OUR TIMBER SUPPLIES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1803, 16 July 1913, Page 6

OUR TIMBER SUPPLIES.

c The preservation and development 9f the timber resources of the Dominion is not a burning question in party politics; but it is nevertheless a. matter of nationnl importance, and the report of the Forestry Commission which was presented to' Parliament yesterday will presumably receive the careful consideration of the Government and Parliament. There can be no doubt that in the past the timber supplies of the country have not been husbanded as they should have been. Abundanco too often begets waste. The question now is how to provide for the needs of the future. It was, of course, inevitable that timber standing on land suitable for settlement should have been got out of the way in the cheapest and most effective manner, and this is necessarily still the ease. No one can well object to the broad principle laid down by the Commissioners that no land,) unless it is required for the purposes of a climatic or scenic reserve, should be permitted to remain under forest if it is required for agricultural purposes; but on the other band the unnecessary destruction of timber should be prevented, and suitable areas sjioula bo

I planted with useful trees, which will bo available when the existing supplies are exhausted. Something is already being done by the State in the way of tree-planting, but the Commissioners think that this work should bo materially accelerated, and some' interesting figures are given to show that it would prove a profitable State enterprise. Stress is laid upon the inadvisability of relying on foreign timber supplies, which may be at any time cut off, and in any ease I it is manifestly unsound policy to import from other countries when we have large areas of pumice and gum lands lying idle which might be growing nearly all the timber wo need. In order that the recommendations of the Commissioners may be put into operation, it is suggested that the directing control of the forestry branch of the Lands Department should be placed in the hands of an executive officer of approved administrative and financial ability, who should have associated with hiin an advisory board of experts consisting of'not less than four members. This board should, it is recommended, meet at least once a quarter, and be paid something for their services. A go'od« deal of the report consists of a statement of the obvious, but obvious national needs of this character, which have very few votes dependent on them, are often forgotten in the heat of the political fray, and the'work of the Commission will not have been in vain if it leads to a better appreciation of the great importance of this question. To appreciate its importance is to realise the necessity for action on more active and broader lines than have been attempted in the past.