WORK IN THE FORESTS

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 28, 1 February 1919, Page 4

WORK IN THE FORESTS

A new department was created last year charged with the conservation of existing forests and with the reafforestation of denuded or waste lands. Also Parliament authorised the raising of a loan of £200,000 to carry on the work. These steps have met with general approval, for the depletion of our timber resources has become a matter of general knowledge, and there has been the usual chorus from Ministers and members of Parliament that we "must do something." An instruction so delightfully vague has afforded little assistance to the Commissioners of State Forests; but-for-tunately Sir Francis Bell is a man who, when requested to "do something," may be trusted to interpret the instruction for himself with the aid of expert advisers. Up to the present, however, the Minister has given no inkling of his interpretation. Doubtless he has made inquiries and is preparing for action; but the public will be interested to learn what line he proposes to take, both, in the direction of conservation and in accelerating the work of systematic reafforestation. This matter is not one for the enthusiasts alone j it touches thf) public directly, whether the timber is for a fruit case or a dwelling—and there is no need in the present day of high building prices to magnify the importance of a policy which will assure a better position for the future as regards building material. There is another aspect of the matter which emphasises the need for an early announcement of policy, to be followed by prompt performance. Forestry is open-air work, and when the fit men of our armies come to be demobilised there may be many to whom, an energetic afforestation policy will afford employment, either as a permanency or as an occupation to be followed until the soldiers can settle on the land for themselves.