TIMBER COMMIBBION.

Grey River Argus, 17 April 1909, Page 3

TIMBER COMMIBBION.

The Royal Timber Commission r< sumed at 10 o'clock yesterday mori ing. Mr T. Duncan, chairman, an all members were present. Arthur Fletcher, sawmiller, Wes port, said he had no doubt that th imiportaltion of Oregon pine interfer ed with the local product. He ha prepared a statement showing th cost of production at his mill. J costs for (tram laying gd per iooti tracking and felling is, .haulage ik trollying 6d, wear and tear 1, accider insurance ijd, a total of 7s 6d. To Mr Morris— He had an area c 500 acres and could not get mor< He believed that an area should b granted according to the timber w the ground. To put up a sawmill s a cost of £3000 you would requir 20 to 25 million icet. His outp'ii had fallen oif from 15,000 to io,oooi a week. lie could cut 20.000 feet week. ■ To Mr Barber — The cost of pre duction was 7s oid. He was worli ing at a profit of under sixpence, ri sold the timber locally at bs 6d nei He was not a member of any Associ ation. i'o Mr Ell — He sold all Lis outpu to Mr Cook at Christchurch. To Mr Stalhvrothy — The mill coul< cut 50,000 ft a month, but they wen only cutting about 30,000 ft at pre sent. Six men were employed am three working partners. To Mr Mander — He did not thinl that if there weore no Associations th( positdon would improve. To Mr Hanan— The reason why the firm did not join the Assorialtion was 1 a nersonal one. He believed in the Asbociatiou. To Mr Leylands— Mr Cook has nc interest in the mill. To Mr Ell— Tney were cutting a good deal of birch. |. G. Roberts, Commissioner pi Crown Lands, Hokitika, gave the-foih lowing evidence:— • .': -;' Area of "Alpine Forests" (i.e. from 2000 feet (above sea level) up to tho "grass-line") — 812.5 sq. miles or 520---000 acres. Area of Mountain Forests (i.e. between 600 and 2000 feet above sea level)— lo27.B sq. miles, or 1,041,820 acres. j* Area of low-land forest (i.e. between, sea coast and <>oo feet above sea Itf/. el) — 1181.0 sq. miles, or 755,840 sicTotal area of forest in Westland Land District— 362l.3 sq. miles, or 2,317,660 acres. Areas under forest and amount of milling timber thereon as follows:-— Crown Lands— l,2so,ooo acres, with 4,250,000,000 feet. State Forests— soo acres denuded of all milling timber. Forest Reserves.— so,ooo acres, with 10,000,000 feet. Scenic Reserves —15,000 acres, with 65.000,000 feet, Miscellaneous Reserves— 7 s,ooo acres, with 400,000.000 fa*- k\vs&&<& cox« ests— i4Q,ooo acres, with g00,000,000 feet. The above figures represent the approximate amounts of milling timber of all kinds and not the estimate* quantities of the two or tfl*ree varieties which are at present milled. If the fore-going estimates are halved wchaveitie'tlplKoxiirnHT.tfc fiiffurtes \\jhica represent the sawmilling timber, at present commercially available. Ine estimated area of Crown Lands held for sawmiling purposes under *ht Land Act, or the Estates 1- orests Act, showing dn each, case the name of the licensee and the acreage held. The estimated area of Crown Land still available for sawmilling purposes but not taken up, showing the districts in which the areas arc situated and the total area in each district: Grey County acres— lß9,9o4. Westland County acres 4>7> 1 50. The Westland Land District is wholly within a Mining District. All Westland, Grey, Inangahua and Hullcr Counties arc set apart as Land Board Timber Areas and arc administered by the Wardens. . Accordingly >ny person desirous of obtaining any Timber Right must apply to the Warden of the several Mining Courts. On receiving such application, the Warden forwards it to the Commissioner of Crown Lands, who in turn hands it to the Crown Lands Ranger for his inspection of the area applied for. We next return the application to the Warden's office, with accompanying Ranger's report, affirming, modifying or protesting, as tho case may be from a Lands point of view, when the Warden finally deals with the case. We afterwards plot (as best w« can), tha areas granted on our maps, and the Ranger inspects these and other mil's periodically and furnisjies^iuarlarly reports. ' ~~ ~*^ W A sawmiller is allowed to take up acres (i.e., one sawmill area 'of 200 acres and 3 reservation areas of 200 acres each), but if he is more than 4 miles from railway or port, then .he raav obtain an additional reservation or 1000 acres altogether. He must declare his sawmill area and after cutting out the timber, he surrenders it and takes on the next reservation as a new sawmill area and so on. Applications for right to cut timber in Westland are made to the Warden under the Mining Act, 1908, and the regulations made thcreunde.r, dated 28/12/07 (gazetted page