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This series consists of annual reports created by several Forest Districts and Regions of the Ministry of Forests and its predecessors from 1975-1979. Records are included from the following Forest Regions and Districts: Cariboo, Kamloops, Nelson, Prince George, Prince Rupert, and Vancouver.

The records summarize the annual work conducted by each branch of the office. Subjects include: fire preparedness, protection, pest management, range use and administration, reforestation, silviculture, management of Crown land, valuation, research projects, recreation resources, natural resource management, engineering, staff training and timber tenures. Some reports include maps, charts and statistics. There is also a 1964 public working circles procedure manual.

This series consists of wildfire mapping records including fire atlas maps and fire reports from the Prince Rupert Forest District. The records date from 1921-1980. Collectively these records provide a comprehensive image of the amount and extent of forest fires in the area.

The Prince Rupert Forest District was divided into smaller Ranger Districts. These Ranger Districts changed over the years, but included: Burns Lake, Hazleton, Terrace, Prince Rupert, Kitwanga, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), Ocean Falls, Francois Lake, Smithers, Telkwa, Houston, Pendleton Bay, Kitimat, Lower Post, Topley, Bella Coola, Southbank, Telegraph Creek and Atlin.

Annual fire reports are oversized handwritten tables that provide detailed information on individual fires for the years 1921-1967. The tables list: name of the fire; name of officer in charge; date; district fire number; fire origin; cost of fighting and source of funds; area burned; total area of damage done; amount of merchantable and unmerchantable timber burned; amount of range land burned; amount of property or other damage caused; and the cause of the fire. Possible causes include lightening, recreational activities, railroad clearing, smokers, brush or range burning, construction, industrial activities, incendiaries, miscellaneous known causes and unknown causes. The pages are arranged by year, with one page used per Ranger District. Each year includes a summary sheet with the totals for all Ranger Districts.

Fire atlas maps and overlays show the location and type of fires, as well as the extent of some burned areas. The majority of the maps are forest cover maps which have been annotated or had overlays added with this additional information. Many of the maps have been cut to fit in the bound volume they were originally stored in. This can make it difficult to determine the precise year the maps were created and annotated.

The series also includes one scrapbook of newspaper clippings related to forest fires, fire protection and firefighting for the years 1988-1991. This item was created by the successor of the Prince Rupert Forest District, the Prince Rupert Forest Region.

Ministries responsible for the creation of this series, and their dates of the responsibility, are:
Dept. of Lands (1908-1945)
Dept. of Lands and Forests (1945-1962)
Dept. of Lands, Forests and Water Resources (1962-1975)
Dept. of Forests 1975-1976
Ministry of Forests 1976-1986
Ministry of Forests and Lands 1986-1988
Ministry of Forests 1988-2005

This series consists of records related to forest tenures from the Prince Rupert Forest Region, 1968-1980. It had been previously known as the Prince Rupert Forest District. The Prince Rupert Forest Region has included a variety of different Ranger Districts or smaller Forest Districts over time. The records in this series relate to the Burns Lake Ranger Office, South Bank Ranger Office and Lakes Forest District (near Ootsa Lake or the Nechako Reservoir). Note that the names and boundaries of districts and regions varied over the years.

These records include the following types of forest tenures: cutting permits, timber sale harvesting licences, timber sale licences and special use permits. Each file relates to one forest tenure.

The records regard the issuance, evaluation, administration, monitoring, planning, replacement, cancellation and extension of forest tenures. Many of the records consist of waste assessments, logging inspections and maps. There is also correspondence, permits, licences and other operational and legal records.

The ministries responsible for Forest and Range Districts, and the years that they were responsible, are:
Ministry of Forests (1976-1986)
Dept. of Forests (1975-1976)
Dept. of Lands, Forests and Water Resources (1962-1975)

These records were created before the implementation of ORCS, but have been retroactively scheduled under ORCS number 19500-45 of the Ministry of Forests schedule (881261).

This series consists of a variety of operational and administrative records created by the Prince Rupert Forest District from 1925-1975. The records are arranged into the following subseries:

A. Grazing
B. Management
C. Operations
D. Records

Subseries may be further arranged by subject. These include: Grazing: permits; Management: annual reports; Management: co-operation with outside agencies; Management: Public Sustained Yield Units [MPSYU]; Management: Special Use Permits [MSUP]; Management: Timber Sales [MTS]; Management: Weight Scaling; Management: miscellaneous; Operations: fires; Operations: Forest Service; Operations: Improvements; Operations: Office methods; Operations: organization; Operations: personnel; Operations: property; Operations: protection; Operations: Ranger Districts; Operations: requisition supplies and equipment [ORS&E]; Operations: supervision; Operations: public information and education; Records: advances; Records: accounts; Records: reports; Records: mill - shipping permits [RMSP]; Timber Tenures and Beachcombing; Compartment summaries; Species ledger and history cards; and Hazard work charts.

