by A. HUBER
Logging Engineer, Paper Industries Limited, Zurich, Switzerland
YUGOSLAVIA and India are two countries geographically remote from each other and with a quite different historical development. Yet they are both now interested in high mountain logging and here they pose many similar problems. This the writer was able to observe at first hand when in 1962 and 1953, he carried out separate missions for FAO under the Expanded Technical Assistance Program to advise these countries on possible ways of improving extraction of timber from difficult mountain areas.1
1Mr. Huber is now serving with the regular staff of the Forestry Division, FAO.
Plans for opening up hitherto inaccessible stands are in fact becoming an increasingly important feature of forest economy in many mountainous countries throughout the world. As the more easily accessible forest resources become scarce or even exhausted owing to heavy utilization, interest is concentrated on mountain forests where often the last reserves of fully stocked forest have been left untouched, frequently consisting of valuable species such as conifers, not available at lower elevations.
As timber in the rough is a bulky material and thus difficult to transport over long distances, exploitation has for centuries tended to be restricted to the close vicinity of more densely populated centers of consumption and to forest areas from which transportation, generally by water, was relatively easy. Not until quite recently, and thanks to the development of modern transportation facilities, has it now become an economic proposition to tap remoter forests also. Today's logging enterprises tend, on the one hand, to push forward away from populated areas into the unexploited stands of the tropics and the far north, and, on the other hand, to the last frontiers of the mountain forest resources.
Another reason for the only recent advance of logging operations into mountain regions lies in the fact that forests in such areas have often been banned to commercial exploitation owing to the important protective functions which they exercise. The reluctance of governments to allow commercial exploitation, and particularly clear cutting practices, on this account is quite understandable. But, while barred to industry, mountain forests have also for a long time been, and still are, commonly abused by the local populations through overgrazing, lopping of trees, burning, and shifting cultivation, so that bans on commercial felling, however good the intent, which do not at the same time deal adequately with abuse by local populations, do not in effect prevent severe damage being done to the forests. Experience of FAO Technical Assistance missions has revealed this in several countries of Latin America, the Near and Far East, and also in parts of Africa.
But there are regions, as for instance some alpine parts of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where careful selection cutting in mountain forests has been successfully applied on a commercial basis for almost a century, without interfering with the essentially protective role of the stands. On the contrary, it is realized today that mountain forests which are conservatively exploited according to sound cutting practices, are in an even better position to fulfil their protective functions than forests completely closed to access and thus not subjected to any kind of management.
India
To study mountain forest conditions in India, the writer spent several months in the hill belt between the northern plains and the Great Himalaya Range, in particular in the civil districts of Tehri-Garwhal and Debra Dun (Uttar Pradesh), Mahasu, Bashar, Jubbal and Simla (Himachal Pradesh), and Kangra (East Punjab).
Although a wide variety of forest and working conditions was found in these districts, the problems were very much the same throughout the area, and are probably similar for the major part of all Indian high mountains west of Nepal.2
2A separate ETAP forestry mission has been conducted in Nepal.
In the upper parts of the valleys of the Yamuna, Tons, Pabar, Giri, Sutlej and Beas rivers are extensive tracts of fir and spruce forests (Abies pindrow and Picea morinda). A large portion of the growing stock is, however, mature or overmature and thus partly deteriorating. These forests occur from roughly 7,000 feet (2,100 m.) to 11,000 feet (approximately 3,500 m.) above sea level, while the lower levels of the hills are covered by other forest types (Pinus longifolia, P. excelsa, Cedrus deodara) or else cultivated.
With the exception of the Beas valley, all these fir/spruce forests are accessible only on foot or by mule paths, being located from 30 to 100 or more miles (approximately, 50 to 150 km.) from the nearest motor road. Owing to their remoteness they remained almost in a virgin state until comparatively few years ago; during the second world war they were heavily cut over in many parts for the first time.
Contrary to general belief, most of these high mountain forests are quite easily accessible to human labor, and many are now being worked. Only the best timber is being extracted, however, and most of the lower grades, in size as in quality, are abandoned as waste. Official figures suggest that the conversion ratio is as low as one quarter, so that 75 percent of the standing volume of the trees is being wasted.
