General
Silviculture
Logging and engineering
Forest injuries and protection
Mensuration and surveying
Forest management
Marketing and trade
Forest products and their utilization
Forest policy
The items appearing here are condensed selections of news thought to be of interest to readers of UNASYLVA. They are grouped alphabetically by countries under headings currently used by the Forestry Division for reference purposes. The Editor will be glad to receive direct from readers authenticated items of interest and of news value for this part of the review.
CANADA
· National Forest Conservation Week was observed in Canada for the first time this year, 1926 May, Last year, four Canadian provinces - Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Quebec and British Columbia - held forestry weeks at different dates and under different names, (the Quebec week was known as "La Semaine de l'arbre"), which were highly successful in calling public attention to some basic forestry facts. This year, by the combined participation of all provinces at the same time under the one name "Forest Conservation Week," it was believed that Canadians would be more firmly convinced than ever of the economic, strategic, aesthetic and basic importance of forests.
COSTA RICA
· It is proposed to establish a natural reserve park in Costa Rica adjacent to the Pan-American Highway. A site has been selected where within a relatively small area, there exist three distinct ecological associations, each with a multitude of species. These are: (1) the giant oak forest, (2) a mixed broadleaf forest (3) the bogs and swamps where the cycad-like ferns, Lomaria and Puya, occur, far from their natural habitat in the South American Andes.
It is to be hoped the Government will also protect and develop the rest of tile natural forest traversed by the Highway. If opened to uncontrolled cutting, the timber resources will quickly be destroyed.
EIRE
· The Minister for Lands has completed negotiations for the purchase of the Shelton Abbey Estate Arklow and all of its buildings, land and timber. It is intended to utilize the Abbey for forestry education and research and ancillary objects; to preserve and cultivate the growing timber and to plant and develop the lands in accordance with good forestry practice. About 1,000 acres (405 ha.) of land and timber go with the Abbey. The timber, of which the main crop is oak, is of exceptionally good quality, and its preservation and cultivation will ensure continuance of a particularly good strain of oak trees. The gardens and shrubs are also of great interest, and the rhododendrons especially are of rare quality.
FINLAND
· With funds granted by a forest industries company, courses in bookkeeping, cost calculation, English and English correspondence have been arranged for forestry undergraduates at the University of Helsinki. Forest industries have also presented funds to undergraduates for a course on floating timber. Other types of training and similar activities have also been energetically undertaken.
In order to raise the skill of forest owners, a forestry school was started in central Finland in 1950 and several courses, chiefly on silviculture and logging, have been arranged by the Central Forestry Association "Tapio." The League of Finnish Foresters also arranged refresher courses on logging, forest mensuration and silviculture Two courses on leadership were included.
The Forest Service has arranged various long and short refresher courses for its subordinate forest experts. In addition, there was a four weeks' forestry course for men teaching in elementary schools, and a five weeks' forestry course for boys in the continuation classes of elementary schools Both courses arranged by the Forest Service, were the first of their kind in Finland. The Forest Work Studies Section of the Central Association of Finnish Woodworking Industries, "Metsáteho," has provided courses, chiefly technical, for the personnel of its member associations. During the courses the participants become familiar with caterpillar and wheel tractors suitable for the transportation of timber, loading apparatus, motor-saws for the felling of trees, and the resistance and suitability of steel cables.
HAWAII
· During the last five years more than 100 different species have been planted in Hawaii's forest reserves so that the island one day may boast the most diversified collection of timber types in the world. These include no less than 15 varieties of Eucalyptus from Australia. The Pacific Coast of North America is represented by such items as Monterey pine (Pinus radiata), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia), California Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), Port Orford Cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata). The American South has contributed loblolly (Pinus taeda) and slash pines (Pinus caribaea). There is sugi from Japan, camphor from the East Indies, roble from Chile; teak from India and balsa from Ecuador. Other items include narra from the Philippines; English and black walnuts (Juglans regia & Juglans nigra), cork oak (Quercus suber), and a host of other species not overlooking members of the true mahogany family and Spanish cedar.
TURKEY
· The first issue of a new annual forestry review, "La Revue de la faculté des sciences forestières de l'Université d'Istanbul," has been published by the Forestry Faculty of the University of Istanbul. A large part of the first issue is devoted to the organization of the Faculty which, although established as long ago as 1857 for the purpose of supplying trained foresters to the State Forestry Department, was only affiliated to the University in 1948. The Faculty is situated in Bahçeköy on the shores of the Bosphorus and close to the Belgrad forest which covers an area of about 12,500 acres (5,059 ha.) and is used for practical forestry training and experiments. The Faculty buildings, which consist of lecture rooms, a library, a forestry museum laboratories, a meteorological observatory, students quarters, etc., are surrounded by a park and plantations of indigenous species and various exotics. A forestry nursery covering 40 acres (16 ha.) and a botanical garden of 80 acres (32 ha.) are under construction.
New students enter the Faculty at about the rate of 40 to 50 a year. A certain number receive state grants for their training, in return for which they are required to serve with the state Forestry Department at least eight years. The first two terms are spent at the University in Istanbul, where the curriculum includes mathematics and natural history; the remaining six terms, spent at Bahçeköy, are devoted to Forest Botany, Forest Ecology and Pedology, Forest Entomology and Protection, silviculture and Afforestation, Forest Engineering, Surveying, Erosion Control, Forest Utilization, National Economy, Forest Finance and Forest Laws, Forest Economics and Mensuration, Forest Management, Forest Geography and World Forestry and Steppeland Conservation. In addition, courses in English, French and German are compulsory for the first four terms. Practical training accompanies all the theoretical work and during vacations between the fifth and seventh terms students work with one of the state Forest Divisions.
The Forestry Faculty is composed of eight Chairs and eight Research Institutes; chairholders are simultaneously directors of the corresponding institute. A new Chair and Institute of "Forest Geography and Forest Conditions in the Near East" was created in March this year. In addition, it has recently been decided to set up a Central Forest Experiment Station as an autonomous institute affiliated with the Forestry Faculty which is the only one of its kind having both the material equipment and the personnel to undertake systematic research work. Funds for this Experiment Station will be supplied by the state Forest Department.
A further development this year was the establishment of a Publications Unit to produce textbooks, for spreading information to the public on forest utilization and necessity of forest conservation, and for the periodical publication of the results of research work. The remainder of this first issue of the review, which contains German and English summaries of the articles, falls within this last field of activity, the reporting of research and the analyzing of the particular forestry problems with which Turkey, in common with other countries of the Near East, is faced today.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· The Conservation Foundation of New York City, N.Y., U.S.A., is a private, nonprofit-making, non-partisan, chartered organization, set up to promote conservation of natural resources - animal life, forests and other plant life, water resources and productive soils - and to advance improve and encourage knowledge and understanding of such resources, their natural distribution and wise utilization, and their essential relationship to each other and to human welfare. The Foundation is supported by gifts from institutions, foundations, business organizations and individuals There is a technical staff of eight men, together with a comptroller and office manager and four associates, each dealing with a specific project, and a technical advisory council of twelve from the United States, England, Scotland, and Belgium who choose projects and lay down lines of work. Very careful prior investigation of all work proposed is made from the standpoint of need, importance, sources of support and cooperation, and of overlapping with work already under way elsewhere.
