A RECORD YEAR

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 64, 12 September 1924, Page 7

A RECORD YEAR

PROFITABLE FORESTRY

DEPARTMENT'S REPORT

NEED FOR DEFINITE PROGRAMME.

"The year just closed has been another record year in.. profitable forestry operation in the ' "Dominion," says the animal report of the State Forest Service. The total forest income from all sources— sales of trees,. timber income, grazing, and minor uses—was £93,479, whilst the total operational, protective, and general management expenses were £12,584 (a distributed charge of only lid per acre), leaving a balance of £50,895, which was applied to the capital investment of State forest plantations throughout the Dominion and to their maintenance, protection, and improvement. . During the year 7207 acres of new plantations were established in the Rotorua, Hanmer Springs, Balmoral, Tapanui, and Westland districts, as compared with 2862 acres established in 1922----23, 3408 acres in 1921-22, and 1381 acres in 1920-21. This result is indeed encouraging, particularly when it is remembered that this new acreage of 7207 acres was formed at a cost of not more than onehalf the unit cost of those of former years. The total area of State plantations now in New Zealand embraces 51.----825 acres. A successful .beginning in direct afforrestation operations in the cut-over bush lands of the Westland Province was made during the year. The planting of the first 140 acres near Hokitika has been ■primarily successful and augurs well for the future. _ The total quantity of trees for planting disposed of to settlers, returned soldier farmers, runholders, local bodies and.others was 1,840,000, which constitutes another record in the history of the service. v SALES OF RIPE TIMBER. _ Another highwater mirk was set during the year in the many advantageous sales^ of ripe timber made for immediate and. local use to State Departments, sawmiilers, sleeper-getters, farmers, and others. A total of £266,388 worth of ripe timber was sold on competitive terms in qualities torn a few hundred feet up to several million feet. Special consideration was given, as usual, to'assisting cooperative sawmilling groups and in making impossible for the small operator to I secure raw material on such terms as would permit him to compete successfully in the manufacturing and marketing of his timber. • •. The year marked the fixing of a new i high water mark in private, proprietary, and local body afforestation aotivties 4t least three sawmilling companies have pledged themselves to definite projects ultimately involving at least 7000 acres; whilst the sum' total of new private plantations and shelter, belts established by farmers, settlers, and runholders during the year is 5000 "acres. A prominent fea , ture of the year was the launching and formation of at least twelve plantation companies organised for the chief purpose of planting and growing timber crops. Ihe establishment of at least^O - 000 acres of commercial tree plantations should result. For the year about 500 acres were formed by this agency. Other industrial proprietary and co-operative enterprises, were.responsbile for fche planting of 500 acres, whilst 1500 acres of artificial forests were created by borou°-hs and county bodies. Other State Departments were responsible for the planting of 200 acres. PJn-f!f 1* M T eage of Plantations established during the year, including the btate plantations, was 15,000 acres c.,,™ 11^ 1 and essential addition of S]« t aC + l e\? f.- CrT n forest lands w»! made to the National Forest Domain dur'l7nw^aiyear- Th 6 total domaiu is now 7,433,181 acres, or 11.2 per cent, of the total area of the Dominion. RECASTING OF POLICY. '/'The time will soon be ripe," says' the report, tor a complete recasting of our national forest policy in the-.light of the knowledge and experience gained as a result of the investigations and developments of the last four.years. Our Do-i minion-wide Forest Inventory shows the timber resources of the country, their distribution and volume—we know fairly accurately what lands may be permanently dedicated to timber-crop production • our national growth can bo gauged, and we know what may be secured . from i planted forests. The service must now consider the problem of formulating a permanent.and lasting forest programme • and in. a few months it must express a definite, exact, and practical plan upon which can be built our national forest policy for all time. A programme of reasoned use which will ensure to New Zea land her national safety in plentiful wood | supplies, in continuity of water flow, and in the widest and greatest use of our forest lands and resources;" The work of the service is now seriously handicapped through lack of trained men: the setting-up o f a departmental periodic school of instruction, and the recognition of ii properly equipped School of forestry at one of the University col-' j leges are urgently required and should be proceeded with. Forest officer trainees to the number of thirteen wore recruited to tbo service, and it is hoped to increase this number as suitable candidates appear. ■. • . ■ 1 j CONSTITUTION OF STATE FORESTS. i At the close of the year the area of permanent State forests stood at 1,674 - 844 acres, the area of provisional State forests at 5,661,830 acres, and the area of forest reserves at 96.507 acres—a grand i,total of 7.433..181 acres, as against 7 315 - 706 acres m 1923. Tho wide disproportion between permanent State forests and provisional State forests must be corrected, for it is evident that at least j,000,000 acres of provisional areas comprise lands chiefly valuable for. forestry and not for agriculture and settlement In relation to the area of forest lands now dedicated to timber-crop production and to protection of stream flow, it is interesting to note that the total unimproved occupied land of the Dominion has decreased by 232,629 acres from the year 1919-20 to the year 1922-23; whilst the total increase in the acreage of unimproved occupied land which has reverted to fern, scrub, ■ and second growth has increased by 230,708 acres during the same period. The total area- of barren and unproductive land indicated for the year 1922-23 is 1.952,7?* 'acres, and of fern, scrub, and second-growth" land is 3,953,075 acres, making a grand total of 5,905,789 acres—really a serious burden raid a dead-weight on the -regions in which they have accumulated. ""The residual' nationally owned forests of the Dominion must therefore be sacredly conserved for our present and future iiceds, for every acre of .forest land will be required. Substitutes and economies in utilisation will only partially offset the normal increase in demand as population

The year-lias been a record one in foi cst receipts. The total receipts from all sources paid into the Stato Forests Account was J893.+7!.). of which amount the •IlilWrios ..ml i.)pnl(,tiu,« , v irl,i.«l £82'_>( i.

count were £93,479, of which' amount the cent, over the year 1919-20. The general widespread demand for sawn timber throughout the' Dominion was reflected during the year in greatly increased business in State Forest Service timber sales of ripe, mature, merchantable timber from State forests; and more timber was cut from the State forests during the reporting period than over before in their history.