TIMBER MILLING

Evening Star, Issue 23355, 26 August 1939, Page 13

TIMBER MILLING

FEARS ARE NOT GROUNDLESS VITAL NEED OF SOIL-SAVING The executive of the Forest and Bird Protection Society strongly holds the opinion that New Zealanders should not accept without question a recent statement of Mr A. R. Entrican, Directs of. Forestry, about timber milling in high country. The report of his remarks had this passage:—' “ Fears regarding the worldng of the high country forests were quite groundless in many cases. Provided exploitation was carried out with care there was no reason why the milling activities in such areas should not continue.” A reminder is given by the executive that much of the timber milling in high country has been very wasteful, and has prepared the way for erosion. “ The main concern of Nqw Zealanders,” it is stated, “ should not be the passing profit of timber milling in areas where forests should be conserved, but the saving of the soil which provides the materials for food and clothing. In these days, when necessarily question of national defence demands the active attention of the public, it is vitally important to safeguard areas suitable for farming. New Zealanders would be truly shocked and alarmed if they had an accurate estimate of the loss of surfaces suitable for farming as the result of destructive sluicing and dredging for gold, foolish burning of native forests on steep slopes, and uncontrolled milling during the past few decades. Much land which could have yielded a living for thousands of people has been spoilt permanently. “ Admittedly the planted protection forests of Europe are carefully milled, but in the case of New Zealand, where the native forests are of a totally different nature, a different system ot management is required.”