AFFORESTATION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 15 July 1929, Page 7

AFFORESTATION

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS A TEN-YEAR PROGRAMME MINISTER'S STATEMENT (By Telegraph) (From "The Mail's" Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, ,13th July. A concise, review of the future operations of the Forestry Sei'vioe, as lie foresees tlicm, was made'by the Commissioner of State Forests (tlio Hon. W. B. Tavernor) in the House of Representatives yesterday. Mr Taverncr said 'that ttho programme to which tho State Forest Service was at present' working- provided, at its inception, for tho establishment of 300,000 acres by 1935. Owing, however, to the rapid progress which had been made as the result of improved methods, the gaining of experience on the part of employees, and the fact that afforestation work was at its maximum activity during the winter months when unemployment was most troublesome, enabling the profitable employment of up to 1000 men, the planting was so far ahead that at the conclusion of tho present planting season the areas established will amount to about 238,000 acres. At the present rate of progress ho expected that tho objective of 300,000 acres would be reached by 1931 • and the completion of tho programme being thus near, he had thought it dosirablo to review tho situation generally and to formulato plans for tho future. '•'The most reliable expert estimate available," said the Minister, "indicated that our native timber will be practically exhausted by 1965; the total timber requirements for the Dominion will then be about, 700,000,000 board feet per annum.

SELECTION OF LAND "As has alreacly been announced, it will be the policy of this Government before commencing any new planting projects to adopt a method of careful demarcation in order to ensure that land so planted is not land which should bo used for agricultural or pastoral purposes. At tho same time, tljero is authority for the bolicf that there is still in tho Dominion a very large area, amounting to some millions of acres of land, that could not be profitably used for any form of farming. Much of this land could, however, by being used for afforestation, be made both productive and capable of carrying a large population—in addition to the beneficial influence which afforestation would effect in connection with the regulation of stream flow, prevention of erosion, and in connection with climatic conditions. Another important reason in favour of the afforestation of such otherwise useless areas is that there is already a large market in Australia for coniferous softwoods grown in New Zealand and this market is bound to extend. Furthermore, there is every reason to expect that surplus softwood timbers produced in the Dominion could in the future be advantageously disposed of for the manufacture of paper and other materials made from wood pulp. The peculiar suitability of afforestation as a meansof absorbing surplus labour during winter months is also an important factor which must not be lost sight of. Careful consideration of these and other points has enabled me to reach certain conclusions, which I intend to express shortly in recommendations to Cabinet regarding the future planting policy of the State Forest Service. I am not at the moment in the position to go into details, but I may 'say that my recommendations will be in the direction of laying down a ten-year planting programme, commencing from the date of attainment of the, present objective '">f 300,000 acres and providing for the annual establishment of an area very much lower than at present. FUTURE WORK "It must not be assumed," said Mr Taverner, "that if these proposals are adopted the activity of th e Department as a whole will be in any way lessened, for there is a wide and as yet practically untouched field of work in the conservation and management of our native forests. I expect that the result of my proposals, if adopted, would be that whereas the Department's main activity at present lies in the establishment of exotic plantations, its attention after the completion of its present planting programme would tend to be engaged mainly in the conservation and scientific management of indigenous forests, and the maintenance and management of the exotic plantations already existing, with the establishment of fresh plantations as a more or less minor part of its work. That state of affairs could be expected to last until the times arrives when plantations have reached a stage of maturity at which the attention of the Department would be required to be devoted largely to the supervision of the extraction and utilisation on a large scale- of the timber so available." THINNING AND WOOD PULP INDUSTRY Referring to the. uecessity for thinning some of the older planted areas, the Minister said the question of finding a market for the thinnings was still the greatest obstacle to the expeditious carrying out of the work; and up to the present the degree of thinning which had been, done had for the most part been regulated by the market available for the timber so produced. ''l have come to the conclusion," be said, "that this is a question which in tho interests of the forests must be given closer attention; and I have been going into the matter with the object of ascertaining approximately the total sum that would be involved in carrying out the necessary work, assuming that the resulting timber could not be sold." Discussing the wood pulp industry, he pointed out'that it was not yet on an operative basis. Mr f D. Jones (Mid-Canterbury): "Didn't the Government turndown an offer by a company?" The Minister replied in the negative. While the possibility of the establishment of the wood pulp industry in New Zealand gave promise of a market for thinnings from State forests, that prospect had not so far provided the easy way out of the difficulty that might appear likely at first sight, for the reason that the sale price of thin, nings, if they were not sold on a royalty basis, must cover at least the cost of extraction and delivery and preferably at least part cost of felling. No i indication had been received of preparedness to purchase on that basis; but of course it roust bo remembered that the wood pulp industry was not yet on an operative footing in this country, and the position as it stood in that respect at present cannot therefore be accepted as any real indication of tho future prospects of disposing of thinnings through that channel at a fair "AFORE 7E GO—BELL'S" Bell's is the whisky of hospitality and good cheer. 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price. Lacking a market in which to dispose of the thinnings, the loading of the cost of carrying'' out tho operation might constitute' an intolerable burden on the plantations affected, and thus seriously endanger their vnliie as an investment of public: moneys. "I have been so struck with the size of th* problem," h 0 said, "that I propose to tako an early opportunity of bringing the matter before • Cabinet in order to hav(j it discussed as a matter of Government policy. Tu tlio meantime, lam having small scale thinning operations conducted in order to establish the most economical method and to what degreVs the various species in the congested areas should be thinned. This action will place the Department in n position to proceed expeditiously when the work is attacked on a larger scale."