NEW ZEALAND’S FORESTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 943, 9 April 1930, Page 11

NEW ZEALAND’S FORESTS

STATE SERVICE MAKES RECORD FOR EMPIRE 7.745.000 ACRES OF TREES Press Association NELSON, Today The Hou. AY. B. Taverner, Commissioner of State Forests, opened the annual conference of executive officei s of the State Forest Service, at Kelson. He said they had entered upon the second phase of forestry history—the replacement of the indigenous softwood forests with exotic plantations—and to foresters this change of the old order must be very interesting indeed. The Minister said ho had noticed in Kelson and Marlborough specimens of exotic trees, evidently planted by pioneer settlers. These trees had atttained a remarkable growth, and must be of great interest, showing that the soil here is well suited foi afforestation. The Minister referred to the establishment here of the Cawthron Institute, with its forest biological research station under the control of Dr. David Miller. This work he regarded as ot' national importance. The Minister also dealt with depletion of the milling forests, and protection of forests, and paid a tribute to the high standard set by the Forest Service generally. The Director of State Forests, Mr. Turner, in the course of his remarks, said the aggregate area of Xew Zealand State plantations now reaches 245,000 acres of valuable'timber trees, which is the largest area of Stateowned and planted forests in any one State of the British Empire. ’’Not only has this huge work been accomplished,” he said, “but we can also justly claim to have applied systematic and business management to our indigenous forests, which for the most part were formerly under no management, but sales of timber on an antiquated system, which resulted in great waste and national loss. We have under our care about 7,500,0 o»» acres of indigenous forest. This is a huge area, and many thoughtless persons claim that a large portion’of these reserved lands should be opened up for settlement. From our practical experience in the field here, and from our study of the forestry ami 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 result would be disastrous, both from a. national point of view and for tu • individual.