STATE FORESTRY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 185, 1 May 1919, Page 7

STATE FORESTRY

POLICY STATEMENT

EXPLAINED BY SIR FRANCIS BELL TO.LANDS COMMISSIONERS A statement, in the form of u/printed circular, was made by Sir Francis Bell, Minister ii: Chargo of the Forestry Department, to the conference of Commissioners of Crowii Lands' at present sitting in Wellington. . Tho statement sets ,uit the new policy of the Department of ■ Forestry, and bespeaks' tho assistance of . tin; . Crown Lands Commissioners in giving effect to it. ..' .■ Sir' Francis Bell stated that it had be- . conio necessary for the Government in ■regard to some Crown lauds , and to some Native lands to make such provision as ; would ensuro to' , tlie people'of Now Zea- ■ .land a/corfstnnt supply of timber foE. their •■ own purposes. • Export Must be Reduced.. .."I use the words.'their own purposes' deliberately," continued.'.- the Miiiister, s ■ -. .'.'and say that it is necessary to emplm- s sise those words and their meaning. The eiport of New Zealand timber for use in.countries.outsiile New Zealand cannot eoiitiuudin tho futuro as it hns in. the, "past, and it has already become obvious* that a3 to Eoiue. classes of .timber no fur-' ; ■• tlier licenses can be granted to sawmill- ' ers without the condition that.no timber fcnwn at tbo mill shall bo sold for export." The process of prohibition of export of somo classes of timber could be more gradual, continued Sir Francis " Bell, and he trusted thr.t tho millers v.-ould realise tho. position, and that it . vould be found that there Fas ample room i)i New Zealand for tho profitable . conduct of the industry without the,aid . of foreign markets. Apart, from the ex- .. port. causing a shortage, the . Minister ■pointed out that the .high prices obtnint<l for New Zealand woods outside the Dominion-had'-so inflated their cost in Ivew Zealand .'as .to increase beyond reason tho price, of timber'in New Zealand for all purposes. ... Future Policy. s "I desire your assistance." said the Minister, "in the foundation-of a policy which shall a3 far as possible conserve

..'for the .lieq.of tho people of New Zealand, both in the present and in the future, such, public, lan'ls now covered by , timber as are not required for land set- . tjement purposes, and for the planting '. of areas'of open land which, though, not required for settlement purposes, are suited for planting and afforestation. Approximately the area proclaimed as State forest land is 1,854,214 acre 3, of . which 1,46i,000 acres arp actually under: forest. Part of' this area comprises' high liind on which commercial forestry is not . possible, and.other parts wilbbo required for settlement, whea the milling timber . has buen cut and . removed." In ' view of. the serious and urgent demand ■■' ior land for settlement, the Minister eaid that it had. to bo' accepted .as a . li'axim- that; • where Crown lands rot as. State forest . reserves 'contained' goo,l land, the timber niust go and the land bo cleared. . But in all cases where the land was not of at least'average quality, tho Minister •declared that' he was satisfied that tho . best policy for New Zealand was "to re- .„■ tain the land as. forest, proclaim it as State forest, and deal with it scientifically for the provision of timber, not merely for the present, but .for .the distant future. "It. is: demonstrable,: I believe, '■ that forest land £6 held'and used pro- . vides a constant employment for" a greater number of people per area than any other ..industry," remarked the .Minister, who asked 'the..closest -consideration of -his bearers to the point of the dividing line , . between land suitable for. settlement and that which should be proclaimed as ■ State forest. The difficulty of labour prevented the carrying l out of a comnlete • survey to sottle this question, but ho had secured statutory' power to set aside areas as. provisional forest areas, so that when the question arose as to whether . the land could be marketed, the bpportun- .- ity' , would ..bq to ■retain;, a larga- ''.. portion,' of.' :it' for' ;forest jjitrposes.' ' The .' ':. Minister. also referred-, to-the ''possibility , . of preserving the bush in the headquarters of the sources of our'rivers and their tributaries, since such a plan avoided . eerious floods in lion-navigable rivers, and ".. conserved a constant flow' in navigable rivers. .'■'■■'■'. Price of Timber, ' Eefprring to the power obtained last session to. regulate the' price of New Zealand timber, the Minister said he had proceeded gradually, '. us it would have been unfair to; abruptly interfere with the, course of milling already established. The Board of Trade had given him valu- ■ able assistance, but ho was afraid there was an idea prevailing that nothing had been dona, though this was simply- due to the fact ihat neither tho '.Minister- in chargo of the Board of Trade nor the speaker bad thought it necessary to make public announcements' from time to time..' It had'been possible to make

