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By H. A. Innis

Journal of Pacific Affairs, September 1929

The importance of Canadian forest products to Pacific trade depends primarily on the developments of the Pacific coast. In the first place lumber is a bulky product for which the general advantages of water transport are realized to the full. In the second place the exhaustion of the forests in Eastern Canada and indeed in Eastern North America has given the virgin stands of large trees of the Pacific coast a monopoly position. The opening of the Panama Canal has made it possible for Pacific coast lumber to be shipped to points on the Atlantic seaboard and to compete effectively with Eastern lumber. The effect on the lumber industry of Eastern Canada has been serious and in the Maritimes the pulp and paper industry has received a decided stimulus. Lumber mills in Eastern Canada have found the size of the trees decreasing and white pine and other species especially suited for the export market becoming exhausted. In the face of increasing costs of transportation and in spite of large scale operations the competition of Pacific Coast lumber has been serious. Consequently, lumber companies and pulp and paper companies have tended to stress the production of pulp and paper from spruce and species less suited to lumber.

This paper does not pretend to be a discussion of the Pacific Coast lumber industry generally but only of that portion in the province of British Columbia. It may be advisable to note, however, that the exploitation of the forests of Oregon and Washington is proceeding with greater rapidity and that British Columbia will tend to become relatively more important from the standpoint of resources and export.

The export trade of British Columbia is limited chiefly to the highest grades and to the species of lumber in which she has a monopoly. The best grades of B.C. Douglas fir are the chief type of lumber exported. A discussion of this species of lumber will show to best advantage the problems of the B.C. industry in relation to Pacific trade. This species is chiefly limited by climate and soil to the southern portion of the coastal trench and Vancouver Island. The more accessible lumber along the coast has been exploited and penetration to the less accessible areas has begun. The mills tend to become concentrated at points favorable to the export trade at which lumber can be loaded with the least difficulty such as Vancouver. The logs can be floated in rafts from various limits to the sawmills. These factors have been responsible for several tendencies. The heavy character of the logs and the difficulties of logging in mountainous country with relative scarcity of snow have required an extensive investment of capital. The relatively heavy overhead costs and the possibilities of continuous operation with coniferous trees and a favorable climate all the year round have been responsible for a persistent flooding of the market with logs. The scattered character of the resources along the coast has been the principal cause of the division of the industry into logging and milling. Loggers consequently force the market and logs are sold on an open market. The lack of adjustment between logging and milling was responsible for the raising of the embargo on the export of logs during the war. The mills have expanded rapidly and the capacity has been far in excess of output. Fluctuations in prices and profits in such a commodity as lumber which is used primarily in the construction industry and is most seriously affected by the business cycle are of serious consequence. From the standpoint of the export trade the industry is in a position to expand rapidly given favorable prices.

The possibility of rapid expansion in the production of high grade lumber raises serious problems for the production of the by-product or joint product—lower grade lumber. The market for this product is largely restricted to the prairies and to the local market. The result of this tendency toward overproduction of the lower grades is shown in depressed prices and in careless handling of material which might produce lower grade stock. The waste is at once evident from the standpoint of the finished product and from the standpoint of slash and increased fire hazards.

The continued success of the lumber industry must depend on the efficiency of government administration. This assumes close cooperation between the Dominion, which owns large stretches of forest in British Columbia and the province, a carefully elaborated policy of conservation, and efficient enforcement of regulations.

On the whole the industrial revolution of the Orient which must be dependent on great quantities of cheap construction material has in British Columbia an ample supply. As the industrial revolution of Great Britain and of the United States in the nineteenth century depended on the cheap supply of lumber in Eastern America, so the industrial revolution of the twentieth century may depend on the cheap supply of lumber in British Columbia and the Pacific Coast.

The pulp and paper industry in British Columbia has advantages similar to those of the lumber industry. The species of tree more suitable for the manufacture of paper, especially spruce, are located chiefly in the northern section of the coastal trench. Abundant water power and reserves of raw material give the industry much the same advantages as those possessed by lumber in the expansion of the Pacific market.

The forests of Central and Eastern Canada have comparatively little influence on the Pacific trade for reasons which have already been indicated. The lumber industry has suffered a decline especially in white pine and the tendency has been to depend on smaller trees and mass production in mills. The American market has become increasingly important for smaller dimension stock. Pulp and paper has become more important with the decline of white pine and the increasing utilization of spruce. The abundant water power of the Canadian shield, the capital available from the earlier lumber industry, the technique and experience of American mills, and the rising prices incidental to the exploitation of the forests of the United States have been responsible for the rapid growth of the pulp and paper industry in Canada. The problems of conservation in the face of rapid exploitation have been attacked with varying success by the provinces concerned. The continued existence of the forest industries depends on the outcome of the measures designed.

TRANSCRIBER NOTES

Misspelled words and printer errors have been corrected. Where multiple spellings occur, majority use has been employed.

Punctuation has been maintained except where obvious printer errors occur.

A cover which is placed in the public domain was created for this ebook.

[The end of Forest Industries in Canada: Their Relations to Pacific Trade, by Harold Adams Innis]