FOREST PRIVILEGES

Taupo Times, Volume I, Issue 42, 29 October 1952, Page 3

FOREST PRIVILEGES

XJSE AND ABUSE Each year states the annual report of the Ne\y Zealand Forest Service for the year ended March. 31, 1952), &ees a greater number of people \ keen to avail themselves of forest amenities. The Forest Service en■courages recreational use by the issue of permits to enter on all occassions (except when precluded by high fire hazard), by the formation and signposting of tracks, ancl by the constifuction of fireplaces and other convenienees, Tramping and Mountaineering Clubs continue to grow in number and in membership. Their interest in the country, which provides the venue of their activities, is a big factor in its preservation. The Forest Service eneourages them by ready agreement to hut erection and !U"ack~Tnakingk The New Zealand Search and Rescue Organisation, whose members are largely trampers, has the full support of the Forest Service. Their; special fbush experience makes members of our staff valuable to such an organization — one which has shown is worth on many occasions. Forest Offences. Convictions for offences against the forest laws during the year numfoered 55 (75), of which 48 were obtained under the penal sections of the Forests Act 1949, 5 under the provisions of the Forest and Rural Fires Act 1947, and 2 under the Forest and Rural Fires Regulations 1951. Fines imposed amounted to £265 10/- (£221), the heaviest being £20 for operating an engine without an effecient spark-arrester. Costs and damages totalled £533 10/(£460 11/6). The two convictions under the Forest and Rural Fires Regulations 1951 were the first obtained under thase regulations. The offences were for the most part of a ininor nature. There were 6 (14) convictions for unlawful cutting of • forest produce, but in no case was the quantity cut or removed -large, the biggest sum recovered in one information being £52 12/-. There was a greater number of convictions for the offences of unlawfully entering State forest and unlawfully hunting in State forest, There was a considerable reduction in offences in connection with fires, there being 9 convictions under the firie-prevention provisions of the forest laws, as against 25 convictions for such offences in the previous year. In nearly all cases where prosecution was undertaken, convictions were secured. The Forest Service takes the opportunity of thanking the Commissioner of Police and all members f ihis Department for their co-opera-tion and assistance in investigating and prosecuting offenders.