ioQi 16/1/08). At present in Westland there is a, system of dual control which makes it rather difficult to effectually supervise the industry. Applications have to bo made to the Wardens of the different courts of which there arc several, from Ahaura in the North to Okarito in the South. Hitherto these have been granted on the poorest descriptions with a rough sketch plan attached. . Tihe result of this is that the Rangers have a groat difficulty in locatinir these areas and keeping the lessees to their own ground. The Land. Act, 1008, Sec. 3>2j Provides that the Land Board may also grant these areas, but by No, 117 of "the above quite] retractions, th- Board is expressly excluded ftom granting any timber license^ oa timber cutting "Action 149 of "The Mining Act, 1008," gives power to the Governor to do this if he "is of opinion that applications may be dealt with by the Warden more conveniently than by the Land Board.' , , On the areas and rescvrations being granted, as there is no mention made of supervision by the Warden s offirors. and as the revenue is territorial thn Crown Lands Rangers have been undertaking the work. But this quasi dual control has not .proved very satisfactory. The Westland County Council would prefer the Lands De.partiraqnt to have controly and In Feb ruary, 1908, a deputation of the leading sawmillers interviewed the Undersecretary for Lands at Greymouth, and earnestly besought him to the same effect. Mr Kensington assured thorn of his wish to accede to thoir retiucst and accordingly an Amendment A^t (in that direction), was placed before the House and the necessary clauses actually passed the second reading, but were afterwards thrown out At present the Wardens insist upon sawmillers taking areas and reservations in one fairly continuous block, but despite our protests, late Wardens granted these considerably apart, only long narrow strips of connecting lands between the several allotments, this, as they assured, complied with ibD Act, which provides tha^the areas and reservations shall join each other. This extraordinary interpretation of the Statute permitted the "grid-ir-onfng" of the country and a virtual local monopoly of «(he' milling bush. So it may easily happen again, that a Warden may quite conscientiously adorn the same view and re-establish the old system. Again, the Wardens necessarily can have little knowledge of the various milling areas which arc constantly coming under official decisions ; whereas the Commissioner of Crown liflnds has, from his own and his .••'cvors.': inspection an intimate acquaintance, wijh each district and its varied aspects, whether from s'awmilling, mining or settlement points oi view. When we have decided to cut up any bush-land for settlement, we receive a preliminary report from our officers and, having obtained the Warden's consent (to whom we report as to the land not being auriferous and onlj containing enough milling timber foi the settlers' own use, )the BlocK is surveyed and sub-divided into suitable sections, which are forthwith offcrci to the public. -A fairly complete ched against the chance of parting witl any marketable mill'mif timber is tns She Surveyor, who has -neccssarf{ traversed the whole block, has to n nort to us on each sub-divtsiori, es penally noting its value, any millin, timber, etc. In the past, as in the present; sum have taken up forest lands on accpur of these containing a large amount t milling timber, but very few settlet have ever taken un this heavily, tin 1 bcrcd land to rlear it for grass c rron. The one or two who have don so have merely cleared an ncic or s in the suburbs of a township, or. r in tho case of "Master's C^nrinp-f c the Grcvmouth-Marsden roa !^ ■• ■ v failure of it. in every way. This ' ' »f land won't pay to clear in Wes land, except perchance, in thr Uppi f»rnv district, where the l>vo .• .v birc occurs. All tho settlement lands «-«ni»r i Westland arc located on the >i°"itl: limbered Innds in' the. river vallovs. a on«- Ihe Coast or on the "faces" an

