to be the most important faotors a c t i n g upon the pro-duction of each species. Innis (1927) has c l o s e l y examined the balance of supply and demand as i t a f f e c t s d i f f e r e n t kinds of fur as examplified by trends i n supply and price at the large fur auctions, c h i e f l y i n London. He has found that there are two types of f u r , one of l i m i t e d supply, governed apparently by the natural abundance of the species, and one i n which the supply apparently r i s e s and f a l l s to meet a variable demand. The f i r s t of these he c a l l s fine fur,, the second coarse, or staple fur, and as might be expected, f i n e furs bring higher prices not only because of better quality, but because there i s high demand i n the face of a more or l e s s fixed supply. While Innis* study i s of- fur auctions with a basis on time, t h i s study i s of trap l i n e s with a basis on space; Time has not entered into the present-study because a l l pro-duction figures used are based, with but sli g h t unavoidable v a r i a t i o n , upon the same period of time. The same p r i n c i p l e s have been found to hold true, however. The trapper has a demand, as determined by the market demand and hence the price offered for various kinds of fur; The supply i s the mammals themselves, variable i n a general way just as the numbers of the animals are variable. Innis has noted that i n h i s data there i s a tendency for the supply of fine furs to fluotuate. When the supply of f i n e fur i s low the demand and hence the price of coarse fur increases, and so the supply increases. There is a s t r i k i n g s i m i l a r i t y between this condition and trap l i n e production trends i n northern B r i t i s h Columbia. There i s , i n t h i s region, a tendency for areas with a high f i n e fur production to produce l i t t l e coarse fur, and conversely, where fine fur i s scaroe ooarse fur i s produced i n greatest quantitie This i s only a tendency, however, and i s modified i n a number of instances by p e c u l i a r i t i e s i n the abundance of c e r t a i n species. Thus i n the seven forest seotions. Sections 1 and 6", because of heavy trapping i n t e n s i t y i n the past, are now among the lowest f i n e f u r producing areas and the highest production areas for coarse furs* An exception i s the high production of the fine f u r mink from Seotion 1, apparently the r e s u l t of an abundance of l a k e s forming s u i t a b l e mink environment. S i m i l a r l y S e o t i o n s 3 and 4, among the h i g h e s t producers of the f i n e f u r s , fox, l y n x , marten, mink and beaver are among the lowest produoers of the coarse f u r s , muskrat, weasel, w o l f , coyote, and s q u i r r e l . The s i m i l a r i t y between the economic f a c t o r s a p p a r e n t l y i n f l u e n c i n g the supply of ooarse f u r s a t fur a u c t i o n s , and the p r o d u c t i v i t y o f these f u r s from l a n d , seems to be at l e a s t noteworthy. I t f u r t h e r suggests that economic f a c t o r s may be among the c h i e f f a c t o r s governing the magnitude of coarse f u r produotion i n some areas There are other f a c t o r s however that modify suoh an economic tendency as p r e v i o u s l y d e s c r i b e d , e i t h e r opposing or magnifying i t * I t has been shown that t r a p l i n e s i z e tends to be i n v e r s e l y p r o p o r t i o n a l to the p r o d u c t i o n o f ooarse f u r * The decrease i n t r a p l i n e s i z e i s e n v i s i o n e d as t a k i n g place w i t h i n c r e a s e i n human p o p u l a t i o n , and hence w i t h the inorease i n the number o f t r a p p e r s . Thus as the number of tr a p p e r s i n c r e a s e s each trapper becomes mor© e f f i c i e n t i n t h a t he i s tr a p p i n g p r o g r e s s i v e l y s m a l l e r a r e a s . With i n c r e a s e d e f f i c -i e ncy, f i n e f u r sp e o i e s become trapped out and t h e i r d i s -appearance i s hastened i n some sp e c i e s by the d e s t r u c t i o n of t h e i r h a b i t a t by the growing number of humans. As