The Foundation is concerned with conservation education, both in the field of higher education and at lower educational levels, including the instruction of non-technicians. Among specific activities are the support of the newly established graduate course in conservation at Yale University, study of conservation laws and their administration in the state of Pennsylvania, a seminar at Harvard on the economies of land use, a conservation workshop for urban school teachers in New York; and the holding of a conservation seminar in California. In addition the Foundation has completed and distributed throughout the country a series of films on soil, forests, and ecology, and is preparing another series on water resources. In addition, film strips are being prepared, with sound tracks for all films in Spanish and Portuguese, so that they may be used in Central and S. America. The work of the Foundation is developing steadily and productively, covering new fields and projects, and its publications, such as "Water in Industry," are sound and well produced.
The growing attention paid to conservation teaching in American schools is illustrated by the feet that the 1950 Yearbook of the American Association of School Administrators devotes its 527 pages to conservation education, covering the principles and philosophy of resource use, educational materials, practices and programs, and the training of teachers.
· In 1950, the U.S. Forest Service approved some 21 technical assistance projects covering various phases of forestry and the production of forest products, of which sixteen, involving the participation of individual countries, were initiated by ECA. One-half of these projects were completed in 1950, and the rest are scheduled for completion in 1951. Six of the ECA technical assistance projects involved sending from one to five delegates from 15 different countries to the United States two required the services of American experts abroad.
Five of the 21 approved projects, involving the participation of groups of countries, were initiated by the Organization for European Economic Cooperation and completed in 1960. On four of these projects, international delegations of experts, ranging from 6 to 51 members, came to the United States to study American methods, and on the fifth project, an American expert made a study of chestnut blight for some of the OEEC member countries.
In the United States, one group of 51 European delegates and another of 40 delegates from tropical countries under the auspices of the Forest Service, studied the pulp and paper industry: native and hybrid poplars; forestry, forest exploitation and transport, sawmill organization and techniques, plywood and wallboard industries, and the conditioning and marketing of timber. Other technical assistance projects in which the Forest Service, participated included training a number of foreigners - 5 from Germany, 2 from Italy, 2 from Austria, and one each from other European countries. Five Turkish foresters arrived in the United States for a year's special training in different branches of forestry work. Similar one-year study awards were made to one forester each from Indonesia and Honduras. In addition, five Japanese foresters sent by the Supreme Command in Tokyo, were given forestry training during the year. Two Forest Service, employees went on short advisory missions to Japan, another to Chile, and one to Okinawa.
· As the reports of the annual meetings of the Society of American Foresters reflect the wide range of interests and occupations of its members, so the transactions of U.S. Wildlife Conferences depict an equally broad scope. Foresters and wildlife workers alike receive technical papers dealing with forest, range and watershed in relation to wildlife and vice versa. By this means the interrelation of these resources is recognized and documented, leading to the conclusion that their conservation should be treated as a single entity. Both meetings are attended by many non-technical men who deal with forests and wildlife as landowners, as state officials, as educators and as publicists, with the advantage of bringing together the technicians and laymen concerned to the benefit of both and to the benefit of forestry and wildlife management.
Both meetings have general and technical sessions owing to the diversity of their fields. In the case of the Wildlife Conference, one general session was devoted to a symposium on conservation education, emphasizing the wildlife aspect, while at the same time recognizing it as part of the whole. Another session dealt with land and water policies considering valley development plans, the engineering aspect of land and water conservation, the case for a federal department of conservation, the importance of stockmen in land and big game management, and watershed management as the key to resource. Some of the technical sessions are naturally of secondary interest to foresters - disease, nutrition and control problems; wet-land, and fresh-water resources; coastal and marine resources. But even in these sessions such questions as the relation of forest range conditions to whitetail deer fertility and the effect of forest habitat on the management of the pine marten - a fur-bearer - receive attention. In other technical sessions, dealing with small-game resources, research and management, and big-game resources, a number of papers describe the relations between range conditions and land utilization and the status of small and large game species. A new technique - movable paddocks - for studying comparative and competitive food habits of deer and livestock on forest range is reported.
AUSTRALIA
· The first plantations in the state of South Australia were made in 1876, and now cover an area of 105,698 acres (42,800 ha.) the greater part of which, consisting of 71,500 acres (29,000 ha.), is to be found in the south-east - the only part of the state where the annual rainfall exceeds 25 in. (635 mm.) and where it is evenly distributed over the year. An important physiographic feature of the region is the formation of ridges or hills composed of secondary limestone and calcareous cemented sand covered with a layer of aeolian sand, the plains between these ranges have a sub-soil of Miocene limestone of the coraline type. Soils of volcanic origin are also to be found, mainly limited areas of basalt, which are chiefly used for intensive agriculture or for dairy farming. The original vegetation which is of little value, includes à sclerophyll forest on the hills and Savannah, interspersed with heath land and swamp on the plains.
Pinus radiata accounts for 90 percent of the plantations in the southeast, and P. pinaster, muricata, canariensis, halepensis, laricio, taeda and caribaea account for 10 percent, of which P. pinaster seems to be the most promising species. The present policy is to complete plantings already begun with Pinus radiata, which now covers 65 000 acres (26,000 ha.) and which will ultimately be extended to cover approximately 90,000 acres (36,000 ha.) by making regular plantings of 2,500 acres (1,000 ha.). However, for various reasons, the age glass distribution is at present very irregular; only 500 acres (202 ha.) are planted with trees of over 30 years, 19,000 acres (8,000 ha.) of trees from 20 to 30 years, 30,000 acres (12,000 ha.) of trees from 10 to 20 years and 15,500 acres (6,000 ha.) of less than 10 years. Under these conditions, total forest stands are still far from achieving their ultimate goal - a yield of 300,000,000 super ft. (1,359,000 m³) of 4 inch (10 cm.) thickness and above, on a total area of 110,000 acres (45,000 ha.) assuming a final 40-year rotation - which was based on present thinning practice and on the anticipated yield of stands which have not yet reached the normal age of exploitation. Plantations which were subjected to early cutting are chiefly those which were planted in the depression years (when labor was plentiful but planting stock insufficient) with wide espacements of up to (10.8 ft. x 7.9 ft. (3.3 m. x 2.4 m.) these stands are usually low-branched and of poor quality. Stands are now planted with a uniform espacement of 6.9 ft. x 6.9 ft. (2.1 m. x 2.1 m.). The classification of forests into categories of site qualities, and the compilation of tables of the annual average increment for unthinned plots is now complete and is to be followed by the preparation of similar tables for thinned plots. This research has made possible the detailed grading of wood and estimating of the requirements of pulp factories and sawmills.
