Cleaning Up

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30405, 2 April 1964, Page 14

Cleaning Up

Good progress was being made in the huge I programme of cleaning up the damage caused 1 by winds to the Eyrewell State Forest, the Canterbury conservator of forests (Mr F. J. Ranger) said in Christchurch yesterday. Up to 40 million cubic feet of timber was affected.

Mr Ranger said local sawmillers were co-operating well with the Forest Service by obtaining their requirements from Eyrewell in preference to standing trees in other forests.

of Forests (Mr Gerard) to submit proposals for the use of 40 million cubic feet of timber at the Eyrewell State Forest, the Press Association reports from Wellington. Mr Gerard said today that as a result of the gales on March 20 and 25 the Forest Service was seeking the speedy disposal of the windthrown material, which covered about 10,000 acres. It comprised radiata pine logs ranging from 10 inches to 19 inches in diameter. The Minister said that the department would welcome the widest possible interest in the disposal of the timber, which would be suitable for sawn timber, posts, poles or for conversion to plywood or particle board.

The Forest Service had a engaged additional contrac- 5 tors to cope with the supply S of logs to the local market, s The prospects of stepping up t the export side of the busi- c ness were also being closely investigated, Mr Ranger said. 1 There had been a good re- t sponse to the Forest Service’s recent advertisements c for additional bushmen to t help out at this time. i Immediate requirements t for contractors were almost '• filled, but further experi- 1 enced bushmen and tractor- I drivers would be required soon at the forest. The need to take on more men had , brought with it the associated . difficulties of the speedy provision of accommodation and other facilities, Mr Ranger said. Port Advised The Lyttelton Harbour Board has been advised that the Forest Service hopes to send out as much as five million cubic feet through the port in the next two years. Yesterday a meeting of the board was told that storage space would be needed for stacking the timber at the port, and berthing facilities for two ships a month would be required. Mr Ranger said that it was hoped that most of the uprooted trees would remain in good condition for nine months, possibly longer. A number of the trees still had a small proportion of their root system in the ground, and would keep alive if there was some rain soon. Continued dry weather in Canterbury at the present time, was not very helpful to this end, said Mr Ranger. Trees, of which the roots were completely out of the ground were in a less happy position, but if the rooting system was up in the air, and became saturated with rain, it could be helpful, he said. The timber industry has been invited by the Minister Duke May Visit Mexico (N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) MEXICO, March 31. The Duke of Edinburgh will visit Mexico probably in June, a senior Mexican Government official has disclosed, the Associated Press reported. The source denied rumours that the Queen would accompany the Duke, the agency said. But in London a Buckingham Palace spokesman told Reuter nothing was known of the matter.