EYREWELL PINE SOLD TO JAPAN

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30472, 20 June 1964, Page 1

EYREWELL PINE SOLD TO JAPAN

(From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, June 19. The Minister of Forests (Mr Gerard) announced today that the Forest Service has sold two shipments of radiata pine logs extracted from wind-thrown trees at the Eyrewell State forest to Japan. The order of approximaely 350,000 cubic feet will be shipped from Timaru.

The log-ship, Kunishima Maru, will take the first shipment on July 25. The second ■hipment will be in August It is expected the contracts will be extended to provide for another shipment of approximately 200,000 cubic feet in September and that regular monthly shipments will follow. In Parliament today, Mr Gerard said he had an open mind on the future of the Eyrewell forest Some of the area could usefully be returned to farming. A patchwork of farm and forest might work out very well and would lessen the fire risk, which was very high. “It was originally suggested by Federated Farmers,

or the Farmers’ Union as it then was, that the area should be used for forest,” said Mr Gerard.

“The whole 6f the 20,000 acres was laid out in continuous planting. “I believe that was one of the causes for the windthrow as the trees were all the same age.” The elimination of the forest would affect the supply of timber to Christchurch; but since the forest was first planted, dry-land fanning had immensely improved and now quite a good case could be made out for returning the area to farming, said Mr Gerard. “I hope we can co-opt some of the farmers in the area to assist the Land Utilisation Committee on this question.”