f i n e f u r spe o i e s become scarce, the t u r n to coarse f u r i s aooentuated by the h i g h e f f i c i e n c y of t r a p p e r s ; and i t s p r o d u c t i o n i n -crease i s g r e a t e r than i f the change i n e f f o r t t o take a d i f f e r e n t grade of fur took place w i t h no change i n o v e r a l l t r a p p e r e f f i c i e n c y . This complex of economic factors operates only insofar as b i o l o g i c a l factors allow them to. These b i o l o g i c a l factors are here considered as those; which are expressed i n the numbers of fur mammals within a given area, exclusive of those which are the r e s u l t of direct contact between the mammals and man. Thus trapping is considered as an eoonomio factor, but habitat destruction by humans, while of eoonomio cause, i s of b i o l o g i c a l e f f e c t . Throughout this study i t has been possible to examine the b i o l o g i c a l factors only i n a broad way, with dependence c h i e f l y upon vegetation to express the degree to which a given area provides suitable environment for a given species of fur-bearing mammal. For eaoh species these factors have been f u l l y discussed and conclusions drawn. This disoussion w i l l , therefore, point out only broad trends. It has been noted that coarse fur productions seemsj to be the r e s u l t of economic factors. There are note-worthy deviations i n several species, however, that indicate b i o l o g i c a l f a c t o r modification. The red s q u i r r e l production in Seotion 2 i s r e l a t i v e l y lower than that of a l l other seotions, apparently because of the r e s t r i c t e d nature of the forests there. S i m i l a r l y , the open nature of the same section, together with the abundance of game, has resulted, apparently, i n a high coyote and wolf production r e l a t i v e to that of other sections. The wolverine i s a coarse fur, yet i t s production appears to be governed almost wholly by the degree to which trapped areas are affected by high forests approaching tim-berline. It has also been shown that while part of Forest Seotion 2 i s high i n muskrat production, most of this section i s r e l a t i v e l y low i n production because of an apparent lack of suitable environment. These examples tend to support the theory that while economic factors may* alone, dictate the l e v e l of coarse fur production, they do so only insofar as b i o l o g i c a l factors enable them. In the two extremes, despite economic faotors favourable to a high muskrat production i n a given area, there oan be no production i f there are no muskrats conversely, i n an area where muskrats are extremely abundant, as i n ce r t a i n r i c h r i v e r deltas, through sheer numbers a v a i l -able, and despite an abundance of fine fur species, there may be a greater f i n a n c i a l return to trappers that concentrate upon muskrat produotion alone; Pine, fur mammals appear to be trapped i n numbers more or less proportional to the i r actual number i n a given area. Since t h e i r value i s high i t i s economically sound for trappers to take them as they are avai l a b l e . Thus, i n the long run, i t seems probable that production l e v e l s r e f l e c t actual abundance. I f t h i s i s true production figures should agree with statements as to abundance made by n a t u r a l i s t s , and f a i l i n g such information highest produotion of a given species should be i n areas known t© have the most favourable envir-onment for that species. As fa r as available knowledge has enabled such comparisons, i t has. been found that there i s agreement between production l e v e l and thi s other information. In general i t ha s been found that the heavily trapped Forest Sections 1 and 6 are low producers of f i n e fury not only from heavy past trapping, but because of habitat modification. Marten i s nearly absent i n both. Beaver, lynx, and mink are present i n small numbers i n Seotion 6, and fox production i s low i n Section 1; High trapping e f f i c i e n c y does not necessarily doom fine fur, however, as i s shown from the r e l a