regulations fixinn the price, of every class ■I ~\ of pulling timber in New Zealand, and . '.■} limiting the export of certain classes. Fellinfl Licenses. .The Minister suggested that (h< , regulations'controlling the sale of .standing • timber and the- granting of-.cutting, licenses had been 1 - miich misunderstood. Huge areas of laud covered with valu-

able forest were now hold under cutting license's granted in Hie past. J'n many va&a the land under the forest was 'wholly uusuilcd tor settlement. "Tho miller," he continued, "is to go Ju and destroy, and what is left behind him will bo barren and useless. Such cutting ■ rights, ought hoc to be have been indiscriminately allowed iji the past; the right to grant them in the future must as a matter of public policy be subject first to inquiry by .Government officials. The regulations do not prevent any private owner from himself cutting or destroying the timber on his own land, and it , is clear that a private owner who desires Hint others should mill his timber before liis laud is clear would obtain the license us a matter of, course.. The power of Native owners to grant 'authority to destroy forest line, I admit, been thus limited, but in my view no undue interference with the Native right has been effected. The power of wardens acting in wining districts to grant licenses to destroy timber growing in many cases upon land which would bo worthless for any other purpose has been curtailed to tho necessary power to grant cutting rights for mining purposes pure and simple. Sundry "Protests."

. Against this there lias been already violent protest, and I anticipate much further attack. So far as the protest is one voiced by tho sawmillers it must bo made plain that the policy is one that has been deliberately entered upon by thu Government, a:id will not bo altered. So far as tho protest comes from the local authorities which have derived revenue from royalties upon .all State timber, the question whether provision will be made for that.loss of revenue out of the Consolidated Fund has. not yet been considered by Cabinet. I am not in a position to indicate what will bo tho policy of the Uovornmcnt on that subject. But' it would be absurd to contend that the forests of Mow Zoalaud are to be destroyed in order to provide revenue for local authorities." The Minister added that lie had not interfered with the payment of a proportion of royalties from mining timber from the local authorities, but sooner or later tho .whole revenue, from State timber must como to- the' credit of the State Forestry -Account. Scientific Forestry. ' Sir Francis Bell etated that none of the loan of .£200,000 authorised last session for afforestation purposes lind been raised, and very little had been spent in anticipation of borrowing. It had been practically impossible during tho war to obtain the services of a trained, educated Director, of Forestry, and ho bclioved that the particular kind of officer required, with experience in modern methods ami. education in the scientific branch of forestry, would probably have to be sought for outside the Dominion. Two questions had to lie considered: Tho conservation of existing forest areas, and the plantation of poor land baro of forest. In the existing, forest, the milling of ripe trees ;could be undertaken for the use of the people of New Zealand. It-would not be conducted at an excessive rhte, and no injury should be done to the growing trees. Further planting operations of a minor kind should bo conducted as tho areas were cleared of milling, timber. The noarly fit. trees and tho smaller trees already on these areas would provide for the coming years and for tho less distant future. State Sawmills. ! "No sawmilling' , license should henceforth 'be granted for tho cutting of timber upon land which is to be preserved as forest except upon • these conditions. Tf: tho sawmillers will accept i- these conditions, they will find theni6elve,s .provided with a long tenure for their operations within the arefl of "their license. But if the sawmillers will not accept, then tho'alternative must bo faced of confining rowmilling to Stateowned mills.' In any case, I believe it will be necessary, to establish Stato sawmills in the Waip'ua kauri forest." ,: , Advice Asked. The Minister invited the' Commissioners of Crown Lands to advise him of areas, suitable for tree-planting, so that he I could establish' in various 'parts'of. the Dominion nurseries and plantations of quick-growing trees to provide in tho very near 'future-timber , for commercial purposes.; : Ex'{>e'rt,'-a<lvice was beiiig oh; uiined as.to the.best quick-growing trees/ It , was' certain,;' said, the Minister, that the remuneration: of the meu trained in nursery and planting"'work would have to be increased if planting operations -were-to be extended, and ho hoped) that many returned soldiers would be willing to. take up this work. Ho hoped it would be possible to bring under the control of the .Forestry Department the large areas of poor- land in North Auckland, where -a.il attempt could be made to reproduce the: kauri forests, partly by en-' couraging the growth' of trees already there, protecting them from fire, and by consistent planting, of kauri seedlings. As for the disappearance of white pine, the Minister said that settlers unable to liavo it mijled hud to fell and burn it. Its destruction could not be postponed, as 'the land was valuable, and tt> entirely prohibit the• export -would only have tho effect of ensuring its destruction by fire. There were areas where tho kahikiitea. was largely dispersed among rimu, and he trusted that by withholding those areas from sale, and transferring them to the State forests, the Government might bo able tV continue the supply of white pine tf or butter-boxes in New Zea- , lnnd for some considerable timo longer. The conference has not yet discussed ■tho 7jemoraudum.