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6. Of paramount importance is public recognition of the fact that by far the bulk of the virgin forests are completely unproductive in that trees are overmature and that any new growth is more than offset by decay, but that the very logging operations and abnormal climatic and seismological disturbances which are of such concern to the conservationists actually create conditions favourable to the re-establish-ment of a new crop and thus restore the forest to some degree of true productivity. Recent outstanding instances are the 1937 gale which uprooted many trees in the southern half of the North Island and the 1939 salt-laden winds which killed so many trees throughout the greater part of the North Island. Much of the damage done by these winds has been wrongly attributed to logging operations, and in quite a- number of the affected forests a young growth of beech, white-pine, &c, now flourishes where windthrown trees originally exposed the mineral soil and seeded in a new tree crop. Conservation as applied to forestry has been defined as the preservation of forests by wise use, and with counter-erosion and watershed values unimpaired and forests restored to productivity, logging of upland forests under Forest Service supervision constitutes both a logical and indispensable element in the national forest effort. Its real significance lies in the fact that the major objective of the forest policy—that of supplying the Dominion with the bulk of its timber requirements —can only be achieved by bringing every acre of forest land into maximum productivity and by having available the entire standing-timber resources of the indigenous forests, even if this ultimately involves regulation of cutting on private and other lands. It is therefore in a double sense that upland stands are referred to as protection forests, since the objective of their management is the protection both of their productivity and of their counter-erosion and watershed values as well, incidentally, as of their recreational facilities. Only by the integrated use of the upland forests for all purposes may the maximum economic and social values, both direct and indirect, be derived by the public. Extension of the State forest estates to achieve this is a corollary. Section C. —Exotic Forests. 7. A grave warning was issued in the last annual report as to the poor condition of both private and State exotic forests and the necessity for avoiding any repetition of the contributing factors. While interim experience has served to confirm the worst fears in respect to faults of establishment—wide espacement, choice of wrong species and sites, general location, &c. —the indications are that no less trouble is likely to arise through long-continued neglect of silvicultural operations. Both threaten the health and vigour of many stands, some of which may be affected to such an extent as to become potential focal points for widespread insect and fungal attacks of an epidemic character, and others in such a manner as to preclude both cheap logging and cheap and quick re-establishment by natural regeneration, thus necessitating slower, more costly, and less effective re-establishment by planting. 8. Every corrective within the power of the Department is being applied as rapidly as personnel and funds will allow. The position during the year has improved in that for the first time in the history of the Department the services of a technically-trained personnel have been available to plan and initiate a vigorous attack upon exotic forest problems. With each succeeding year a material improvement should accrue, more especially as additional experienced officers become available in accordance with the training scheme already outlined. The necessity for long-term financing to ensure silvicultural treatment at appropriate times, irrespective of the general buoyancy or otherwise of the country's general finances, should be obvious. In the ultimate analysis, silvicultural treatment is no less essential to the continued functioning of the forests than the regular supply of oil and grease to hydro-electric turbines. Admittedly silvicultural operations are relatively much costlier, but the time required to effect the repair of a worn-out bearing is almost infinitesimal when compared with the time required to repair the damage to a forest caused by lack of silvicultural treatment at the appropriate period.

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