It is recognized that the practice of early thinning (at the age of five or six years) is undesirable. It is estimated at present on the basis of the research that has been carried out, that first thinnings should be made between the ages of 12 and 17 years, depending on the site quality, and that they should leave the stand with from 350 to 400 stems per acre (875 to 1,000 per hectare). Yields from such thinnings range from 12,000 to 20,000 super ft. per acre (134 m³ to 224 m³ per hectare). A second thinning made five to eight years after the first should leave 250 to 300 trees per acre (625 to 750 per hectare), and a third thinning, made after a similar interval should leave 125 to 200 per acre (310 to 510 per hectare). All logging for state sawmills is carried out either by contract or piece work and is facilitated by the system of laying down roads when the stands are established. Felling is done both by hand and power saws. The so-galled "Crane" truck has been especially developed by the Forest Service to enable completely mechanical loading, except in the case of very short logs.
CANADA
· Experiments in strip thinning of overstocked stands of Jack pine (Pinus banksiana) and spruce (Picea) in Saskatchewan, have recently been conducted using a tractor winch to uproot trees in 10, 15 and 20 foot strips (3.0 m., 4.6 m., 6.0 m.) Since the cost of hand thinning is very high in these dense stands, the cost, in terms of manhours, is very much less with machine methods. Plots have been established to study the growth and survival under hand and tractor methods of thinning.
· Forest lands in the interior of British Columbia have been grazed by domestic livestock for over half a century, providing summer range to supplement the spring-autumn range of the natural grasslands but until recently there has been little study of the forest ranges and their problems. In 1935, however, a range experimental station was established and information on ranges and their problems is now available
The ponderosa pine zone is generally limited in extent, the timber is open and forage is similar to that of the adjacent grasslands. The Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) type is most important from the grazing standpoint. Large areas have been converted to lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) by fire, and a great deal of aspen (Populus tremuloides) has come in. Grazing in this type of range from about mid-June to the end of September produces satisfactory weight gains of animals but earlier or later use is unprofitable and is damaging to the range. The spruce-fir zone of the higher altitudes has grazing value principally on the numerous natural meadows, on the more open stands near the timber line, and on burned-over areas. The forest lands possess other values for timber production, watershed protection, recreation and wildlife, and grazing use must be fitted into this multiple use pattern. From studies to date, it seems evident that, with proper control of stock and management of stock on the range, grazing can be maintained without damage to the other values.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· Red pine (Pinus resinosa) is widely used in forest plantations in the Lake States and north-eastern states because of its desirable qualities as a tree and the wide range of uses for which the wood is suitable. A recent investigation of the relation between the mechanical properties of the species and the factors which influence them involved determination of values for modulus of rupture, fiber stress at proportional limit, modulus of elasticity, maximum crushing strength, and toughness. All these values were found to be materially lower than those of old-growth trees, due to the rapid rate of early growth of the plantation trees. It is thus evident that, to attain highest strength values, red pine stands should be established as densely as practicable and, after crowns have closed, the thinning program should maintain growth at about 12 rings per inch.
· A recent study on the role of fire as an ecological factor in the ponderosa pine forests of the southwestern United States has analyzed records of fires in the past by dating fire scars through making a count of tree rings. It was found that the average periodicity of fires in the days before white occupation from 5 to 12 years, averaging about the same as the periodicity of earlier fires determined in the Californian pine forests. Thus, recurring fire had a profound effect on developing the type of forest which the white man found, and he in turn, through his often extensive use of fire, continued 7 its importance as an ecological factor. It is evident that, while fire may be used under full control for reduction of hazards and, in some oases, to improve forest growth, the information on its use is far from complete and much further work is still required.
· In western Colorado, there are at least one million acres of depleted sagebrush rangeland on which reseeding is desirable, singe it can increase several times the amount of grass now produced. The lands are partly in the lower zone [4,500 - 6,000 feet (1,370 to 1,830 m.) elevation] with 8-11 inches (203 to 279 mm.) annual precipitation, partly in the middle zone [68,000 feet (1,830 to 2,430 m.) elevation] with 11-17 inches (279 to 432 mm.) precipitation, and partly in the upper zone [810,000 feet 2,440 to 3,050 m.) elevation] with over 18 inches (457 mm.) precipitation. For each of these zones from one to six grass species can be definitely recommended as capable of increasing grass yields from 3 to 15 times above the present rate. Certain general rules for reseeding have been worked out as a result of research and experience to date: (1) select the most productive sites; (2) choose areas where forage or soil protection is needed and where the stand of natural grass is so thin that reseeding from it is unlikely: (3) kill competing vegetation; fire can sometimes be used, particularly in the middle zone, and is the cheapest method, but must be used only when proper advance preparation is made; some of the special plows not only kill competing vegetation but prepare a good seedbed; (4) seeding is best done by drilling to depths suitable for the grass species used; (5) the species which promises the greatest returns for the zone and site should be used; ( 6) seeding should be done at a time when rain will ensure establishment of the plants, this is usually in the very early spring or late autumn; (7) the seeded areas must be protected against use until they can withstand grazing - usually during the summer or autumn of the second or third growing season; (8) the management of grazing on reseeded areas must avoid damaging practices.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· In logging the heavy stands of the Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) region in the Pacific North-west of the United States, the prevailing practice is to clear out by staggered settings. This system is preferred because the uncut stands serve to some degree as firebreaks for the clear-cut areas and provide abundant sources of seed. The effectiveness of this practice depends very largely on planning roads carefully, in setting the precise boundaries of the areas to be out so that the erosion caused on roads and other forms of damage may be held to a minimum. The initial job of planning can be done on maps (both topographic and stand maps are now generally available), but field work to check the location of roads and settings is still essential. A recent study of five selected areas by the Pacific North-west Forest and Range Experiment Station showed that the cost of this detailed field work is relatively insignificant, since it amounts to about 11 gents per M.B.M. of the volume initially out, from 2 to 4 gents per M.B.M. for the volume served by the plan, and in most oases, from $1.10 to $1.50 per acre. Obviously these small costs are far more than repaid by the damage avoided and, no doubt, by economies in logging.
YUGOSLAVIA
· It is reported that modern mechanized logging has been introduced successfully into the rugged mountain forests of Yugoslavia through the development of a new mobile track-line logging donkey mounted on caterpillar tracks. First units of the new equipment have been put into operation by the Yugoslav Government with an American field engineer training the operators. The new mobile machines and newly perfected openside carriage are being successfully employed to move large turns of logs over rough ground badly out up by deep narrow canyons. The self-propelled units and self-looking openside carriage were developed for the particular requirements of Yugoslav forest conditions. In developing this type of equipment the manufacturers also had in mind the various requirements throughout the world and will produce the mobile trackline in sizes and with drum arrangements and accessories to fit any type of logging.