The timber is produced in the form of sleepers in several sizes, up to approximately 12 feet × 10 inches × 5 inches (3.7 m. × 25 cm. × 12.5 cm.). Most of the output is sold as railway ties to India's narrow, meter and broad gauge railways, although a small part is destined for structural purposes.
Whereas in East Punjab the timber is extracted by the Forest Department, in Uttar and Himachal Pradesh the standing trees are sold to private contractors bidding at public auctions, in small lots and for extraction within very limited time.
All trees for felling are marked by the various state forest departments in conformity with sound silvicultural principles according to the silvicultural treatments prescribed in the local working plans. The trees are then felled and cut into lengths by hired labor, and hewn and sawn by hand into sleepers, on the spot. Thus conversion takes place near the stump, and no log is ever skidded or otherwise moved to be converted at a central delivery point. Work is only done in the summer months and no use is made of snow in winter for moving either logs or the converted timber, although there are instances of winter logging having been attempted locally.3 After conversion the sleepers are carried on human back, often for many miles, to the nearest stream, to be floated to a boom at the edge of the plains, some 50 to 150 miles (80 to 240 km.) away. In small streams with little water, elaborate systems of 'telescopic slides' and 'wet slides' are used, but free floating is the practice in the main rivers. It often takes six months or more to reach the boom, where the sleepers are taken on land for sale or are rafted for further transportation across the plains.
3BAKEWELL, C. Mountain Logging in the Lolab, Kashmir Valley. Empire Forestry Journal, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1935, P. 228-232.
This system of timber extraction appears well suited to the kind of conditions that, for a long time, have prevailed in these mountains. Labor is very cheap and the standard of life low. At night, the workers take shelter under a rock or bluff, and they have a simple meal only twice a day. Clothing is far from being adequate for the heavy work, and tools are mostly primitive, consisting of crude, village-made axes, some primitive cross-cut saws, a ripping saw and perhaps a pole for turning a log, if required.
Apparently not much, if any, attention has been paid to these labor conditions in the past. The fellers and sawyers are paid by piece work, and nobody seems to be much concerned about how much they produce per day. The workers themselves are not in a position to improve their equipment and techniques, being extremely poor and illiterate.
There can be no doubt but that these traditional methods of timber extraction leave much room for improvement, and there is also no doubt that there will have to be improvements as wages rise in keeping with demands for higher living standards and as more timber is wanted at reasonable prices. Already some lots of mountain timber, although in demand, could not be sold because the market prices offered did not cover the cost of extraction.
No country can now afford to waste half or more of the standing volume of its forests by relying on outmoded logging and extraction methods. The writer estimated that the annual gross income from the forests of the areas which he inspected could be increased by a to 10 million rupees (approx. U.S. $1.1 to 2.2 million) per year by introducing economical, efficient and integrated logging operations. At the same time, however, much attention needs to be given to silvicultural considerations. At present regeneration in the mountain forests is frequently endangered by bad land use practices on the part of local populations, and much effort is required to secure sufficient young growth for successful management of the forests on a sustained yield basis.
Yugoslavia
Distinctly different so far as past development is concerned, and yet quite similar with regard to their technical aspects, are the conditions and problems of mountain timber extraction in Yugoslavia.
The forests of Yugoslavia have, in the course of centuries, been reduced by over-cutting, excessive grazing, and lack of skilled care.
The first heavy drains occurred on the Adriatic coast, along the great east-west trade routes, and in the plains of the Danube and its tributaries, where the ruin of large forest areas started hundreds of years ago.
The forest wealth remaining intact, chiefly in the mountainous parts between the coast and the Save river (the alpine parts of Slovenia, the Karst ranges of Croatia, and the Dinarian Alps of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia) attracted foreign enterprises towards the end of the last century and early in the 1900's. Mechanical equipment and, in particular, forest railways were used recklessly to secure as high an output as possible. This heavy exploitation resulted in a further rapid reduction of the total forest resources.
Tremendous sacrifices were again demanded from the forests of Yugoslavia during the first and second world wars, and then for the reconstruction of the country over the last ten years. During this latter period the Yugoslav forests have been drawn on sometimes to the point of exhaustion for re-constructing thousands of homesteads, bridges and railways and, through large exports of rough timber and processed commodities, to bring in foreign monies so much needed for the industrial development of the country.