t i v e l y high production of beaver, lynx and mink i n Section 1, and fox and fisher i n Seotion 6. In some of these species the environment appears to be either favourable for residents or suitable to wanderers from neighbouring areas. Habitat destruction i s absolute, as appears to be exemplified by marten, but i n favourable habitat i t may be possible for a fine fur species to maintain i t s numbers despite intensive trapping as appears to be true for the species noted above; The aquatic fine fur species, beaver* mink, and otter* show a tendency to occur most abundantly where drainage conditions are most favourable. Thus Sections 3 and 4 with a f l a t topography and large areas characterized by.swamps and small lakes are among the highest producing sections of beaver and mink, while the abundance of lakes i n Seotion 1 has en-abled a sustained catch of beaver, mink, and ott e r despite intensive trapping. Forest dwelling fine fur species do not appear to be numerous i n Section 2 because of the small forested area, and the apparently scanty nature of much of the forest present. Thus marten production i s here not high, lynx production i s low* fi s h e r i s probably e n t i r e l y absent, and fox production i s the lowest of a l l sections. - — „ no. Marten and lynx produotion appears to be highest where the forests are least influenced by the effeots of tundra and grassland faotors and by the hand of mart. They thus appear to reach their greatest abundance i n f o r e s t Seotion 4 which i s also, perhaps for the same reasons, the highest pro-ducing section of both beaver and fox. A comparison of the productions of f i s h e r and marten, two speoies so c l o s e l y related as to be i n the same genus* shows some in t e r e s t i n g v a r i a t i o n s i n the manner i n which the s u i t a b i l i t y of environment af f e c t s the abundance of fine fur, and thus, apparently, the magnitude of i t s production. It has been shown that f i s h e r i s absent from the high forests of the Stikine and Yukon Plateaux while the marten i s found there. It follows that marten can successfully 1 l i v e i n forests approaching timberline, while f i s h e r seems unable to do so. It has also been noted that marten are nearly absent from Forest Section 6* probably because of three factors. Most forests i n t h i s section are of aspen parkland type wherein marten was probably never abundant; the few coniferous stands that were good marten habitat have been l a r g e l y removed; and heavy trapping i n t e n s i t y has probably accentuated the s c a r c i t y already induced by inadequate environment. Fisher, on the other hand, i s taken i n this section i n an abundance rather' intermediate to other producing seotions. Even i f t h i s re-l a t i v e l y high production is lar g e l y due to the trapping of wanderers, i t would appear that the aspen forests of t h i s III. section are more suitable to fi s h e r , with respect to being favourable environment, than they are to marten. This con-d i t i o n i s i n agreement with the general habitat requirements of the two species. The marten i s widely accepted as being confined l a r g e l y to forests of climax spruce, and the f i s h e r would appear to be most successful i n coniferous forests with a strong deciduous element i n i t s structure. Upon the Great Plains north of the Peace River, the production, and hence probably the abundance of the two species, appears to be greatest next the mountains and to decrease eastward. This greater abundanoe i n the lee of the Rockies seems to be due to the curious fact that while i n general deciduous trees appear to be more abundant there than eastward, there are also lowland s i t e s present which are the best producers of climax spruce f o r e s t s . It may be seen from t h i s general discussion* to-gether with information given under the various species, that i t seems correct to group fur bearing mammals as coarse and fine f u r ^ i n the sense used by Innis ?when considering trap l i n e data. The former seem to be taken as economic conditions dictate, insofar as the abundance of these mammals enables the economic factors to operate. Pine fur, on the other hand, appears to be taken i n an abundance more or l e s s proportional to the abundance of the species concerned. L i t e r a t u r e C i t e d A n o n . 