AUSTRALIA
· The relations of meteorological conditions to bush and grass fires in Australia have long been recognized, but it was not until 1935 that the first fire weather station was set up in Western Australia. Since that time, the number of stations has greatly increased and much research has been done on the specific relations between weather and fire, the methods of measuring and classifying current fire danger, and forecasting impending degrees of danger for short periods. While long-range forecasting work is carried out in Australia as elsewhere, no sufficiently accurate method has yet been found for it to be of value to fire control organisations. In their own respective fields, the meteorologists and foresters of Australia have had the advantage of the pioneering work done in the same fields in Canada and the United States. In 1947, the results of Australian work up to that time were collected and analyzed. Particular emphasis was placed on the relationship of fire hazard to weather conditions prevailing before the danger period. It was demonstrated, for example, that the rainfall during the three months preceding fires is a critical factor; from such data, it is possible to prepare a provisional index of the severity of the approaching fire season. However, within the fire season, in Australia as elsewhere, it is short-term fluctuations of weather which are often of the greatest importance in determining the fire danger of particular days or periods. Wind direction is important, largely because different winds have different characteristic atmospheric humidity, and the relation of humidity to fire danger is well known. Wind velocity is also of extreme importance in determining the rate of spread and fire damage.
The work has progressed so far that the meteorological conditions conducive to the spread of fires have been fairly accurately established for each state of the Commonwealth and a system of "fire weather" warnings has been set up for each state. The warnings are distributed by broadcasts, by telegrams to fire control organizations, and by the press. Various agencies, as well as the Forestry Department, are co-operating in the collection of weather data and determination of current fire dangers, while the Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology is giving serious attention to the problems of forecasting.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· The Forest Pest Control Act of 1947 (Public Law 110) established a broad governmental policy for the protection of forest resources from insect pests and plant diseases, including surveys to detect and appraise infestations and authorization to carry out, independently or co-operatively, programs to suppress, control, or eradicate such pests. Funds to carry out this authorization became available on 1 July 1949. Work under this act during the past year involved two of the most ambitious control projects ever undertaken. These were: (1) the spraying, by aeroplane, of more than 900,000 acres (364,230 ha.) of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) and white fir ( Abies concolor ) forests in Oregon and Washington to control the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) and (2) the chemical treatment of nearly 800,000 Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmanni) trees to kill active broods and prevent further dispersal of the Engelmann spruce beetle (Dendroctorus engelmanni) in the national forests of Colorado. In connection with these and other projects, there were important advances (1) in the field of aerial surveying and photography to determine the extent of infestation over state or region-wide areas, and (2) in the improvement of sampling techniques in ground surveys. Correlation of research and control programs continues, and the information gained in studies of forest insects in relation to their forest environment results in a continual improvement of control methods. Forest insect research has increased the possibility of developing forest management as one means of insect control.
· Extended research has been conducted in the field of chemical control of Dutch Elm disease in the eastern United States. No cure for the disease in trees already showing more than 5 percent wilt has been found, but a medicated alkalizer - Cacolate - has been found effective as a preventive. The chemical is applied to the soil surrounding trees at the rate of 15 to 20 pounds per inch (2.7 to 3.6 kg. per centimeter) of tree diameter, and has the effect of alkalizing the soil, stimulating tree vigor, and acting as an antidote to the toxin produced by the fungus (Ceratostomella ulmi) in the sap stream of the tree.
· In California, as in other forest areas in the western United States, it has long been known that destruction of seed-eating rodents was a necessary preliminary to successful direct seeding. A recent study was made by the California Forest and Range Experiment Station of costs of poisoning in two typical forest areas, one in the mixed coniferous forests of the west slope of the Sierra Nevadas and the other in the ponderosa and Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) type of the eastern side. In the former, the bait was distributed three months before seedfall, and 707 new sugar pine seedlings (Pinus lambertiana) per acre were established. In the latter ease the bait was distributed just before seedfall, and nearly 7,000 ponderosa and Jeffrey pine seedlings were established, leading to the conclusion that the timing of poisoning is important. Sodium fluoroacetate and thallium sulfate were used in treating oat groats. The baits were distributed in pinches every 15 feet (4.6 m.) along lines from 50 to 65 feet apart, ( 15.2 to 19.8 m.) being placed at centers of rodent activity. Costs of poison were 46 cents per acre ($1.10 per ha.) on the west side and 26 cents per acre ($0.60 per ha.) on the east side, the difference being made up by the difference in area treated per man-day. Experience has shown that it is necessary to treat a belt around areas intended for seedling establishment in order to prevent or at least slow down, re-invasion by rodents from surrounding areas. It is clear, therefore, that the cost per reproduction area will depend on the size of the area and consequently on the surrounding protective belt.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· Forty years ago teaching of forest mensuration in the United States necessarily dealt, on the one hand, with European methods, and on the other with the esoteric native arts of the timber cruiser and the mysteries of the board foot as drawn up in a multitude of log rules. The relative precision of European methods for measuring tree and area volume and growth in cubic measurements, and the relative lack of precision of American methods, using the board foot, made a strange and often contradictory team. Experience has shown that some methods which, while suited to managed European forests, were ill-adapted to the typical ragged, abnormal and partially-stocked uncut, or partially out, forests of the United States and to the residual or remnant stands encountered by the forester. Thus, it was necessary to devise methods suited to native conditions, and research and experience have been increasing at an accelerated rate, particularly during the past fifteen or twenty years. Revised editions of two joint publications Forest Mensuration by D. Bruce and F.X. Schumacher and Forest Mensuration by H.H. Chapman and W.H. Meyer, were put out in 1950 and 1949 respectively by the leaders of research in this field.
Bruce and Schumacher have done notable work in applying mathematics to the problems of forest mensuration; both are skilled mathematicians, trained foresters, researchers and teachers. Their approach is through explanation of the tools of forest mensuration rather than through description of the innumerable ways in which they may be employed. They deal, first, with the methods of direct measurement of diameter, height, volume and age giving the mathematical basis for the various methods and assessing their degree of accuracy. They discuss the methods; of making direct estimates by sampling and the various kinds of averages and their use; measures of dispersion and the normal curve of error; the standard error; application of the normal curve and the different sampling methods. Part III of their book which fills more than half the volume, covers the many more regent methods of making indirect estimates, based on one or more independent variables, and includes also critical discussions of the methods of timber cruising, including those used in the National Forest Survey, and a brief analysis of the use of aerial photos in cruising. The last part of the book deals with problems and methods of predicting growth and yield of even-and uneven-aged stands.
Chapman and Meyer emphasize the economic approach, taking the view that timber utilization and products form the basis for all forest mensuration. They relate mensuration techniques to the silvicultural characteristics of trees and stands on the one hand, and to the demands of forest management on the other. Discussion is divided into: (1) cubic, board and piece measures, (2) construction and use of volume tables for the entire tree; (3) measurement of standing trees and determination of area and volume; (4) measurement and prediction of tree growth and stand increment. The elementary graphical, mathematical and statistical techniques are summarized in two separate chapters. The authors have done much original work in forest mensuration, particularly in methods of cruising and sampling, and have had considerable teaching experience in measuring and predicting growth and yield.