"shale slopes" of the inland hill tvucm there is a fair depth of soil ai c- mutual drainage. The adjacent land n- 011 me terraces and high lands, a id ueiccted in small areas, by the settl wuo lias to extend his Dodlmg ar it- provide some winter reed and shelt le for his young stock. And, unless tl r- sawmiller removes this heavy timbc id these lands, in the main, cannot ] le profitably occupied. In this respec It the miller becomes a benefactor, ai ft also by his tramways, clearings ai 3, cuttings, enables road access afte it wards to be more easily provided. T] sawmill hands, with their wives ai af f annies, are good cash consumers c. farm produce and thus provide ma ie kets for adjacent farmers, ai Hence, as the settlement of tl it milling timber land is consequent v :e on and involved in its denudation it forest by the miller and as the lai ft board has the final apportionment a such territory, it is considered ye: advisable that it should have full co: d- trol throughout the procedure. -- 4- Still,' it is difficult to compel mille le to clear all milling timber off ea< t. area> . There are in some places ares i-. of fallen, crushed trees, due to storm which wouldn't pay Jo disentangl it Many mature trees, when fallen, ai found too full of "shakes'* or split d and are therefore unmarketable. Mil c ing timßer growing oh broken lantfi .. such as faces of terraces, in gullic d and also on tops of isolated plateau cannot 'be economically taken out, a Ij tramways cost too much to reach th c bush. Certain varieties of timber are either not often marketable or nc 8 in demand at all, such as Ino, Kaw x haka. Rata, Kamahi (red birch . brown and. silver birch. For instance, a few years ago n j miller cut out white pine, as it wouli not pay, hence all these several vari x eties (although strictly large enougl for- milling), are left standing and r (together with other smaller forest) , often give an "un-cut" appearance t< ' many, areas. The sawmillers in some ! . localities,. are now reworking old area! „ for white pine, and in some localities ,- are, at present, either too close dowr for to cut white, pine on their reser vation. In short, the sawmiller does ( cut out. all the marketable timber , it does not pay him to v leave it behind. } Since ''steam-power bush-haulers,' -^(instead of the old methods of horst ■ and manual power) have beer, used, Umber is hauled to the mills from localities which formerly had to be at>- , andoned, as it woulcrn't pay to pul special tramways in to get it out, and ; consequently the busft is better ctii _ than formerly and many areas which were scamped in first cutting, have subsequently been cleared up. One of the chief reasons why the sawmiller's operations are by law confined to his sawmill area, before being allowed to cut on the adjoining reservation was to enable the Lands Department Co place this denuded area tn the market, as soon as possible, that is before the '"second-growth" sprang up,- but as shown above re has been\virtually impossible to insist upon this, nevertheless a time limit should be set, at the end of which period the miller must vacate those lands which could be leased to settlers. I consider it would be much better that millers buy timber cither by auction or on grant of application, in one or more instalments. By the present method the sawmiller has to keep a book, in which is duly set down the timber cut, and he sends in at the end of each quarter a sworn declaration as to the class and amount of timber he has cut for that period. The Ranger visits each mill, compares the miller's statement with the mill books, and next clicks these figures with the railway, steamers or carter's returns. This would appear a good method of audit, but 3'et it is difficult often to properly adjust discrepancies, as at the beginning or end of each quarter, there is almost always an overlap (more or less), between the railway and other carriers, as the timber may be standing in trucks, etc. But one especial reason for abolishing the present system of payment by royalty is in those cases where the Bawmiller is cutting on Crown lands and adjoining freeholds, etc., simultaneously. Here it is often very difficult to arrive at the true amount of royalty due to the -Crown or local body. The present system of the survey of sawmill lands is very unsatisfactory. A rough diagram often accompanies timber applications, which are forwarded by the Wardens for our report, and we are quite unable to locate the_areas.- _Many_ nreas were -HTanceor on such sketcbf sT^anoTrwe" can only, plot them vaguely on bur mans, which the Ranger has great difficulty in ' picking the boundaries up. By the regulations, the Warden may order a survey, but the cost is not to exceed .