It is quite obvious that in such periods of national emergency fast mass production of wood at low cost is a necessity, and considerations of careful conservative silviculture have to take second place. This is not an experience by any means peculiar to Yugoslavia.
Today, with the greatest demands of post-war reconstruction overcome and conditions greatly improved, the Yugoslav foresters face the difficult task of reconstituting their shrunken forest resources and of introducing sound, sustained-yield management and intensive care of all forest stands. As most of Yugoslavia's remaining forest resources grow in the rougher, less accessible parts of the country, this in no small part entails attention to careful mountain logging.
All work in rough country and at higher elevations is, in one way or another, affected by the natural conditions of accentuated topography and is in many ways, but not all, more difficult to accomplish than in flat low terrain. Moreover, as has already been mentioned' the prime function of mountain forest may be protection and, therefore, mountain logging must be done on a much more conservative basis than in lowland forests.
The difficulties peculiar to mountain logging are partly of an objective nature, partly caused by more subjective, human factors.
Natural difficulties
Difficulties beyond the reach of human control are inherent partly in the geographical location of mountain forests in relation to consumption centers. The products of these forests have, as a rule, to move over considerable distances, frequently over very difficult terrain, through gorges and defiles, to reach their destination. This frequently results in heavy damage, serious losses and high operation costs.
Topographic conditions rate equally as a primary handicap. Rough country, steep slopes, rocky terrain render all work more strenuous, more expensive and more dangerous. Labor conditions and labor organization therefore require special attention. The workers' personal equipment such as shoes and clothing, their food, shelter and accommodation must be of decidedly better quality than is generally necessary in lowland operations.
The forest work must, as a rule, be decentralized and be carried out by relatively small operating crews, which makes supervision difficult and expensive. Travelling distances to remote, often isolated places can be long and access difficult. Therefore the employment of machines and other heavy mechanized equipment is generally limited, and a very great deal of manual labor is still required.
Rough country also means high losses or deterioration of valuable timber in transit when, for instance chuting or floating in mountain ravines have to be used. Quite often only high-grade timber pays for its extraction. Tapping mountain forests, therefore, frequently results in undesirable "creaming" operations, whereby a great deal of wood is left unused in the forest.
Climate in mountainous areas is, as a rule, much more severe than at lower elevations, particularly in winter when snow occurs. Quite often logging operations must periodically be closed down for considerable lengths of time due to heavy snow cover and unfavorable winter conditions. Mountain weather is, generally very unpredictable, with sudden changes rain and mist, which may suddenly accentuate the difficulties and dangers of the working conditions, apart from, resulting in higher exploitation costs.
Subjective factors
Besides, there are difficulties arising for subjective reasons.
Mountain regions are usually less densely populated than most cultivated lowlands, and settlements are much more dispersed. The labor supply is, therefore, limited and hard to concentrate. Lack of communications and rough country are responsible for considerable expenditure of time in moving labor between the villages and working sites.
Again, mountain people are, in general, decidedly conservative and do not take at all easily to new developments. Their attitude towards new ideas is rather one of reluctance, and, in particular, their aptitude for mechanical activity often slight.
Furthermore, because of the relative poverty of their environment, they tend to be insufficiently nourished, clothed and equipped, particularly in the underdeveloped countries of the world.
All this creates a labor situation which militates against the introduction of modern logging methods into remote mountain areas.
Favorable aspects
Mountain forests offer, on the other hand, some distinctly favorable features, of which every advantage should be taken.
First, the forests tend, particularly at higher elevations, to be more or less uniform as to tree species. They consist, as a rule, of one or a few softwood (conifer) species only, which are much in demand throughout the world, for instance for pulp manufacture. This uniformity in composition is of distinct advantage both as regards exploitation and placing the timber on the market.
Moreover, since trees at high elevations grow very slowly and regularly, the technical qualities of their timber are often outstanding, commanding good prices and furnishing suitable raw materials for many special purposes.
Then, the slopes and higher elevations on which the forests grow provide gravity, a very effective, motive power free of charge, which can and should be utilized to the greatest extent. In the same sense, other profitable natural features are the relative abundance of water courses useful for transportation, and particularly the occurrence of snow, which offers a most effective and cheap sliding medium for log transportation.