While it is true that practices which are admirable in one country may not fit the problems and needs of another, it may well be that these texts can add valuable details on methods and practices to FAO's necessarily general description of the methods and criteria for making national forest inventories, and so may find use outside the country for which they were written.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· A study made to determine the commodity drain on forests in the Northern Rocky Mountains, accounted for by the mining industry, includes the estimation that in extracting 4.8 million tons (4.4 million m.t.) of metallic ores in this region in 1949 the mining industry used 4 million cubic feet (113,200 m³) of round timber approximately one cubic foot ( 1 m³ to 32 m.t.) of timber to each ton of ore. Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) is the preferred species and made up 59 percent of the total round timber, lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) made up 23 percent, and arch 18 percent. About 8 percent of the total was dead timber - all lodgepole pine.
· An U.S. Federal law set a minimum wage of 75 cents per hour in January 1950. A study of its effect in the southern sawmilling industry showed an immediate and sharp increase in the percentage of workers receiving the minimum wage which rose from 31 percent to 92 percent. Before the law came into effort, 69 percent of the workers received from 50 to 75 gents per hour. Few industries were affected more strikingly than sawmilling.
In 1949, 17 of 22 selected sawmill occupations fell within the narrow range of 57 to 70 cents per hour. Within this range, wage increases were heaviest in the southeast - 13 cents per hour - and least in the border states - 4 cents per hour. Lumber prices increased substantially during the period of wage adjustments because of the building boom, but it is clear that the increases were greater than required to adjust wages. There was a slight decrease amounting to 2 percent, in sawmill employment between the end of 1949 and early 1950, but it is difficult to attribute this to the establishment of the minimum wage law. During the period, between 1 and 2 percent of the sawmills went out of business principally because of a shortage of logs, but the number of new mills exceeded the number closed. The law has also apparently caused many firms to reduce scheduled hours of work from more than 40 to 40 per week. This has had the effect of reducing overtime pay and thereby absorbing part of the cost of the new law. The law has also apparently stimulated a trend towards mechanization, particularly among the larger firms, but less in the smaller ones where mechanical devices are not suited to the scale of operation.
· The problem of deer management on forest lands continues to engage the attention of foresters and wildlife experts in the United States. In general, deer populations reach their maximum in areas of disturbed vegetation, that is, in secondary stages of plant succession. These stages are produced by logging, fire and grazing. Thus control of plant succession is necessary where a major purpose of land management is to produce deer. Controlled burning is recognized as one means of inducing the desired successional stage, but the danger in the use of fire is considerable and not always readily controlled. On arid areas, control of grazing both by domestic livestock and deer usually in combination, is the tool which should be used and the best intensity and combination of animals is a highly local determination which must be made in each particular case. Nevertheless, there is a point of optimum stocking which can be determined by research and experience. Considerable progress is being made in the management of individual herds through controlled take of both bucks and does, despite the persistent prejudice against the taking of the latter, but the co-ordinate method of control through predation is receiving relatively little systematic attention. Thus much additional work remains to be done, particularly in the deliberate management of plant succession and in the intelligent use of predation before deer herds are brought into permanent balance with the range available.
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
· The Ministry of Forestry in a report issued in January 1951 on the work accomplished during the postwar five-year period, 1946-1950, summarizes progress in its various activities in the table below:
|
TYPE OF WORK |
PERIOD 1946-1950 |
|
|
VOLUME OF AREA |
PERCENT AGE FULFILLMENT OF PLAN |
|
|
Preparing plans for unmanaged forest land (in 1,000 ha.) |
56 384 |
101 |
|
Exploring and mapping by air, and aerial photography of little known forest regions (in 1,000 ha.) |
190 000 |
106 |
|
Cultural operations (thinnings, improvement cuttings, etc.), area covered (in 1,000 ha.) |
9 882 |
115 |
|
volume removed (in 1,000 m³) |
100 460 |
108 |
|
Sowing and planting of forests (in 1,000 ha.) |
1 892 |
108 |
|
Establishment of new forest nurseries (in ha.) |
32 801 |
106 |
|
Care of plantations (in 1.000 ha.) |
9 766 |
101 |
|
Aid to natural regeneration (in 1,000 ha.) |
1 010 |
1 000 |
|
Ground preparation for forest nurseries plantations, etc (in 1,000 ha.) |
2 520 |
105 |
|
Seed collection (in tons) |
95 476 |
105 |
|
including oak acorns (in tons) |
80 561 |
104 |
From 1951 onwards all work connected with organizing and preparing management plans is to be carried out by one central organization for the entire U.S.S.R. to be known as "Lesproyect" (Forest Project). This organization includes 10 timber trusts, 44 field teams and seven regional offices, with over 3,000 trained foresters who are responsible for the quality of both field and office work. Management plans have been prepared for the five-year period and put into effect on 800 forest units; during 1951, it is expected that this number will increase to 1,200.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· An analysis has recently been made in the United States of the probable character of future wood markets, and the bearing of the speculative conclusions reached on current forest management, since management must plan a considerable time ahead to produce the materials to meet market requirements. The pulp and paper industry has expanded spectacularly and further expansion is expected, but this industry does not provide an outlet for high priced stumpage. The manufacture of rayon and other wood-derived plastics has increased, but even if there were a further increase of 400 percent, total wood consumption would only increase by one percent.
The production of wood sugars and derived chemicals by wood hydrolysis is technologically feasible but only very low-priced wood, available within a short hauling distance of the manufacturing plant, is likely to make it an economical proposition. Although total lumber production has increased 19 percent during the last decade, it has been rapidly displaced in many of its traditional markets. About three-quarters of all lumber is used in some form of construction, the remainder being divided between shipping use and manufacture. The use of lumber in the construction of new residential buildings, now consuming over one-third of total production, is the most important single market for lumber. Research has shown that the buying price of lumber is high in relation to competitive materials, as is, in many cases, the cost of fabrication and fitting in the finished building. Owing to these cost considerations, the size of houses and the amount of lumber used has declined substantially, and new types of houses with non-wooden frames are becoming more common. To compete technologically with alternative materials, the industry is faced with a major undertaking in research and in working out methods for producing suitable lumber at lower unit costs to the consumer. The industry at present supports research at only about one-third the rate of some competing industries.
The tentative conclusions reached are that lumber consumption is likely to decline, and the higher the price, the more rapid the downward trend. Present technologies in pulping and wood hydrolysis are not likely to take up the full slack in the volume of wood consumption, and in any event these processes are based on lower wood costs than lumber production, and thus the market for high-priced wood is likely to contract. If it is correct to conclude that there will be a low-priced market in the future, then the forest manager must keep his costs per unit of volume down and concentrate on quantity, not quality. This is particularly true if the future market is for fiber-wood-cellulose rather than for sawlogs, and may mean intensive forestry with the emphasis on cost as the controlling factor. It also seems clear that integrated forest industries will be an essential of large-scale commercial forestry in the future, and that the production of wood on a large scale will be at a low cost, basic raw material for conversion by industries being organized into a single interdependent unit.
AUSTRALIA
· The Standards Association of Australia has re-issued its publication Australian Standard Nomenclature of Australian Timbers. The Association was established in 1929 under the aegis of the Commonwealth and state governments for the promotion of standardization and simplified practice, and is supported by state governments, universities, industrial and commercial organizations. Committees representing interested agencies are established from time to time to prepare standards.
