Dunedin Forest Plan

Press, Volume C, Issue 29587, 9 August 1961, Page 14

Dunedin Forest Plan

The New Zealand Forest Service “ hopes to acquire “ an additional 30,000 acres “ in an area handy to Dun“edin within the next 10 “years”, according to a Press Association message from Dunedin. Forests in the region would be “ ideally situated to support “ a pulp and paper industry “in the city, or supply timber to the Asiatic markets”, the report says. The Forest Service should provide a great deal more information on this project before the taxpayers are asked to carry the burden of the land cost involved. Even if the land is “ non- “ arable, second-class ” land, this does not necessarily justify its use for forestry. The pumice lands of the North Island support some 750.000 acres of exotic forests, and little more than half their annual growth is at present being milled or pulped. Surely it would be more sensible to devote scarce capital resources to processing existing timber k stands before developing : more forests other than 1 those to meet local needs | k The State has a huge

investment in forestry already. Before the investment is increased the Government should examine the return on its investment. More than one economist has charged the Forest Service with uneconomic operation—selling its stands of timber, indigenous and exotic, at prices which fail to allow sufficiently for the time taken to reach maturity and for high replacement costs.