1 9 2 1 - 1 9 A n o n . 1 9 4 4 . A n o n . 19 4 8 . A n o n . 1 9 4 9 . A n d e r s o n , R . M . 1 9 4 6 . B o s t o c k , H . S . '' 1 9 4 8 . B r i n k , V . C . , a n d 1 9 4 9 . L . F a r s t a d . B r i n k , V . C . , a n d I949 a . 1. F a r s t a d . C a m s e l l , C . 1 9 3 6 . C o l l i n s , A . E . 1 9 4 4 . . F u r p r o d u c t i o n o f C a n a d a . M i m e o . A n n . R e p t s . D o m . B u r . S t a t . , O t t a w a . C e n s u s o f C a n a d a , 1 9 4 1 . V . 2 , D o m , B u r . S t a t . * O t t a w a . R e p o r t o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a G a m e C o m m i s s i o n , 1947, p p . I -89 . N a t i v e t r e e s o f C a n a d a . D o m . F o r . S e r v . B u l l . 61, O t t a w a . C a t a l o g u e o f C a n a d i a n r e c e n t m a m m a l s . C a n . D e p t . M i n e s a n d R e s o u r c e s N a t l . M u s . C a n . B u l l . 102: 1-238. P h y s i o g r a p h y o f t h e C a n a d i a n C o r d i l l e r a w i t h s p e c i a l r e -f e r e n c e t o t h e a r e a n o r t h o f t h e f i f t y - f i f t h p a r a l l e l . C a n . D e p t . M i n e s a n d R e s o u r c e s G e o l . S u r v ; M e m . 2 4 7 : 1-106. T h e p h y s i o g r a p h y o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l a r e a s o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . S c l e n t i A g r i c , _2£: 2 7 3 - 3 0 1 . F o r e s t a d v a n c e i n n o r t h a n d c e n t r a l B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . . C a n . F i e l d - N a t . , 63: 37. F l y i n g t h r o u g h n o r t h w e s t e r n C a n a d a . C a n . G e o g . J o u r . , 12:112-122. P r e l i m i n a r y r e c o n n a i s s a n c e . F o r e s t r e s o u r c e s o f n o r t h e r n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a u n p u b l i s h e d . R e c o n n . N o * 1120, E c o n . D i v . , B . C . F o r . S e r v . C o l l i n s , A.E. 1946. Clarke, G.H.D... 1940. Cowan, I. MoT. 1939* Cowan, I. MoT. 1943. Cowan, I, MoT. 1947. DawsOn, CM. 1881. Dawson, G.M. Dawson* G.M. 1888. 1898. 113. Extensive reconnaissance* Forest resources of the Peace River Block and adjacent areas. Unpublished. Rept. No. 1121, Econ. Div.,. B.C. For. Sery. A biolo g i o a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the Thelon Game Sanoturary. Can. Depti.Mines and Resources, Natl. Mus. Can. B u l l . 96:1-133. The vertebrate fauna of the Peace River D i s t r i o t of B r i t i s h Columbia. Ooc. Papers B.C. Prov. Mus. No. 1: 1-102. Report on game conditions i n Banff, Jasper and Kootenay National Parks. MimeOi, Ottawa, pp. 1-71. The timber wolf i n the Rooky Mountain National Parks. Can. Jour. Res.; D, 2$: 139-174. Report on an expedition from Fort Simpson on the P a c i f i o Coast to Edmonton on the Saskatchewan, embracing a portion of the northern part of B r i t i s h Columbia and the Peace River Country. Geol. and Nat* H i s t . Surv. Can., Rept. Progress 1879-1880. Montreal* Report on an exploration i n the Yukon D i s t r i c t , N.W...T*, and adjacent northern portion of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1887* Dawson Bros*, Montreal. Report on an exploration i n the Yukon D i s t r i o t , N.W.T., and adjacent northern portion of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1887, with extracts r e l a t i n g to the Yukon D i s t r i c t from Report on an Exploration i n the Yukon and Mackenzie Basins, 1887*88.;, by R.G; McConnell. Queen's P r i n t e r , Ottawa. "1. D i x o n , J . S . 1938. D o b i e , : J . P . 1 9 4 8 . E l y , A.., H . E . A n t h o n y , 1 9 3 9 . a n d R . R . M . C a r p e n t e r . G r i n n e l l , J . , J . S . . D i x o n , a n d J . M . L i n s d a l e * H a l l i d a y , W . . E . D . H a m i l t o n , W . J , H e s s , Q..F. I n n i s , H . A , J o h n s t o n , W . A . M a i r , W . W . M o C o n n e l l , R . G . 