Especially in tropical countries, mountainous regions tend to enjoy a healthier climate than the often fever-and disease-stricken lowlands. From this point of view they can offer much better labor conditions to forest workers.
Again, ownership of remote mountain forests tends to be vested in the State which is one reason why they are on occasion relatively well preserved. State ownership means that plans to introduce large-scale logging operations do not have to face the kind of legal difficulties often presented in more accessible and populated areas where a complicated land ownership pattern is to be found. The agency concerned can, therefore, concentrate on the natural and technical difficulties, which is a considerable advantage.
There are now no insuperable technical obstacles to executing logging operations satisfactorily even in very difficult hill country. The legitimacy of any such projects lies in economics. It should be recognized however, that before any work in the forest is permitted, some basic conditions must be fulfilled..
Mountain forests are particularly vulnerable to uncontrolled exploitation, the results of which can be disastrous, as only too many examples have shown. But the erroneous idea still widely persists that hill forests can survive without any artificial assistance and that consequently there is no need for other than nominal expenditure on management and on silvicultural operations.
It is, on the contrary, absolutely essential that exploitation should be based on sound working plans drawn up and agreed beforehand. All cutting must be planned in such a way as to ensure a permanent forest cover, eventual improvement in the cutover stands, and adequate regeneration. To this end the general principle to be adopted should be selective cutting, which method requires sufficient numbers of workers for execution, and of trained foresters for close supervision of operations.
Execution of logging operations4
4LLOYD, A.H. Extraction of Timber by Skyline Crane Unasylva, Vol. VII, No. 4 p. 159.
KOROLEFF, A. Fundamentals of Logging Steep Slopes Unasylva, Vol. VIII, No. 2, p. 72.
In most cases there can be no question of simply accepting methods, techniques and equipment commonly used in operations in flat, easily accessible forests. Generally the terrain will automatically rule this out. The more difficult the terrain and other natural conditions, the more important becomes the human factor, in other words individual manpower.
The aim in all extraction plans must be to get the utmost possible out of the given natural conditions, particularly through intelligent use of gravity, snow and water.
The solution of the problems of mountain timber extraction has mainly to be sought, first, in a clever application of relatively simple, cheap methods and use of efficient light equipment, turning natural features to the best possible advantage, and, secondly, in an intensive rationalization of working techniques. This will in general lead to greater success than reliance on heavy mechanical equipment, though the latter may have to be employed where the trees to be extracted are of very large size, where manpower is very scarce, or where transportation is required over considerable distances.
Only the best hand tools should be used for felling and cross-cutting, such as have been designed in several countries after scientific research and practical tests.
None the less essential are efficient techniques of application and proper maintenance of these tools.
Simple means of moving logs which can be very efficient if properly handled, are pulley blocks and tackle, snubbing winches, wooden chutes or flumes, and particularly sleighs for use on inclined ground and in snow.
For long-distance extraction water is a very efficient and economical means. Flumes of wood, stone or metal help overcome rough river sections where free floating or rafting is impossible.
Depending on circumstances, advantage should be taken of the latest technical developments in light, efficient mechanized equipment of proven reliability, such as certain types of power chain saws; light overhead rigs (skyline-cranes, lasso-cables, etc.); gravity wires and cableways; mobile power winches; snubbing devices, snatch blocks and other cable accessories; portable saw benches (available as band, sash or circular); portable pulpwood splitting machines; portable metal flumes, etc. Proper maintenance of such equipment and the supply of spare parts must of course be organized simultaneously.
In short, it is quite possible to accomplish sometimes astonishing results even with limited human, animal or mechanical power, merely through skilful combinations and improvisations. This demands, however, ingenuity and imagination on the part of executives as well as of individual workers. Particularly in regard to the use of mechanical equipment, success depends on whether it is being employed in the right place and in the right way. Nature must be made the mountain logger's ally, not his foe.
The advantages of logging techniques employing simple means and methods are various:
1. By using a considerable amount of human labor a great part of the operational expenses is being paid out in the form of wages to the local population, thus contributing substantially towards raising standards of living.2. Capital investment can he kept comparatively low. Moreover, the simple equipment required can often be manufactured within the particular country concerned, a matter of considerable importance in relation to foreign currency balances.