£5. Now a proper survey, in accordance with the Survey Regulations should be made, so that the various ttmas can be correctly placetf on our application maps, would also define adjoining freehold reserves, etc, and com-Dletelv'-do away with the present vagueness of these boundaries, thus preventing vexatious over-lapping. All outside and internal boundaries of the several sawmill areas and reservations should be cleanly cut and well nejnred so that the Ranger or the public would have no. difficulty in toi. lowing and inspecting the leased, aiea. The sawmiller should re-cut these lines periodically. The conservation of forest on scenic reserves has always engaged qur serious attention. , Owing to the present regulations not compelling the sawmiller to have the boundaries of his reservations well vut, we have bc^.n obliged to re-mark some of them especially in protection of these reserves. In_ one case, the foreman of a mill cut into the back of one reserve unknowingly, t but immediately jdesisted wh«in apprised of the situation and also paid full royalty. Fortunately very little harm was done to the reserve. Thus the want of a properly surveyed and- well-cut boundary line may easily lead to irreparable damage being done to many of our "beauty spots." The sawmill«rs have always been willing to safeguard these, but their bushmen can easily and unwittingly do them harm in the absence of a-guiding line. Our Rangers report upon all these reserves periodically. With regard to the afforestation of lands denuded of timbers by the sawmillers; opinions differ considerably. Poor wet land is hardly worth planting, as witness the slow growth of trees on many old sawmill areas. Some think it, would do to simply allow the "second-growrn' to spring up for a few years and then to thin out all the rubbish, while others believe it would pay better to grass cv : en very poor land, than to re-plant it" with forest. -In any case the reclaimed areas must *be fenced, otherwise cattle would damage it. In conclusion, I desire to acknowledge the good feeling- which has always existed between the sawmillers and our Department in settling any differences. And I beg to express my thankful appreciation of the courtesy and willing assistance of the Wardens of the district. To Mr Morris— He was in favor oi /fivinfl- extended areas to sawmiJlers ■ He was in accord with the new reg- .' ulation so as to encourage, more powl er to be used. He did not favor the ■ reservations. From his experience he ! found that a white pine forest was 1 better for agricultural purposes than 1 red pine. To Mr Hanan— He would be willing s to advocate a reduction in the royaltj so as to get the forest cleared for set--1 tlement purposes. He would supply 1 i. statement showing the application foi ' timber areas during the last three years. The new regulations migfr 1 have the effect of favoring men witl ; capital. He had never found cases 6 • dummyism. To his knowledge then i was no syndicate. He did not lenov • of any one holding too great a pro f portion of land. There was very littli under crop, most of the land was un der grass. In many cases the laru i is sour and wet. There are a go^i 5 many Crown tenants who hold bus! s land. They clear it and sow it i; » grass. About -80,000 acres of fores y wore reserved by the State. ■• Dur:»v t the last fifteen years lie could ric s staic how much' bush -Japd'had "bee s cut out. He did not think this <li< d trkt suitable for tree 'Mantinir. 'Tb k cost of production of timber "rW'i'st ir h crca*p.-si<* tho nv"er tipH to p-o . furthc it into t<w bush. fV would favor a <Jut [y on 'mvnTtp.fJ ' tinnier. ' c- Ti> Mr Jennings — r^here was. ahn\ s- i-i.ooo ii^res of Maori land in this di g tri.-f The lanrl after ''■bfrner .dftriuo.r of t'mbcr was in some plares fair f( lc settlement purposes^ . Sleeper gc it ters couM tako. out a license of ) h acres. The sleeper getter caused' rs "[od deal of waste. At the prese: hr Hme there were about 50 men gettiri 3r sleepers. . "...'... Ie To Mr Fioid — There were son 50 n.lare<s in the district that were sui ;is -abc for. tree-planting. There '.-was 'a :m out 140,000 acres owned by pj"iva 1. neople. He thought tho sawmill tr. should bear the cost of survey. it- Tr> Mr Barbr.r— He did not think er would be fair for a person to buy ;h second-hand engine and boiler ai tlvn claim iqoo acres as set forth in the new retrulation. yi ..,; To -Mr- Ell.— Ho would be in fay »1- f>f tho Forestry Department appoij id i" 1 -' exuerts to brine- under the noti

Is, of the people the value of the tim id bers not now considered marketable Ls, lo Mr Arnold— The sawmiller nev re er gets compensation for his tram er ways. id To Mr Stallworthy— There was i er large quantity of cedar pine going t< pc waste. There was an excellent fores ir, of cedar at Whitcombe's Pass, be To Mr Mander— He thought i :t, would be better to assess the quan id titv of timber on an area. It wouh id be of benefit to the State to withhoh :r- the cutting of kauri for 50 years he That could only be done by giving id compensation to the holders of th of forest. ir- To Mr Clark — A firm, in Hokitiki used cedar for Venetian blinds, bu he stopped using it as it warped, p- To Mr Morris — The fact of the saw of miller having to pay' one shilling pc id annum was detrimental to dummyism of The State mine did not pay royalty oi ry coal or timber. The Wardens coul<