The confusion among common names, trade names, and scientific names for commercial timbers is well known. The Association has first, decided on standard trade common names; second, on the standard trade reference name or botanical name; and, third, other common names applied to different botanical and standard common names. A separate table for each is arranged alphabetically to enable concordance with the two other names. A complementary table gives the areas in which the species occurs and, if an exotic found in plantations, specifies the fact. It is hoped that by adopting standard common and botanical names, other names now in use will become obsolete and confusion will be reduced. The Association has also issued in provisional form and circulated for comments proposed standards for waterproof plywood and for plywood for general purposes which, after comments have been taken into consideration, will be published. In earlier years, the Association issued standards on such subjects as terms and definitions used in timber grading rules, grading rules for milled flooring and grading rules for milled lining.
UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA
· Eucalyptus saligna, a native of New South Wales and southern Queensland, has been extensively planted in South Africa during the last 40 years, primarily with the object of producing mining timbers on short rotation. The tree produces a generally useful type of timber, but difficulties in sawing and seasoning are considerable singe the outer portion of the stem are in tension and the inner port ions in compression, resulting in a strong tendency to split and warp. The time of felling is of little importance to the quality or behavior of the seasoned wood. In general, large logs split more than smaller ones, and to minimize splitting, logs should be sawn in the greatest practicable length and should be converted rapidly after felling. It is advisable to cut or edge to width only after seasoning. The most effective seasoning practice is to follow a month to six weeks' air-drying by about five days in the kiln, putting the air-dried wood in at about 20 percent moisture content. On account of the very high green moisture content, shrinkage across the grain ranges from 3 to 11 percent, with heavier woods averaging 7 percent and lighter woods 5 percent. The worst defects are the natural defects, such as dead knots, and to produce the best logs, pruning of young stands is desirable, especially where maximum utilization of the lumber is required. From 100 cu. ft. (2.8 m³) of round logs the following yields may be expected: 56 cu. ft. (1.6 m³) of square sawn one-inch (2,540 cm.) green boards: 41 cu. ft. (12 m³) of dried saleable timber when cut to random sizes; 30 to 35 cu. ft. (0.8 m³ to 1.0 m³) if cut to a few stock sizes; 18 to 20 cu. ft. (0.5 to 0.6 m³) of wood out to a constant dimension, such as flooring; 28 cu. ft. (0.8 m³) of rough sawn timber of sizes for building, if cut from logs of 10 inch (25.4 cm.) diameter.
Although its greatest use is as a mine prop, Eucalyptus saligna has been used for poles, fence posts for fruit boxes, as seasoned boards as a substitute for imported softwood, and as pulpwood. It produces a good yield of comparatively short-fibered pulp of only moderate strength and, if used in a paper requiring strength, must be mixed with the pulp of other species. Since larger sizes of the tree will continue to compete with imported timbers, it is unlikely that larger trees will acquire a greatly increased value in the future. It is used as a substitute timber primarily in the young fast-grown condition.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· The Forest Products Laboratory of the Yale School of Forestry is conducting a series of investigations on the properties of tropical wood on behalf of the Office of Naval Research. One project deals with the weathering characteristics of 27 selected hardwoods from Brazil British Guiana, British Honduras, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Surinam. The selected species are compared with three control species - American white oak, Central American mahogany and teak - after exposure in painted and unpainted standard samples for 18 months. Conclusions are that the deterioration of wood, when exposed to weather, is a property which is difficult to predict or correlate, since unsuccessful attempts have been made to correlate the various properties of the woods. However, further investigations are planned. As a result of the tests, the woods are classified into four groups - excellent, good, fair and poor - both for unpainted and painted specimens.
Another study is concerned with the steam-bending properties of 16 selected tropical woods compared with American white oak. The project is important singe few American species are well adapted to the steam-bending process. Results indicate that the majority of woods with excellent steam-bending characteristics have a ratio of toughness to fiber stress in excess of 0.03, and that this relationship is useful for preliminary screening of woods to be tested.
· Acid treatment of freshly chipped streaks of slash pine (Pinus caribaea) and longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) in the south-eastern United States has now been fully established as an economical and desirable technique in the production of naval stores. A season's work of 16 streaks laid on at two-week intervals will produce at least as much gum as 32 regular, deep and untreated streaks laid on at one-week intervals. By the new method, the working life of the face is almost doubled and each chipper can work almost twice as many faces. The acid increases and prolongs the gum flow but does not directly stimulate the manufacture of more gum Streaks are cut through the bark only to a width of ½ to ¾ of an inch (1.270 cm. to 1.905 cm.) a solution of 50 percent by weight of sulphuric acid is sprayed on the freshly cut face at the rate of one quart of acid to 1,000 streaks. Special equipment needed are a bark hack, a plastic squeeze sprayer, and an acid resistant cup cover. The cost of the equipment is small. It is necessary to remove all the inner bark in cutting the streak, but it should not be cut any deeper than the bark. Acid should be applied immediately. Too much acid will reduce gum yields and should not be applied during the winter. When the gum is processed in steam plants there is no degrading of the resin. When the gum is processed in a fire still, acid-treated gum should be mixed with untreated gum to prevent discoloration and subsequent degrading. Best results are obtained by working trees no smaller than nine inches (22.86 cm.) in diameter.
· The Forest Products Laboratory Madison, Wisconsin, has recently studied the technical feasibility of utilizing various wood waste for the production of insulating type building boards. These boards are used increasingly because of the low material cost and large sheet size that reduces fabrication costs, not only for thermal insulation for exterior walls and roofs, but as surfacing materials for interior use as walls, partitions and ceilings, as lath base for plaster, and as sheathing. In general, building board plants must have a minimum of 100 tons of raw material per day to operate economically, and this volume of raw material is seldom available as waste from other wood-using plants.
For the purposes of the study, experimental boards were produced at the Laboratory and were tested for strength and other properties in accordance with federal standard specifications, with five glasses of material considered. The waste materials tested included: (1) sawdust, solid wood waste and mixtures; (2) unprocessed sawdust; (3) materials from thinnings and cull trees; (4) pulp mill wood waste. Hydrated binder pulps and repulped old newspapers were used as a binder. In general, the products were marginal. Some of the boards made from sawdust and chipped solid wood with binders met requirements for all five types of insulating board, but other boards were suitable for only one or more types. Most of the pulp mixtures made were too slow in water drainage for use on conventional board mixtures and required modification of equipment. For each of the four groups of waste material tested, details have been worked out about materials used, the method of processing, methods of board formation, testing procedures followed, test results on the boards in terms of strength and moisture exposure effects, and manufacturing limitations where the latter exist.