3. Modest technical equipment and uncomplicated working techniques are relatively easy to introduce. Considerable improvements in mountain logging operations can frequently be achieved merely through the sympathetic training and education of forest labor, without any great capital expenditure.
In fact, mountain timber extraction is, to a great extent, a problem of man management. The human factor has to receive first consideration, and in this respect, the starting point is similar in all mountain countries, east or west, whether already highly industrialized and mechanized or not. In very rough country, money and the machine soon lose their superiority, and the contest remains chiefly between man and nature. So the working techniques of each individual need to be rationalized to the utmost. But it cannot be expected that improvements in logging are simply a matter of days or months. Unskilled labor cannot learn in weeks what advanced workers in some countries have only acquired through decades of training and tradition. Working efficiency, initiative, ingenuity and imagination can only be induced gradually, step by step, through continuous effort. The process can certainly be accelerated but it still takes time, and all planning should take this into account.
Transportation
What has been said above relates chiefly to the preparation proper of logs in mountain terrain. Somewhat different and frequently more difficult problems are posed by the long-distance transportation of timber from the forests to the main consumption areas, and of labor and supplies to the forest.
For this, waterways are certainly the most economical means but they are not always available nor their use feasible. Logging railways have been used in many countries for over 60 years and they have given outstanding service. But their use in rough mountain terrain is limited both for technical and economic reasons.
Much hope has also been placed in long-distance cableways, and there are many types which have been operating satisfactorily for decades. Despite, however, the outstanding services which can be rendered by cableways, their importance as a universal solution to overcome distance has been fading. Their load capacities are limited and they need a skilled operating crew, while their merits for log transportation tend to be overshadowed by the fact that they induce over-exploitation, to pay off the heavy capital investment which they entail. Moreover, the number of possible loading stations is also limited and any tracts between them derive no benefit at all. And most important consideration of all, while other means of transportation have been tremendously developed over the last decades, in the case of long-distance cableways there has been no such revolutionary progress.
There can be no doubt but that roads are the best suited means for all-purpose, long-distance transportation in difficult terrain. Apart from their usefulness for forestry, they are an unquestionable requirement for the introduction of larger labor forces and mechanical equipment to mountain areas, and for the bringing in of regular food and maintenance supplies. Moreover, their use is open to all kinds of vehicles, from village-made donkey carts to modern trucks, and thus movement is not restricted to a small number of especially trained skilled workers. They contribute also to the general welfare in the broadest sense by facilitating agriculture, local trades, cottage industries, administration education, medical care, tourism, and so forth, while their construction and maintenance can largely be carried out by local labor and so provide welcome earnings for the mountain population.
For the forests, access roads result in an immediate and very substantial increase in stumpage values. They are basically important for forest management, supervision, fire protection, and for the introduction of forest industries, particularly to process low-grade forest products in the vicinity of the forest themselves.
In short, roads are essential means to raise forest yields and utilization to the maximum level of sustained production, and to keep it there permanently.
In mountain forest extraction, many specific difficulties and problems, whose solution requires much initiative and enterprise, have to be surmounted. To speed up developments and to increase efficiency, active encouragement is necessary. Governments must either contribute substantially to long-term capital investments, particularly for means of transportation, or help private initiative to do so, by executing an appropriate forest policy.
If government agencies are not in a position to carry out forest exploitation themselves, they should make every effort to make this work attractive for private enterprise. In such cases, however, forest authorities must as far as possible see that adequate investment is made to ensure permanent improvements and thus, guarantee sustained yields from the forests.
Lasting improvements such as trained forest labor, the introduction of efficient equipment, tools and techniques, and construction of permanent means of long-distance transportation, require a consistent official forest policy, both in regard to production and marketing, since the efforts required are of such a magnitude that they can only be undertaken when continuity of forest operations is assured. If not to be carried out by state agencies, mountain timber extraction should be handed over to specialized enterprises on the basis of long-term contracts, concession areas being limited preferably by topographical units or watersheds.
The latest FAO inventory of forest resources does not reveal how much of the calculated timber reserves of the world lie in mountainous areas but the proportion must certainly be considerable, and it is time to start putting these unused assets to productive use.
