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.
General
Fundamental science
Silviculture
Logging and engineering
Forest injuries and protection
Forest management
Industry and trade
Forest products and their utilization
Forest policy
BRAZIL
· Special courses in forestry have been organized at several of the Agricultural Colleges (São Paulo and Minas Gerais). The Federal Rural University, situated about 50 km. from Rio, some years ago began an 18-month course for agricultural engineers covering the following subjects: forest botany, silviculture, forest technology and applied industrial technology. Recently plans have been drawn up for a special Forestry College, a project which is still to be approved. Several special courses for workers in forest industries are being conducted jointly by the Instituto Nacional do Pinho and the Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem (government school for apprentices).
ITALY
· The serious threat to many of Europe's national parks from hydroelectric schemes has affected also the Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso, the home of almost the last truly indigenous herd of Alpine ibex, lying in the magnificent mountain group between Aosta and Turin to the extreme north-west of Italy.
It was started in 1836 as a royal hunting preserve for the protection of the ibex, then almost extinct, and 150,000 acres were set aside for a national park in 1920. The ibex are now flourishing, but their existence is menaced once again by a scheme to build a line of pylons through the Park from Aosta to Turin. The Park authorities are resisting the scheme, more because it would disturb the ibex and make it harder to prevent poaching, than for aesthetic reasons since in that region of vast mountains the pylons would not be noticeable. They fear, moreover, that this concession, once granted, would lead to other large-scale hydro-electric schemes.
Work on the scheme has been temporarily suspended, but permanent suspension is desirable, for the preservation of the Alpine ibex in particular, but also of all the other wild life found there. Excellent use is made of the Gran Paradiso for scientific research. The Center of Alpine Biology at Turin is making a systematic survey of all flora and fauna, including a search for natural anti-biotics, as wounded chamois have been observed to cure themselves by eating an as yet unidentified plant.
Italy has three other national parks: the Stelvio, in the Northeastern Alps; the Abruzzo, in the Central Apennines; and lastly the Circeo, to the south of Rome, which is of interest for its typical Mediterranean forest land.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· The program of the privately financed Conservation Foundation of New York City, is continuing to extend its scope to cover all the various aspects of natural resources. The work is divided into four broad fields: (1) research; (2) consultant service to government agencies; (3) study of industrial problems; (4) furthering educational work in conservation. A number of current research problems deal with various aspects of forestry, including a study of a selected watershed as a community; a complete survey of groundwater resources; a comprehensive analysis of vegetation in relation to water yields; the joint study with FAO of soil erosion areas in the Western Hemisphere; an independent review of U. S. forest resources; an ecological study of the Alaskan wilderness, and in particular the relations of animals, forage and human beings; and an analysis of statutory and legislative barriers to conservation practice.
Each project is planned and organized under the leadership of a competent specialist and a report is prepared on each project completed.
· The U. S. Department of Agriculture has issued Bibliographical Bulletin No. 18, entitled "The Forests of Continental Latin America". This bibliography is the result of a selected examination of books and periodical literature published between 1920 and 1950 on the forests of Mexico, Central and South America. It is a guide to background information for anyone interested in the forest resources of Latin America and their utilization. The listing of references is sub-divided by countries.
· For 55 years the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University, has published an annual rural school leaflet designed to help rural teachers instruct students in a better understanding of their environment. The current Leaflet or handbook gives a concise background on soil and water conservation, forest conservation, and wildlife conservation, emphasizing the inter-relations, for example, of good farming and forestry practices on soils and waters.
Under each of the major headings, sample demonstrations are described, whereby teachers may demonstrate the processes which lead either to land and resource deterioration or to improvements.
· Ecology of American Forest Species - Erosion and Reafforestation is a report on the first three subjects assigned to Technical Assistance Mission No. 18, composed of experts from OEEC countries to the United States, and is concerned with growing conditions of American species, reforestation of semi-desert and waste land, and soil erosion in forest areas.
