Administration

Until the year 1931, forestry in Saskatchewan was administered by the Federal Department of the Interior, while Game and Wildlife came under the jurisdiction of the Provincial Government. In the late 1920’s, the Narrow Hills area was officially called District #5, under the care of Dominion Forest Ranger, Melvin Johnson and his assistant, Garry Parker. You will remember that they operated from their headquarters at Gilmore Cabin on the Torch River, reporting to the Game Commissioner, Andy Holmes, in Prince Albert.

Another early Game Guardian was a man by the name of Don Frechette, who was head quartered at Meath Park, but spent much ofhis time at Gilmore Cabin after 1922. He later was to become a DNR Field Officer, serving another 30 years.

On January 1, 1931, the Province of Saskatchewan took over the responsibility for Forestry as well as Game under the new Department of Natural Resources. District #5 was divided and its boundaries redefined to form the Grassy Lake and Candle Lake districts. Their headquarters were located thirteen miles north of the Village of Love. A small office was maintained at Smeaton.

Garry Parker became the first DNR Field Officer of the Grassy Lakes District and served there until 1941. One ofGarry’s trademarks that brought him fame was his wearing of a large Stetson hat. He claimed it would him to get closer to a fire than anyone else. Parker’s senior Patrolman was Burns Matheson, who had been with the Forest Service as a fire fighter since 1929. You will recall that Parker and Matheson worked together back in the early part of the 1930’s to develop the Nipawin Provincial Park.

In 1941, after five years as a Field Officer at Beaver House in the Fort A La Corne Forest, Matheson replaced Parker in the Grassy Lake District up until 1945. From 1948 to 1964, he served as superintendent of the DNR’s Northern Region, transferring to the Southern Region for a year before his retirement in 1965.

In the spring of 1940, Matheson directed his Patrolman, Ansger Aschim to conduct a Beaver census in the Little Bear Lake area. The census was secret and Aschim was known simply as a fur Patrolman, staying with Frank Clark. His work resulted in a beautifully hand-drawn map that detailed cabins, timberlines, beaver houses and other landmarks.

In the late 1940’s, the Grassy Lake District was divided into the Smeaton, White Fox and Grassy Lake Districts. The Narrow Hills fell into the Smeaton District.

On July 18, 1946, an agreement was signed between the Federal and Provincial Governments. This set up fur conservation blocks north of the 53^rd Parallel. Each block had its own council to act as a contact between the trappers and the DNR. The objective was to re-establish beaver, which according to Aschim'’ census had shown a depletion in many areas. This could have been caused by several factors, among which were uncontrolled trapping, poaching and disease. Beaver were being trapped live in places where they were plentiful and moved to depleted areas.

On April 1, 1973, the Administration of Northern Saskatchewan was assigned to the newly created Department of Northern Saskatchewan. The boundaries of the Smeaton Resources District were enlarged to run from mile 28 to mile 108 on the Hanson Lake road. On July 1, 1996, it was renamed the Fishing Lake District. Resources in the area are still administered from Smeaton for the convenience of the telephone and other services,although this office is actually outside the District.