FOREST POLICY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 196, 19 August 1922, Page 12

FOREST POLICY.

FUTURE TIMBER SUPPLIES. IMPORTANT SURVEY OF POSITION. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLIKGTOX, Friday. I In a foreword to the Force try Service 'report the Director (Captain L. M. Kllis) remarks that 2.000.000 acres of forested Crown lands have been delined. and Is still I ■ awaiting dedication as provisional State forest*. Those arc:vs are highly! desirable for proclamation and adminis- j tration by the Service. Serious delay in ! the practical fuliilmcnt of forest policy ; and in tK> building up of State forei-ts as j permanent wood producing properties is being caused by the lack of trained forest j technicians and other properly instructed ■ forest officers. He sincerely hopes that I the financial conditions will permit of I the creation of technical educational faci- I lilies within the next year. The fact ! that two forest conservation regions,; Wellington and Xelson-Marlborough, are' without conservators is commented iipon, and it is added that forest research and the experimental programme is sadly hampered by lack of trained forest investigators. A comprehensive series of studies, tests, and investigations in indigenous and man-made forests is deemed necessary to evolve an adequate eilvicultural policy and a -workable system of natural and artificial rv-growth in our forest producing properties. This important and vital work may only be executed iv conjunction with a properly equipped orperimental station. This the. I Director suggests -should bw established in Weetland. in the heart of New Zeai land's greatest forest region. J The incidence of taxation on forest I lands and plantations he cTitioisvs as a ■ bar to the planting and operation of private forestry and tree farms, and he roqueste investigation of an equitable scheme of taxation. The Director comments that a scientific method of taxation, whereby the major burden comes at the culmination of the crop. would I stimulate fuller participation by the j public in tln> profitable business of grow- ' I imj trees for shelter, profit, and domestic SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS. The report favourably comments on I the fact that during the year 272.3.") 1 ' J acres of highly commercial Crown land : i have dedicated as provisional State ! I forest, and it expresses gratification at : I the substantial increase in the establish- j ment of plantation shelter bolts, etc.. by many branches of the community. Over ! 4.000.000 trees and over 4001b 'of tree i seeds were disposed of to private I planters during the year. Altogether. I Iby the Service and privately, ten million ] ; trees on 10.000 acres were planted during the year. State plantations of 42,000 are estimated to be worth .1:2,000.000. The i revvnue for the year -was £:U.noO. the largest since 1!112. This revenue. 2ti3 per c-ent higher than in 1020, is attributed j to the introduction of a progressive sales policy, increased exploitation, and closer control over royalties returns, timber trespassers, and thefts. It U hoped that the creation of fire districts this year and the improvement of the technique of detection and suppression will ensure a continuation of the splendid work of lire prevention during the year. T"ifty per cent of forest inventory was eomple-tcd during the year, while in cooperation with the Auckland University College it was possible to begin a technological testing programme of important indigenous timber trees. This branch of research is deemed most important for New Zealand, as the annual timber wastage till amounts to 5.000.000 tons. The inventory, continues the report, has revealed the existence of large masses of merchantable timber bodies in out of the way corners. The work is bringing to light the intimate flelation between agricultural settlement, water j conservation and stream flow. In the i Rotorua region it has been found that 05 per cent of the forest land is unfitted for settlement, and a very large proportion of forest lands may be regarded ■as absolutely necessary for soil proj tective purposes. Successful settlement jon the Mam-aku Plateau and in the I TVaioeka watershed has been found impassible. The Urewera Country acted I as a guard and protector over the fer-1 tility of the righ Rangitaiki land, mid | lis the last stronghold and source of ; ' life and heart of the North Island | fore;te. Tt should be conserved and ' , managed in perpetuity as a great timber! I producing centre. The total receipts of the i J service. £30,830, were £11.130 more than the previous year, while the expenditure j totalled £107.. r )B2, a s against £7(1,551 in ■ the previous year. FUTURE SUPPLIES. The rapid exhaustion of standing timber is strikingly shown. In live ! years it is estimated that at least 3l» | sawmills in the King Country will have closed, find that within j fifteen years this Main Trunk district will have ceased to provide for more than local timber supplies. The centre of timber production is moving to Westland, and the year is noteworthy for a marked increase in the potential mil--1 ling capacity in that district. I t now I totals 100.000,000 superficial feet 5 annually. Westland and Southland, it *j is predicted, will shortly be ab!c to pro--5 vide the general national needs. Sand dune reclamation is also dealt r with in the report. An experiment • station is being established at the mouth i of the Rangitikei river, and as a result 3 J of the work the service hopes to define r the procedure of the construction cost and method for bringing into national production at least 300.000 acres of valueless land. OUR EXPORT TRADE. Dealing with the timber trade, the report states that the flooding of Australian markets with Baltic, Canadian and American Pacific, coast timoers caused considerable slackening in the demand for rimu and white pine, bu» the superiority of Xew Zealand woods proved every day will, it is anticipated, with the preferential tariff, cause +he Australian market to return to normal. The average value of all sawn timber exported to Australia increased by 1/ per 100 super feet over the previous year. As to the future many opportunities exist for the specialised use of many local timbers, and with the proj per development- of economic research work it should be possible, says the report, to reduce imports by at least SO per cent, thus effecting a saving to the community of a quarter of a million.