· The North-eastern Wood Utilization Council, Inc., of New Haven Connecticut, recently brought together in conference leading authorities on chipped wood production and its uses with the results that information on experience to date is now readily available. Attention is being given the subject by equipment laboratories and manufacturers by researchers and executives in the wood-using industry, by foresters employed in several states and by the national forest services of Canada and the United States, and finally by state agricultural colleges and experimental stations. The practice of intensive forestry in the northeastern United States and in southeastern Canada would be greatly facilitated if ways could be developed to dispose of waste material resulting from cultural operations and from the utilization of forests for lumber and pulpwood. For example, if all dairy farmers in the state of Vermont alone were to use only wood ohms for bedding, there would be an outlet for pole wood material removed by improvement cuttings from two million acres.
The profitable marketing of chipped wood is still largely an unsolved problem, but there are several real possibilities, including the use by farm co-operatives of chips for bedding, mulch and soil amendment, and the use of chipped wood for fuel with mechanical feed. Chipped wood is not desirable for ordinary paper making, since it contains bark, but it can be used in quantity for kraft paper, roofing and insulation some types of wallboard, and for various wood chemical operations such as charcoal production. A great deal of information is now available on the suitability of wood ohms from waste material for these various industrial uses, the species that can be used, the size of ohms, and similar technical data. In addition, much research has been done on the utilization of wood chips of different sizes and from different species for the several forms of agricultural use which potentially offer an enormous market if chips can be delivered at below the cost of competitive materials.
No portable chipper now available is fully suited for handling all the waste material which foresters would like to see converted to beneficial use, since none can handle the entire range of sizes produced in cultural operations and in forest utilization. Full-scale field tests of production rates and costs, and the uses to which the chips are put, have been reported for several types of chippers, and further tests will be made as improvements in machine design occur.
The wide coverage of the research already done and still being done, the wide participation of experts approaching the problem from various angles, the synthesis of effort attained through the Council - all combine to justify the hope that success will be attained in this field in improving the utilization of forests, and thereby in opening the way to a higher and more profitable level of forestry. The whole program is likely to be of importance to other countries which have not yet solved the problem of waste
· The hydroscopic quality of wood is one of the properties limiting its use in aircraft through the dimensional changes which occur when it is exposed to varying conditions of humidity. As one of a series of studies made by the Forest Products Laboratory, Wisconsin, to improve the dimensional stability of wood, a new method of treating woods with chemical vapors was devised.
This was at first principally intended to improve their dimensional stability when exposed to severe and prolonged high humidity, or when immersed in water over extended periods. The method involves treatment with vapors of a solution of acetic anhydride and pyridine. The pyridine is used to swell the wood, and the acetic anhydride to replace the relatively hydroscopic hydroxyl groups in the wood with less hydroscopic acetyl groups. The pyridine also catalyzes the acetic anhydride reaction. The acetylation thus accomplished leaves the wood in a permanently swollen condition by means of the bulking action of the acetyl groups within the cell walls. About 20 percent acetylation reduces shrinkage approximately 70 percent compared with untreated wood. Limited tests indicate that treatment is permanent. Resistance to decay and shipworms is improved, and a few tests indicate that strength properties are not impaired and may in some eases, be improved.
AUSTRALIA
· Terms of reference for the West Australian Governments' Royal Commission on the timber industry were recently released. The Executive Council has approved the appointment of Mr. G.J. Rodger, Director-General of the Commonwealth Forestry and Timber Bureau, as Royal Commissioner. The terms of reference, which cover all phases of the industry, as recommended to Parliament by a Joint Select Committee, are: forest resources and potential, including softwood development; demands on such resources from within and without the state and the extent to which, and the manner in which such demands should be met, forest valuation and finance; forest regulation and administration, forest utilization and harvesting of timber crops, including dead timber; saw milling and fire prevention and protection; forest policy, including the granting and conditions of existing and future permits; forest legislation and regulations; and remedial action in relation to these matters.
NEW GUINEA
· Timber resources in Papua and New Guinea will shortly be exploited on an ambitious scale by a company representing jointly the Australian Government and the Bulolo Gold Dredging Company. Despite very extensive stands of timber in the country, timber imports through Port Moresby on the southern coast have been considerable. Hitherto however, lack of sawn timber has hampered the development of the territory.
The Australian Minister of External Affairs has defined timber policy in New Guinea as "orderly development on sound forestry principles with adequate provision for reafforestation, grant of emergency permits; disposal by tender of timber areas, development of the valuable pine stand in the Bulolo Valley and payment of royalties on all timber out."
Plywood, veneer and sawn timber are the main objectives of the Bulolo Valley project. But before the company starts operating, plywood specialists from Canada and other timber and milling experts are to make a full investigation of the technical and economic potentialities.
SOUTHERN RHODESIA
· A new Forest Act was promulgated in Rhodesia in 1949. It recognizes indigenous forest as "reserved forest" and provides measures for its protection. It also restricts the rights of miners to damage forest unduly on reservations made for the mining industry. It maintains principles already established for control of forest lands, for the setting aside of demarcated nature reserves, protection of particular trees, regulation of trade in forest produce and for the control of prices.
The National Parks Act was also passed in 1949 under which management of national parks and game reserves was shifted from the Forest Department in 1950. The Forestry Department administer 1,301,000 acres, (526,500 ha.) and additional reservations have been recommended. Public land suitable for soft-wood plantations is now scarce, and studies to obtain an additional 35,000 acres (14,200 ha.) of suitable land are under way. The annual planting rate will be increased to about 3,000 acres (1,200 ha.) within two years. Efforts are being made to attract needed native labor by improving living and working conditions. Interest in private forestry is expanding, and there are now nearly 44,000 acres (17,800 ha.) of private lands.
A new sawmill is to be constructed, and a pressure preservation plant to replace the existing open tank system is probable. Although revenue is currently only about one-half of total expenditure singe forests are still in the process of establishment, it is estimated that the revenue will be 2 ½ times the present revenue by 1955.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· A considerably expanded program of range reseeding is contemplated under a 15-year program for re-forestation and revegetation of national forest lands authorized by Congress in 1950. About 4 million acres (1,618,800 ha.) of the national-forest range is to be reseeded to palatable forage plants. Through reseeding, this land can be made to support from two to ten times the number of livestock now carried. About 333,650 acres (135,000 ha.) have already been reseeded and restored to productive conditions.
The most important Federal legislation concerning forestry enacted during the past year was the Cooperative Forest Management Act (Public law 729-81 Congress). This law which became effective 1 July 1951, authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to co-operate with the different states to enable them to provide technical services to private forest land-owners and operators, and processors of primary forest products. The technical services include assistance in management of forest lands and the harvesting, marketing and processing of forest products. This Act replaces the Norris-Doxey Cooperative Farm Forestry Act of 18 May 1937, which was repealed in 30 June 1951. The Co-operative Forest Management Act sets up a National Advisory Board of state foresters to deal with the Federal Government on matters covered by the Act. To carry out the provisions of the Act, annual appropriations are authorized to the sum of $2,500,000.