1937. I937. 1939. I946. 1926. 1 9 4 9 . I898. B i r d s a n d m a m m a l s o f M o u n t M c K i n l e y N a t i o n a l P a r k . U . S . D e p t . I n t e r i o r . N a t l . P a r k s S e r v . , P a u n a S e r i e s N o , . 3: 1-236. T h e v o i c e o f t h e c o y o t e L i t t l e , B r o w n a n d C o . , B o s t o n * N o r t h A m e r i c a n b i g g a m e . C h a s . S o r i b n e r ' s S o n s , N ' . Y . P u r - b e a r i n g m a m m a l s o f C a l i f o r n i a . U n i v . C a l i f . P r e s s , B e r k e l e y . A f o r e s t c l a s s i f i c a t i o n f o r C a n a d a . C a n . D e p t . M i n e s a n d R e s o u r c e s , D o m . P o r . S e r v . B u l l . '89:1-50. A m e r i c a n m a m m a l s . M c G r a w H i l l B o o k C o * , N . Y . A t r a p p e r ' s r e c o r d o f a n i m a l a b u n d a n c e i n t h e O b a - H e a r s t a r e a o f O n t a r i o f o r t h e y e a r s 1 9 3 1 - 1 9 4 4 . C a n . P i e l d - N a t . , 6p_: 31-33. T h e f u r - t r a d e o f C a n a d a . U n i V . T o r o n t o P r e s s , T o r o n t o . G o l d p l a c e r s o f D e a s e L a k e a r e a , C a s s i a r D i s t r i c t , B . C . G e o l . S u r v . C a n . , S u m m a r y R e p t . , 1925, P t . A . , A p r e l i m i n a r y s u r v e y o f t h e t i m b e r w o l f G a n i s l u p u s p o p u l a t i o n s i n t h e n o r t h - w e s t m o u n t a i n r e g i o n . U n p u b l i s h e d B . A . , t h e s i s , U n i v . o f B . C . R e p o r t o n a n e x p l o r a t i o n i n t h e Y u k o n a n d M a c k e n z i e B a s i n s , 1887-88. I n R e p o r t o n a n e x -p l o r a t i o n T n t h e Y u k o n D i s t r i c t , N . W . T . , a n d a d j a c e n t n o r t h e r n p o r t i o n o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , 1887, b y G . M . D a w s o n . M c C r a c k e n , H . , a n d 1 9 4 7 . H . V a n C l e v e M a c f a r l a n e , R . 1 9 0 8 . M a c L u l i c h , D . A . 1 9 3 7 . M o o r e , E . S . 1944. M u n r o , J . A . 1947. M u n r o * J . A . a n d 1947. I . M o T . C o w a n . M u r i e , A . 1 9 4 4 , O d e l l , N . E , 1 9 4 9 . P e t e r s o n , R . L . a n d 1949. V . . G r i c h t o n . R a n d , A . L . . , , 1 9 4 4 . T r a p p i n g . A . S . B a r n e s a n d C o . , N . Y . N o t e s o n m a m m a l s c o l l e c t e d a n d o b s e r v e d i n t h e n o r t h e r n M a c k e n z i e R i v e r D i s t r i o t , N o r t h - w e s t T e r r i t o r i e s o f C a n a d a . I n T h r o u g h t h e M a c k e n z i e B a s i n b y C. M a i r . . . L o n d o n . F l u c t u a t i o n s i n t h e n u m b e r s o f t h e v a r y i n g h a r e ( L e p u s a m e r i o a n u s ) . U n i v . T o r o n t o S t u d i e s , B i o l , S e r i e s N o . 4 3 : 1 - 1 3 6 . E l e m e n t a r y g e o l o g y f o r C a n a d a . J . M . D e n t a n d S o n s , T o r o n t o . O b s e r v a t i o n s o f b i r d s a n d m a m m a l s i n c e n t r a l B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . O c c . P a p e r s B . C . P r o v . M u s . N o . 6 : I - I 6 5 . A - r e v i e w o f t h e b i r d f a u n a o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . B . C . P r o v . M u s . S . p e o i a l P u b l . N o . 2: 1 - 2 8 5 . T h e w o l v e s o f M o u n t . M c K i n l e y . U . S . . D e p t . I n t e r i o r , N a t l , P a r k s S e r v . , F a u n a S e r i e s N o . 5 : 1 - 2 3 8 . , . . E x p l o r a t i o n o f t h e , L l o y d G e o r g e M o u n t a i n s i n B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a . C a n . G e o g . J o u r . , 3 8 : 4 9 - 6 3 . T h e f u r r e s o u r c e s o f C h a p l e a u D i s t r i c t , O n t a r i o ; C a n , J o u r , R e s . , D , 2 7 : 6 8 - 8 4 . T h e s o u t h e r n h a l f o f t h e A l a s k a H i g h w a y a n d i t s m a m m a l s . C a n , D e p t . M i n e s a n d R e s o u r c e s , N a t l . M u s . C a n . B u l l . 9 8 : 1 - 5 0 . R a n d , A . L . 1 9 4 4 a . R a n d , A . L . I945. R a n d * A . L . 1 9 4 5 a . R a n d , A.I... 1 9 4 8 . R a u p , H . M . 