The Press WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 1966. Demand For Trees

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31062, 18 May 1966, Page 16

The Press WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 1966. Demand For Trees

When the New Zealand Venture sails from Timaru today the last of 27 shiploads of timber from the Eyrewell State Forest will have left for Japan. This marks the virtual end of a massive emergency operation to salvage timber. It began more than two years ago after a gale levelled about 7000 acres of trees at Eyrewell. For the success of the operation much credit must go to the Forest Service, which mobilised all the necessary resources to deal with the emergency; credit must go also to logging contractors and sawmillers who concentrated their work on Eyrewell, to the Railways Department, the railwaymen, and road cartage contractors who have shifted nearly 25 million cubic feet of logs to 43 mills throughout Canterbury, to the port of Timaru, and to the Forest Service mill at Tapanui. The Timaru Harbour, Board, waterfront workers, and the stevedoring company which marshalled the logs at the wharfside have done an excellent job which has now come to an end. The exporting of about a quarter of the salvaged timber has earned the country £735,000 in overseas exchange, although the high cost of this part of the operation has not allowed the Forest Service net earnings comparable with normal domestic sales. The stockpiling and distributing company formed by millers, merchants, and the State has about 2.6 million board feet of timber still in store at Harewood. This surplus is small compared with the 52 million board feet used in Canterbury last year. Although merchants may prefer to handle timber from their own supplies, this relatively small stock will ease rather than embarrass the market.

As the normal pattern of milling is being restored, millers in the Christchurch area are becoming increasingly aware of the shortage of handy timber stands. Those with foresight are already looking for new sources of supply; and at least one major company is embarking on a big afforestation programme. Within a decade Canterbury may become a net importer of timber, certainly within 15 years. Forest Service forecasts suggest that within 30 years Canterbury will need to import as much timber as it now produces. The estimates of timber requirements recognise the latest population forecasts, the growing demand for timber in all its uses, and changes in the use of all building materials. The future for timber supplies is not bright, if only because the cost of transporting timber from other parts of New Zealand will considerably increase prices to the consumer. In the five five-year periods between 1975 and the end of the century the deficiencies between expected demand and the known resources of the province rise from 5 million cubic feet to 55 million cubic feet.

The predicted shortage should remove any doubts farmers may have about the wisdom of farm forestry. Farmers should be convinced already of its profitability. The establishment of large State forests in the province is no longer practicable; and private forest development should come into its own in Canterbury as it has in other timber-hungry areas, notably Hawkes Bay. The school of forestry at the University of Canterbury will play an important part in this development. The need for expert advice on the development of forests on the Canterbury foothills, in the river watersheds, and on the sandy coastal areas will grow. The Eyrewell devastation has demonstrated the difficulty of holding mature stands of timber as a buffer against impending shortages. The cost of moving logs over long distances has also underlined the importance of enlarging the province’s resources of timber if local millers are to retain their position in the Canterbury market. Investment in forestry has already assumed a high priority and the demand ensures that it will be a profitable undertaking.