A report entitled Natural Resources Activity of the Federal Government, prepared for the Task Force on Natural Resources of the Hoover Commission, is both a ready source of information and a striking illustration of the extreme difficulty of preparing a really balanced descriptive and analytical account of this complex and highly controversial field. The primary purpose of the Task Force was to put forward recommendations on reorganization of the widely-scattered and unco-ordinated programs, dispersed among a dozen or more agencies. The most persistently controversial policy question is whether major responsibility for renewable resources should be placed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, long the home of the Forest Service and Soil Conservation Service, or with the U.S. Department of the Interior, the residence of the Bureau of Land Management, Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Reclamation.
The unyielding opposition of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its Bureaus to transfer responsibility to the U.S. Department of the Interior is based on two major and irreconcilable differences in philosophy legal principles and practice between the Departments. The U. S. Department of Agriculture not only retains public lands already under sound management in the National Forests, but is constantly increasing the area. The U.S. Department of the Interior's public lands in the grazing districts, which make up the great majority of lands for which it is responsible, are subject to alienation. This problem is one of permanence or Impermanence in public ownership and affirmative management. In the second place, the policy and practice of multiple-use applies to the national forests, whereas by law a single purpose - grazing, recreation, wildlife and fish, Indian lands - is written into the laws dealing with the different forms of withdrawals and reservations, which govern the operations of the separate bureaus. Experience to date shows beyond doubt that: (a) public ownership and technically competent management are indispensable to the conservation of many, if not most, lands possessing forest, range, watershed, recreation and wildlife potentialities, and (b) multiple-purpose management is the only way in which the national needs for these separate resources can be satisfied.
The report, valuable as it is as a source of statistical and legal data, does not identify clearly these vital and clashing conflicts, nor does it analyze adequately the degree to which each of the various forms of public ownership serves or fails to serve the true national interest by application of sound fundamental principles. For example, multiple use is mentioned but not defined in a brief paragraph of a two-page description of the national forests whereas the space allotted to each of the U.S. Department of the Interior's agencies is many times greater. The fine research program of the Forest Service, as a basis for technically sound management, is barely mentioned. By structure, allotment of space, and by omission, the over-all effect of the report is to emphasize the U.S. Department of the Interior's types of administration, without reasoned and critical comparison with that of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Task Force recommended consolidation of renewable resource activities in the U.S. Department of the interior, a proposal rejected by the Commission which recommended major shifts of agencies, areas and functions to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A referendum vote of the Society of American Foresters has recently approved the Commission's view.
The vigorous debate in the United States on the controversial question of the most effective organization of federal activities dealing with natural resources is of continuing interest to nations which have yet to develop fully their own governmental structure of organization in this important field.
UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
· For the first time since its organization the Ministry of Forestry issued in January 1951, on the occasion of the conclusion of the Five-Year Plan (1946-1950), a revised estimate of the extent of forest land, the amount of standing timber and other related facts. The land area that comes within the jurisdiction of the Ministry is known as the People's Forest Fund. It amounts roughly to a grand total of 2,640,500,000 acres (1,068,600,000 ha.). This figure includes the 101,800,000 acres (41,200,000 ha.) of forest land allocated for use by collective farms. The grand total is broken up into:
|
Area covered with timber |
Ha. |
628,300,000 |
|
Acres |
(1,552,529, 00) 62 % |
|
|
Forest land not covered with timber |
Ha. |
114,300,000 |
|
Acres |
(282,435,300) 11 % |
|
|
Non-forest land |
Ha. |
270 000,000 |
|
Acres |
(667,170,000) 27 % |
It certainly also includes some additional 138,400,000 acres (55,000,000 ha.) which are either not classified or not accounted for.
The greater part of the stands are conifers which occupy about 1,215,700,000 acres (492,000,000 ha.) or 78 percent of the entire timber covered area. Mature and over-mature stands classified by age groups constitute 55 percent; those reaching maturity, 16 percent; middle aged, 15 percent; and young stands, 14 percent, amount of standing timber is estimated at 58,700 million m³, of which conifers account for almost 85 percent. Since 1943, all forests in the U.S.S.R. are divided into three large groups. Group I includes forest preserves, forests of health resorts, forests on blowing soils, forest zones around industrial enterprises and cities, and shelterbelts. In 1950, the total area of such forests comprised 67,211,200 acres (27,200,000 ha.) and 3,300 million m³, or 5.5 percent of the total amount of standing timber in the country. Cuttings in the forests of this group are confined to thinnings, stand improvements, sanitary cuttings and removal of over-mature and dying trees. Clear cuttings of any kind are strictly forbidden. Group II includes chiefly forests having a watershed protection value which are located principally in the central and western region of European Russia. Some 211,000,000 acres (85,400,000 ha.) of watershed protection forests are included in this group. The volume of standing timber in this group is estimated at 2,900 million m³ or 5 percent of the total volume for the country. Except for strips of forests about 7 km. wide along the shores of the river Volga and its right tributaries in which no cuttings of any kind have been allowed, (this prohibition has lately been extended to some other rivers), light commercial cuttings are permitted on the rest of the forests of this area. Group III includes all other forests not otherwise designated; these are the commercial forests of the country, open for economic exploitation and are situated principally in the northern regions of European Russia, in Siberia and in the Far East. This is by far the most extensive area covering 2,224 million acres (900 million ha.) and comprising 1,853,775 million cu. ft. (52,500 million m³) or 89.5 percent of the entire timber reserves. In the forests of this group all form of cutting, including large scale clear cuttings, are allowed, the sole provision being that the cut-over areas must be regenerated, naturally or artificially, within a short specified period. The volume of cutting is not limited by the annual growth, but is determined by the economic and industrial needs of the country.
YUGOSLAVIA
· During the war, from 1941 to 1945, the timber industry in Yugoslavia suffered severely. More than 67 percent of the industry, notably the sawmills, was destroyed or damaged, while most of the undamaged mills were operating with worn-out machinery at low capacity. After the end of the war there was, therefore, reconstruction work to be done for which timber was a vital material, and for this reason the repair of the sawmills was given high priority, to achieve this it was necessary to make use of old equipment. From 1947 onwards, out-of-date equipment was replaced by modern machinery in a certain number of sawmills, conveyors and mechanical vanes were installed and new sawmills constructed. Furniture factories were repaired and modernized, and their annual production is now 14.5 times as great as in 1947.
A modern factory for the production of prefabricated houses has recently been opened, while a fiberboard factory and another for veneering are at present under construction. The industrial consumption of timber within the country represents only 42 percent of over-all timber production. This relationship between manufactured products; and timber out is, however, improving from year to year.
Sawmills and other industrial concerns are, as a general rule, situated near the forested areas intended for exploitation. As felling operations are carried deeper into the old high mountain stands, transport becomes increasingly difficult and costly. As a result it has been necessary for certain woodworking plants, mainly sawmills, to be moved, thereby enabling "combines" to be set up with a view to a more economic utilization of timber. A careful study is now being made on the choice of sites for these "combines," bearing in mind, first, the potential yield and quality of timber of the different forests, which will feed the "combines," and second, the other factors resulting in a sound utilization of the wood. Plants which are already well placed with regard to the supply of timber itself will also need to be modernized at an early date in order to make the best use of both manpower and timber resources.
