THE FOREST SERVICE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17230, 9 April 1930, Page 8

THE FOREST SERVICE

__ -«. . . ANNUAL CONFERENCE ADDRESS BY MINISTER (Per Press Association.) NELSON, this day. The lion. W. B. Taverner, Commissioner of State Forests, opened the annual conference of executive otlicers of the Forest Service. Uo said wo had entered upon the second phase of forestry history, the replacement of indigenous soft wood forests with exotic plantations, and to foresters this changing of the old,, order must be very interesting indeed. He bad noticed in Nelson and Marlborough specimens of exotic trees evidently planted by pioneer settlers. These trees had attained remarkable growth, and must, be of great interest, showing that- the soil here is well suited for afforestation. The Minister referred. to the presence here of the Oawthron Institute, with its forest biological, research station under the control of Dr. David Miller. This work he regarded as of national importance. The Minister also dealt with the depletion of milling forests, and the protection of forests, and paid a tribute to tho high standard set by the Forest Service generally. The Director of State Forests, Mr. E. Turner, in the course of his remarks, said the aggregate area of New Zealand state plantations now reaches 245,000 acres of valuable timber land, which is the largest area of state-owned planted forests in any one state of the British Empire. "Not only has this huge work been accomplished," be said, "but we can also justly claim to have applied systematic and business management to our indigenous forests, which, for tho most, part, were formerly under no management, but sales of timber were made on an antiquated, system which resulted in great waste and national • loss. Wo have under oip' care about '7,500,000 acres of indigenous forest. This is a huge, area, and many thoughtless .persons claim that a largo portion of thesn reserved lands should be opened up for settlement. From our practical experience in tho field here, and from a study of forestry and tho forests of other countries, we know that these reservations contain only, small fractions .of land suitable for settlement, and that were the reservations removed from the ■remainder and settlement allowed, the ultimate remit would be disastrous, both from a national point of view and for the individual.'"