THE LOWER OTTAWA FOREST PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION LIMITED
Head Office at Chelsea, Que
April 4th, 1960
Group Captain JW Griffith
Royal Canadian Air Force
Victoria Island
Ottawa, Ontario
Re: Forestry Tower near La Macaza, Que
Your file no S10-136-80/5 (JDPG)
Dear Sir:
This will acknowledge receipt of your letter of March 14th regarding the height required for forestry lookout towers. You ask if your 75 foot tower with lookout cabin at 65 feet will be satisfactory.
There is no general answer to this question. It is necessary that the observer be high enough so that surrounding trees and local topography will not obstruct his line of sight. In our Association we have 65 towers which vary from 60 to 100 ft in height. In the majority of cases we have found it necessary to go to the 80 foot height, which is measured from the ground level to cabin floor.
Assuming that your question is a general one, and not referring to any particular location such as La Macaza, it has been our experience that the 65 foot tower would be unsatisfactory in many locations.
As for La Macaza, the exact location of the new tower would be required to determine the minimum satisfactory height of the structure for forestry purposes.
Yours truly,
H J Irving,
Manager