1 9 3 4 . R o b i n s o n , M . J . , a n d 1 9 4 6 * J . L . R o b i n s o n . R o t h , F . I926. S e t o n , E . T . . 1929i S o l o m o n , M . E . 1949. S o p e r , J . D . 1 9 4 2 . S o p e r , J . D . 1948. T h e s t a t u s o f t h e f i s h e r i n C a n a d a . C a n . F i e l d - N a t . , 58: 77-81. M a m m a l s o f Y u k o n ; C a n . D e p t . M i n e s a n d R e s o u r c e s , N a t l . M u s . C a n . B u l l . 100: 1 -^93. M a m m a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n s o n t h e C a n o l R o a d , Y u k o n a n d N o r t h -w e s t T e r r i t o r i e s . O a n . D e p t ; M i n e s a n d R e s o u r c e s , N a t l . M u s . C a n . B u l l . 99? 1-52. M a m m a l s o f t h e e a s t e r n R o c k i e s a n d w e s t e r n G r e a t P l a i n s o f C a n a d a . C a n . D e p t . M i n e s a n d R e s o u r c e s , N a t l . M u s . C a n ; B u l l . 1 0 8 : 1-237. P h y t © g e o g r a p h i c s t u d i e s i n t h e P e a c e a n d - L i a r d R i v e r R e g i o n s , C a n a d a . G o n t r i b . A r n o l d A r b o r . , H a r v . U n i v . , 6; 1-230 F u r p r o d u c t i o n i n t h e N o r t h -w e s t T e r r i t o r i e s . C a n . G e o g . J o u r . , 3_1: 34-48. F o r e s t v a l u a t i o n . P r i v a t e l y p u b l . b y G e o . W a h r , A n n A r b o r . l i v e s o f g a m e a n i m a l s . D o u b l e d a y , D o r a n a n d G o . , N . . Y . T h e n a t u r a l c o n t r o l o f a n i m a l p o p u l a t i o n s * J o u r ; A n i m . E o o l . , 18: ,1-35* M a m m a l s o f W o o d B u f f a l o P a r k , n o r t h e r n A l b e r t a a n d D i s t r i c t o f M a o K e n z i e * J o u r . M a m m . , 23: 1 1 9 - 1 4 5 . M a m m a l n o t e s f r o m t h e G r a n d e P r a i r i e P e a c e R i v e r R e g i o n , A l b e r t a . J o u r . M a m m . , 29: 49-64. if7. 3 tanwel1-Fle t eher,J.F..,1943. and T..C. Stanwell-Fletcher. Swarth, H.S; 1922. Swarth, H.S. 1926. Swarth, H.S. Tourney, J.W., and G.F. Korstian. Watson, K.D., and W:.H. Mathews. 1936. 1947, 1944. Some aooounts o l the f l o r a and fauna of the Driftwood Val l e y Region of north central B r i t i s h Columbia. Ooo. Papers B.C. Prov. Mus. No. 4: 1-97. Birds and mammals of the Stikine River Region of northern B r i t i s h Columbia and southwestern Alaska. UniVi C a l i f ; Publ* Zool., 24: 124-314. Report on a c o l l e c t i o n of birds and mammals from the A t l i n Region, northern B r i t i s h Columbia. Univ. C a l i f . Publ. Zool., 30: 51-162. Mammals of the A t l i n Region, northwestern B r i t i s h Columbia. Jour. Mamm., 17: 398-405. Foundations of s i l v i c u l t u r e upon an ec o l o g i c a l basis. John Wiley and Sons, H.Y. The Tuya-Teslin Area, northern B r i t i s h Columbia. B.C.. Dept. Mines, B u l l . 19. Whitford, H.N., and I9I8. R.D. Craig. Forests of Commission Ottawa. B r i t i s h Columbia, of Conservation, 118. APPENDIX A. Pig.2 1 . The Physiography of B r i t i s h Columbia n o r t h of l a t i t u d e F i f t y - f o u r Degrees U. I ZO. F i g . 2 2 . The Extent of the B o r e a l F o r e s t i n B r i t i s h Columbia. The Area Covered by t r a p l i n e s from whioh P r o d u c t i v i t y i s C a l c u l a t e d . IZ-Z. APPENDIX B. /Z3. The Value of F o r t Nelson F u r The value of f o r e s t s i s too f r e q u e n t l y based s o l e l y upon the value of t r e e s , based i n t u r n upon the value o f lumber and other wood pr o d u c t s . F o r e s t s have other r e a l v a l u e s , i n p r o t e c t i n g watersheds, i n p r o v i d i n g r e o r e a t i o n i n -c l u d i n g hunting, and i n p r o v i d i n g f u r . These val u e s have seldom been examined, except p h i l o s o p h i c a l l y , probably beoause of the lao k of accurate data* Wood and f u r are two o f the most important n a t u r a l r e s o u r c e s i n l a r g e areas of Canada. In those areas w i t h best tree growth the f u r resource i s subordinate i n importance. There are l a r g e areas, however, where the f u r value probably exceeds that o f the wood on the same a r e a . In making a comparison of the value o f wood and fur upon the same area, i t i s