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(3) The assurance to the forest authority of funds sufficient to carry out the accepted policy for a series of years. " Adequate funds for most purposes have been made available by all Governments since the inception of the Forest Service in 1920. The one regrettable exception .was the curtailment of technical staff, and non-recruitment of any staff over the depression years. This created a gap in the cadre of all staff divisions, which has had an adverse and far-reaching effect upon the subsequent efficiency of the Forest Service. The initiation of an active recruitment and training scheme in 1939 and its ever-increasing intensification is correcting the position as rapidly as practicable." (4) The grant to members of the forestry services of the status of civil servants with due provision for pension. " This objective was attained by the Forest Act, 1921-22." (5) The appointment as the chief officers of the forestry service of persons having a high standard of training in forestry, their selection and promotion being by merit alone. " The appointment of persons having a high standard of training in forestry as chief officers, implying as it does University forestry qualifications, although endorsed in principle by all Governments, has not been continuously followed, due solely to the shortage of technical staff with adequate administrative ability. Such a shortage may occur at any time in spite of active recruitment and training of technical staff, and it is proposed to safeguard this possibility by providing in the contemplated legislation that either the Director or his deputy, and in each forest conservation region either the Conservator or his deputy, shall be a technically qualified forest officer from the Professional Division. The alternate positions shall be open to officers of the General and Clerical as well as the Professional Divisions, thus ensuring the best administrative talent from all three divisions. As a result of the current recruitment and training of technical officers, this proposal should, however, be capable of early implementation, at least in part. On the other hand, the selection and promotion of all officers by merit alone has been consistently followed, ensuring to all Governments the best possible forest administration from the staff available." (6) The establishment in each of the larger parts of the Empire and for the colonies not possessing responsible government collectively of an officer or officers having special duties of advising as to forest policy and surveying its execution. " This applies not to New Zealand, but to such units as Canada and Australia The Conference draws the attention of Governments of the Commonwealth to the fact that the above statement has been critically examined by successive Empire Forestry Conferences and the soundness of the principles enunciated has remained unquestioned. These principles, however, had not been applied in all parts of the Commonwealth at the beginning of the world economic depression, which affected forestry severely. The advent of war caused further widespread dislocations and largely prevented normal progress towards sound management of the Commonwealth's forest resources. The present world shortages of forest products, particularly saw timber, impose demands for critical examination of forest policies by all member Governments. The Conference, while stressing the necessity of maintaining the Concept of sustained yield, realizes that

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