NATIVE FOREST PROTECTION

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27072, 22 June 1953, Page 13

NATIVE FOREST PROTECTION

Deer Fence Erected At Tuatapere 2500 ACRES OF TREES ENCLOSED A deer fence nine miles and a half long and fully 7ft high, has been erected in an area of native forest in western Southland. The fence is the first structure of its kind built on an extensive scale in New Zealand, and was erected to protect 2500 acres of silver beech forest in the Alton valley, eight miles from Tuatapere. The Forest Service is at present converting this area of forest from’ its wild state to an even-aged, fully-stocked stand. To make possible the first large-scale management of the forest, the Forest Service was committed to control large numbers of deer. A compromise had to be reached between fencing areas that would have been too small and uneconomic to justify the expense, and those areas which would have been too large to allow the successful eradication of deer within the fenced area. The deer browse on the young silver beech seedlings to such an extent that it would be impossible 'to establish new forest without fencing and shooting. Without fencing, it was found that as soon as deer were shot out of one part of the forest, others moved

The fence in the Alton valley is a ring fence of eight wires, the lower five being nine inches apart. As well as posts which have been spaced every 20ft, the wires are secured by battens and droppers, the droppers being 2ft apart. Some early faults, such as deer forcing their way under the bottom wire of the fence, had to be remedied. Since the completion of the fence, rangers have closely inspected it five times for any signs of deer getting through. The nature, of this work in the management of timber stands is experimental. and it is being done in cooperation with the deer research crew of the Wild Life Division of the Department of Internal Affairs. An American in charge of the deer crew considers that the forest surrounded by the deer fence is the largest enclosure of its kind in the world. At Tuatapere, the Forest Service is not planting new stands of trees on milled areas, but is successfully managing natural reseeding grounds. When logging has been completed, all undersized trees which have not been milled, and other forest growth, are cleared, and the young seedlings are left to grow unimpeded. In three years, 250 acres has been restocked.

A much higher yield to the acre is expected to be obtained from the managed timber stands than from virgin forest. A virgin forest will yield 10,000 board feet an acre but a managed forest will produce* 50,000 board feet an acre. The virgin stands of timber at present being milled in western Southland are estimatedAo be 350 years old. but the managed forests which are being established are expected to be mature for milling at 120 years of age. Twenty-four sawmills Southland are cutting 10.000,000 board feet of timber a year. The primary return from the silver beech forests today is £25 an acre. The Forest Service is spending £lO an acre on silvicultural work and £2 an acre on deer fencing in some of the managed areas near Tuatapere. ’Hiere is a tremendous area of potential forest stands for management, but a large part of this is not State forest, and is held under various tenures.