FOREST POLICY.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 December 1921, Page 1

FOREST POLICY.

POSSIBILITY OF FAILURE. (By J. ii Simmonds). A careful analysis of the Forests Bill before Parliament, and of the statements and admissions made by Captain Macintosh Ellis, in bis Auckland lecture, leaves the impression that the proposed State forests policy will j neither avert a timber famine nor save ; our denuded uplands from being washed into the sea. J For the past 25 years or more our ■ State forests service lias given its attention mainly to the planting of exotic timber trees on denuded areas. State forests officers and private planters alike assumed from experience and observation that tbe indigenous forests i could not bo easily preserved, and 1 would not readily regenerate under the conditions imposed by European occupation and settlement. In all directions the indigenous forest flora was seen to lie recoding and vanishing. . Everywhere there were indications that ! nil exotic forest flora was destined to lake ils place. It thus became a generally accepted opinion that the chief : function of a forest service was to plant . the most promising of the exotic timber ’ trees as fast, and as extensively as ims- ! siblc. ' These conclusions, based on ihe ex- . perieui o'and observation of 5(1 years, I are now challenged. Men who have ! lived and worked among the lives are ' asked to believe that the native species 1 grow mill'll faster than lias been supposed, and can lie regenerated in the mass without any serious difficulty. The time has come when the taxpayers of New Zealand should take an interest in this question and ascertain the truth, ii will he convenient to begin with statements that must he i accepted on both sides of the argument. I (her large areas of the Dominion the ' original native forests have totally disappeared. There exist now only remnants. Two or three thousand acres ol kauri in the North, some patches of mixed bush in Central North Island, beech forests in the far South, mixed forests in Westland, and a little mixed ; hush in north-west Nelson- —these are ! all that remain. Even these remnants arc I’ontiiiuoush shrinking. Felling ini settlement, sawmilling, and lavages b\ tire annually reduce the acreage. ; ' REGENERATION OF FORESTS. At a time when the whole world is menaced with timber famine, we are ' asked to turn to these remnants of in- ' digenous forest as the major and permanent source of supply for our growing population and industries. The proposnl is based on tho liehol that the native hush can lie satisfactorily re- ■ generated and improved. IVe know that under favourable mill adapted cim- , Hi Lions all forests regenerate by natural ; process. We know also 11 int it is ihe normal practice of foresters lo use regeneration who rev or possible, instead ol planting.' In Australia, the eucalyptus forests . regenerate to a millablo ma-, tni it v ill about 10 years: hut we have no native tree in New Zealand equal in vitalilv and rate ol growth to the : eucalypti. In Europe a pine or spruce or iii Iciest will regenerate tor the sawmill in about St) years: tail here, again, the forest riuidit ions diller I rum those of tut: naive hush. The bel.avi'itls uf mi; indigenous forest, when tout-lied bv Enrol)'an -el tlcmcut. is no seerel. It has been under the observation of hundreds of capable and wellinformed men for ovc halt a century. Experts mining along now may resiud.*.' tla problem, hut they cannot alter general conclusions. We are at a stage when the truth about our forests must he told with fearless ramloiii'. What th. n, is the truth with respect, to regeneration h The answer need not make a long story. Tinge is not in al| New Zealand a single sawmill working in hush llini has grown up li'oiii i since the ground ", as winked over by an earlier ‘mill. If any saw miller has turned back lo cut his ground over again, il has been because, at tin' first culling, lie bail let t 1., hind solve mature, or nearly mature.

tiers standing. Ttiere is not to he found an, .'V. here ill the track ol the sawmills or of the .forest fires a compact thousand acres ol clean and evenlyspaced saplings. Degeneration is taking place in many localities, but it is rarely satislaelor.v or siiHieientlv promising. What we usually see is a tangled growth ol shrubs, bracken, and blackberry-bramble. with scattered specimens and patches ol the timber-yielding -peeies. All this: could bo altered and improved by llie employment of numerous skilled, workmen : but the cost would he very great and the harvest slow in coming to maturity. It is on account of cost that olios (inn is taken to the extensive planting ol erotics on open eountiy : but al'tei a few years of experiment ue may have to admit that the elleitive regeneration ol llie native bush i, stio la sue costly and much less profitable. Omv established and matured, the man-made fon st will have a much hells r pi-lisped Of natural regeneration than the indigenous fin-si ; so that ultimately ihc plaiting scheme will he

a long way the more profitable for the nation. Something must be done with the mixed native bush, of course, but the best thing to do may be to interplant it with tbe most vigorous exotics and leave them to fight out the battle of survival with the natives. The native trees most likely to lie reproduced on a considerable scale are kahikatea and rimu, both of which yield timber of relatively inferior value. Their replacement by exotics would bp no economic loss to the country. Tbe possible cultivation of the kauri is a problem apart, and will always be restricted to limited areas in the North. DIFFICULTIES AHEAD.

The second great function of forests is the protection of uplands from erosion, and of rivers from being choked up with silt ; and here, again, the proposals of the Forestry Department fail in their outlook on national necessity. It will be obvious to any one who gives the subject even casual thought that forests, situated on the western slopes of tho South Island, or in Central North Island, can do nothing to restore and protect the vast areas ol denuded and wasting upland in oilier parts of the Dominion. Tile State lias no scheme for attempting to save these uplands, beyond giving a little timid advice to owners ol land and local bodies.

A third vital principle in lorostry is th "t the trees shall lie grown iii localities u hence tin* limber and other produets ean he carried to ihe places of use conveniently and at moderate cost. the steep ridges and deep gullies of Mostland will always be practically remote from the markets. It may be that they are fit for nothing else hut forest, and must always he clothed with trees; but that can never be a sufficient reason tor not providing forests on the east boHl'd ol Lae country, and within some reasonable distance of the cities and largo towns.

The taxpayers should wake no at once to the utter insufficiency and unsuitabloness of the policy Unit is coming so painfully to the birth. ( aptain Ellis is probably doing and saying all that it is possible to*' him to do and say. He is in the grip of conditions that lie may deplore as sincerely as any of us who arc trying to help his cause, lie must know where arc being planted to-day the seeds of disappointment and failure. Me must know that any attempt to regenerate the indigenous forests of New Zealand will be difficult. costly, and slow of ! *’s. He must see reason to doubt whether, tinder any treatment these forests can be made to maintain even their present yield. It must be obvious to him that forests are llrgeiitlv needed in other places to conserve tile rainfall, lo hold the upland soils, and to anticipate the local demand for wood. His knowledge of forestry practice ami forest law must tell him that the whole scheme needs candid and thorough revision.--Auck-land Herald.