evident that w h i l e the crop of wood may be harvested, say, every 100 yea r s , f u r i s an annual crop. The two values, to be comparable, would c o n s i s t of the wood value on one hand, and on the other hand, the annual value o f the f u r , y e a r l y f o r the r o t a t i o n p e r i o d of the f o r e s t , added to a sum t h a t i s accumulating compound i n t e r e s t . T h i s computation i n v o l v e s a number of d i f f i c u l t i e s , however. C h i e f among these i s the c h o i c e o f the c o r r e c t i n t e r e s t r a t e . Over l a r g e areas of Canada, where " f o r e s t r y " i s a term n e a r l y synonymous w i t h " l o g g i n g " , r o t a t i o n p e r i o d s are unknown, or sub j e c t to d i f f e r i n g o p i n i o n s . I t would appear that l o g val u e , on the l a n d where cut, i s the most comparable v a l u e of wood to raw fur; The eost to produce logs, and fur, would have to be known, and the cost to transport them to the place of f i r s t sale should be incorporated into such a c a l c u l a t i o n . Despite these d i f f i c u l t i e s , as an i l l u s t r a t i o n of the value of fur, some rough calculations may show the value that f u r speoies may have i n a rather l i m i t e d area. There i s not enough information available to access the value of the mature forests i n the v i c i n i t y of Fort Kelson. A recent survey ( C o l l i n s , 1944) estimates only 11,680 acres of merchantable forest i n the entire watershed of the Fort Kelson River, and 9,470 acres on the adjoining Muskwa River. The proportion of t h i s acrage within sixteen miles of Fort Nelson i s not known. On the eight trap l i n e s within sixteen miles of Fort Nelson, with a t o t a l area of 84$ square miles, (the same l i n e s refered to under marten) l 8 0 1 marten have been pro-duced i n a t o t a l of 92 trap l i n e years, or the eight l i n e s have produced approximately 157 pelts per year. The average annual value of a marten pelt for the period I929 to 1947 i s $ 2 7 . 0 0 . The average annual gross return i s , then, $4,239*00 f o r the eight l i n e s . Using compound interest, the value i n n years* of an annually paid sum r, at interest rate p, i s r x ( 1 .op"-l) .op (Roth, I 9 2 6 ) . Using the interest rate 3 percent, a rate often accepted i n fore s t r y calculations, the gross value of marten from these l i n e s in 100 years, i s $ 2 , 5 7 4 , 4 8 6 . 0 0 . Table II The Value of Fur in the Fort Nelson Area. Calculated to compare with the value of wood on the same area when the tree crop rotation period is 100 years. Species. Total Av.No.Pelts Ay. Av. Annual No.Pelts. per year, Pel-t-s. Gross Income 8 lines. of 8 lines. Beaver 3461 301 21.03 6330.03 Fisher 34 3 58.68 176.04 Fox 977 85 11.03 937.55 lynx 636 55 27.62 1519.10 Marten 1801 157 ' • 27.00 4239.00 Mink •332 29 12.61 369.69 Muskrat 356 31 1.36 42.16 Otter 21 2 17.41 34,82 Weasel - 684 , 5? .85 50.40 Wolverine 25 2 7.84 15.68 Coyote 44 4 1 7.50 30.00 Wolf 33 5 11; 60 58.OO Total 13,798.47 As an annual payment, $13,798.47, compounded, at 3 percent, in 100 years becomes $8,375,671.29. This figure i s gross income. One hundred years i s used as an a r b i t r a r y r o t a t i o n p e riod, probably too short f o r spruce at t h i s l a t i t u d e . I f one considers the annual returns of marten as inv e s t e d at 5 percent, a high but not unusual r e t u r n on some i n d u s t r i a l investments, the gross t o t a l i n 100 years i s $11,063,790.00. Table I I presents the average annual gross income from these e i g h t l i n e s , w i t h a l l species of f u r included except s q u i r r e l . I t may be Been that the t o t a l income f o r these l i n e s i s $13,798.47 per year* and that i n 100 years such an annual investment, at 3 percent i n t e r e s t , would have a t o t a l of 18,375,671,29. These c a l c u l a t i o n s are very rough, but i l l u s t r a t e the value a t t a i n a b l e of the f u r resource, even upon a l i m i t e d area, when t r e a t e d i n a manner that enables com-parison w i t h the value of a wood crop*