THE FOREST SERVICE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 11293, 19 August 1922, Page 15

THE FOREST SERVICE

ANNUAL REPORT RAPIDLY VANISHING NORTH ISLAND SUPPLIES. DIRECTOR'S OBSERVATIONS. The annual xeport of the State Forest Service has been presented in Parliament. The Director of Forestry, Jlr L. Macintosh Ellis, says that the Forest Service has defined 2,600,000 acres of forested Crown lands which have not been as yet dedicated as provisional State forests. These a T eas are highly desirable for proclamation and administration by the service. Serious delay in the practical fulfilment of the forest policy and in tho building of the State forests as permanent wood-producing properties is being caused by the lack of trained forest technicians and other properly instructed forest officers. It -is to bo sincerely hoped that financial conditions will permit of the creation of technical educational facilities within the next year. Two of tho most im portant forest-observation regions namely, the Wellington region, which embraces Hawke's Bay, Wellington, and Taranaki provinces: and the Ncl--on-Marlborough region, which includes these two provinces—are still without Conservators of Forests. Tho *or«st research **nd experimental pr« jramme is being sadly hampered ihrough the lack of a trnined forest investigator. In order that there may be evolved an adequate silvicultural policy and a workable system of natural and artificial regrowth in our forest-producing properties a long, careful, and comprehensive series of studies, tests, and investigations must be carried out fin our indigenous and man-made forests. These important and vital works may only be executed in conjunction with a properly equipped forest experiment station. The Government was earnestly advised to provide for the establishment of a forest experiment station in Westland (in the heart of the greatest New Zealand forest region). A most serious bar to the planting and operation of private forestry and tree farms is the incidence of taxation on forest lands and plantations. A sciemtific method of taxation whereby the major burden comes at the culmination of the crop will stimulate to fuller participation by tho public in this profitable business of growing trees for profit, shelter, and domestic use. The Government, was advised to authorise a thorough investigation of the matter with Hie nreeentation of % plan of equitable forest taxation. DEFINITE PROGRESS. Definite progress was reported on all counts in this the first full year of the operation of the forest policy and the forest aeivice. The year had been noteworthy for the substantial area accession to the provisional State forest roll. During the year 272,351 acres of highly valuable commercial Crown .forest have been dedicated as provisional State forest. This contribution stands as an earnest of Hie aiooere spirit cf co-operation and of helpfulness of the Department of Lands and Survey in its desire to further the national policy of forestry. It is gratifying to note Hue substantial ana increasing interest in Hie establishment and growing of tree plantations, shelter belts-, woodlots, county and municipal forests, by the fanners, settlers, cities, towns, counties, other local bodies, and by corporations. From the two main sources of supply—i.e., the Forest Service and the Dominion Federated Nurserymen—over four million trees (and more than 4001 b of tree-seeds from the Forest Service) were disposed of to private planters during the year, as compared with a sale of probably a quarter of that amount for the previous year. By the exercise of economies, by loyal cooperation, and by the use of more direct methods the capital cost of Stateplantation establishment was lessened by £IO,OOO. In reviewing the national and private forest extension activities for the year it may truly be said that a, high water mark in afforestation has been set by the planting during the year in New Zealand of at least ten million trees, or 10,000 acres of new forest. The State plantations, now totalling 42,000 acres, may be conservatively valned at £2,000,000. The forest revenue for the year was £31,000 ■—the largest amount ever since the year 1912, and in the face of a steadily shrinking domestic and export timber Market. This sale revenue, whiah is 263 per cent, greater than that of the year 1920, is largely due to the introduction of a progressive timber-sales policy, increased exploitation, supervision, snd a closer control over royalties, returns, timber trespasses, and thefts. FOREST FIRES. In the prevention of forest fires on and contiguous to the public forests definite results were obtained through the operation of fire patrolmen, educational propaganda, and by the development of settler and fanner co-opera-tion. The forest fire season—from October to April —was fortunately a wet one, and aided materially in the setting of a record for minimum damage and destruction. Our records show the actual destruction of 5200 acres of woodland, valued at £4OIO. It is hoped that the creation of certain firs districts this year, and the improvement in the technique of detection and suppression of fires, will ensure the continuance of the splendid 1921-22 record. The annual timber wastage bill amounts to 8,000,000 tons. It is obviouß that a fuller economic use of our timber resources should prolong our valuable supplies by at least a generation. An outstanding result of the operation of the Forest Service was the success attained in the. reorganisation of the system of State timber sales. All timber is now disposed of openly and competitively. At first deliberate opposition was met with in some quarters, bub when it was seen that open public competition was fair to all the method has been generally accepted. A feature has been made of offerings to the small operator, and due regard is now being paid to the economic needs of local sawmill industries in each forested locality. The service has steadily laboured to bring home to every man, woman, and child in the Dominion a realisation and appreciation of forestry and its value. The rapid exhaustion of the standing timber is alluded to. It is estimated that in five years at least 30 sawmills in tho King Country will have and that within 15 years the ()hakun4 nulls will hate ceased to proV'de for more than local needs. Tho centre of timber production waa moving to Weetl&nd.

A 12,763.M0 acres has been aeld to settler.* in Alborta and Saskatchewan under tho Dominion Lands Att. Purchased homesteads totalling 1.322,840 arrea have been sold in these two provinces, on which the revenue was £604.830. and on which approximately £100,OCX) still unpaid.