Records include correspondence, scaling and royalty records, financial records, mechanical records, grazing permits, annual reports, and records relating to timber tenures and timber sales.

This series consists of Forest Branch timber investigations and inspections files, 1913-1915. Records include correspondence and reports from Nelson, Prince Rupert, Vancouver and Vernon Forest Districts. Includes file on early logging railroads, Vancouver Forest District.

The series consists of scale and royalty invoices created by the Forest Branch and its successor the Forest Service between 1912 and 1975. Depending upon the district, these records are either duplicate or triplicate copies. For some districts, invoices were to be paid at the Victoria Office, for others at the appropriate district office.

The records are arranged by forest district, and then numerically by account number. Records are available for the following forest districts: Vancouver, January 1913 to August 1976; Cariboo, September 1972 to November 1974, Nelson, April 1925 to February 1975, Williams Lake (also known as Cariboo), January 1913 to January 1932; Kamloops, February 1913 to March 1975; Vernon, February 1913 to March 1925; Cranbrook, October 1912 to March 1925; Prince Rupert, April 1913 to October 1974; and Prince George, March 1914 to June 1952. Account numbers are assigned chronologically within each forest district. However, when numbers became too large and unwieldy the account numbers were started over again at one.

The province collects royalties on all logs cut in the province. Over time the royalties owing have been calculated in different ways. Prior to 1894, each licensee or leasee provided a monthly written account to government of the number of trees cut on a particular property. This count was referred to as "stumpage" and fees were based on the numbers remitted. In 1894, the enactment of the Official Scaler's Act (SBC 1894, c. 35) resulted in the appointment of official scalers. Scalers followed scaling rules to measure the volume of logs cut and were usually employed by the provincial government. Scalers also determined the species and quality, or grade, of the logs. This information was then used to determine royalties owing to government.

Three scales were accepted for use in the province: British Columbia Board Foot Log Scale (BCFBM), Scribner's Decimal C and Doyle Log Rules. In 1915, only the British Columbia Board Foot Log Scale as accepted (Timber Royalty Act, SBC 1914, c. 76, s. 17). This scale estimated the amount of lumber that could be produced from a log, in board feet. The Forest Act (SBC, 1912 c. 17) provides the legal authority for the government's administration of scaling and requires that all logs be scaled before manufacture or shipment. The act is also used as the authority to determine which is the accepted scale. In 1946, the British Columbia Cubic Scale was introduced. This scale measured the volume of the log in cubic feet that might be ~suitable~ for the manufacture of lumber. In 1952, all measurements had to be done using the cubic scale.

A significant change occurred in 1965 when the BC Firmwood Scale Cubic Scale was adopted. This scale measured the net firmwood content of the log and was unrelated to its use for lumber. The purpose of this scale was to serve the government's requirements to assess fees and track the volume of harvests for statistical use and planning. By 1972, all other scales were discontinued. In 1978, a metric cubic scale replaced the imperial cubic scale. There are two primary methods of scaling used in the Province: piece scale and weight scale. Piece scale involves the measurement of each log harvested. This method is normally used in coastal areas where the logs are larger and not uniform in size. Weight scale is a sampling method where selected loads of logs over a period of time are piece scaled and this data is then used to estimate the volume of all other weighed loads. This method is used primarily in the interior of the Province and was introduced in 1963. It is used primarily for large volumes of smaller logs that are uniform in size. Other scaling methods may be used for small volumes of special products, for example, Christmas trees or fence posts.

This series contains a timber mark certificate issued in the name of John F. Murray, Refuge Bay, Porcher Island.

Correspondence, notes and other papers on forest pathology, timber cruising, and the supervision of licenced scalers. Personal correspondence relating to the Forest Service and poetry and song sheets from annual forest ranger meetings.

This series contains operational records concerned with the North Line and North-west Line timber study reports: File 1, Smithers Veneer Plant Study; File 2, Port Simpson Sawmill Proposal; File 3, Terrace-Hazelton Forest Resources Study.

The series consists of invoices for building rentals, timber mark hammer purchases, and other items for forest districts handled by the central records office of the Forest Branch and later the Forest Service in Victoria. Records are arranged by forest district and then by invoice number. Invoices numbers are assigned chronologically. The records include: Kamloops (number 1 to 400, 1921-1931); Victoria (number 1 to 4400, 1914-1951); Vernon (number 1 to 155, 1921-1925); Cranbrook (number 1 to 39, 1921-1926); Nelson (number 1 to 2399, 1921-1951); Prince George (number 1 to 1300, 1921-1926); Prince Rupert (number 1 to 2800, 1918-1951), Williams Lake (number 1 to 81, 1920-1932) and Vancouver (numbers 1001 to 2000 and 4001 to 16442, 1929-1952).