The first part of the report deals with forest geography, forest types, climate and soils, choice of provenance, forest trees and their utilization, growth, yield and thinnings, and cutting methods and regeneration. The eight European experts on this part of the mission were guided by American technicians in their tour of eastern forests, prairie belt, the rocky mountain and the Pacific regions. From their observations they were able to draw conclusions useful in their own countries on a number of American species already known in Europe, and on methods of thinning and regeneration. It is evident from the report that there was a real exchange of ideas, so that the visitors contributed as much as they received during the tour.
Part 2 of the report, dealing with reforestation of semi-desert and waste lands under difficult climatic conditions, was of particular interest to three of the experts who visited plantations, shelter belts and nurseries in Nebraska, Colorado, Utah and South California. As a result they obtained very useful information on nursery and planting practices adaptable to similar problems in their own countries.
The third part of the report deals with laboratory investigations on soil erosion in forest areas, and the preventive measures to be employed. The five members of the team visited the south-eastern and southern United States, Arizona, California and Utah under the guidance of technicians from the U. S. Forest Service. Their observations are presented under the headings of problems encountered in the south-eastern and south-western parts of the United States, with particular emphasis on water supplies, forest policy and the relationship between forest fires, over-grazing and erosion. They commented on methods for the prevention and control of erosion, and were particularly interested in the research activities, installations and investigation programs. The report summarizes American methods and draws interesting conclusions on the possible adaptation of American methods to European conditions, particularly with regard to research, the use of natural species and methods of controlling erosion.
· Timber - American Forest Operations and Increase of European Productivity is another report dealing with the results of a mission of experts on forestry and forest products from OEEC member countries to the United States.
The group visited logging and milling operations in the southern and north-western parts of the United States under the guidance of Government and private foresters and engineers. The report consists of general observations on raw material supply, labor and social welfare, safety precautions and accident prevention, cost of operations, trade associations and research work. These observations are followed by descriptions of problems and methods encountered in logging or milling, plywood and veneer, utilization of waste wood, and conditioning and marketing of wood products. Under each of these headings the experts considered what they had seen in terms of what might be applicable to conditions in their own countries. In addition, the report contains quite a comprehensive bibliography of publications arranged according to such headings as U. S. trade associations, board, pulp and paper, glues, grading and standardization, kiln drying, logging, marketing, plywood, research, sawmilling, statistics, trade journals, trees and their timber, veneer, utilization of wood and wood waste, wood working and wood products and work simplification.
The publication aims at providing a record for the participants of the mission, but in addition will prove extremely helpful to other technicians in OEEC countries who were not fortunate enough to be included in the tour.
VENEZUELA
· A survey was carried out from April to June, 1951, by scientists of the University of the Andes, Merida, to investigate the possibility of creating a National Park in the Sierra Nevada region of the Andes. The park, which will cover approximately 1,200 sq. km., is intended primarily for the study of questions related to the conservation of flora, fauna and soil. The study group investigating the question has prepared a booklet, just published by the University, giving the preliminary findings of the survey and reporting on the geography, geology, climate, flora, and fauna of the area, as well as on the potential touristic, educational and scientific value of such a park. There is already relatively easy access to some parts of the area, as several roads lead up to, or run along, the borders of the proposed park.
· Rapid progress has been made in the last few years in the teaching of forestry in Venezuela. The Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the University of the Andes, Merida, in 1948 established a school for forest engineers, which aroused considerable interest. The choice of the University for a forestry school was an excellent one both from the point of view of the facilities at its disposal as well as its locality. As of July, 1952 it was decided that the forestry school should be raised to the status of a faculty. Simultaneously, discussions have been under way as to the possibility of making Merida the center of the Latin American Forest Research and Training Institute.
A recommendation for setting up this Institute was first put forward at the Forestry Conference at Teresopolis, Brazil, in 1947, and plans for the Institute were later drawn up by FAO's Latin American Forestry Office and discussed at various meetings of the Latin American Forestry Commission. At the latter's last session in Buenos Aires in June 1952, the University of the Andes made a formal offer of accommodation for the Research Institute, which was unanimously accepted.
CEYLON
· In Ceylon there are large and widely distributed areas of grass, fern and savannah which have the superficial aspect of being permanent types and which are believed by some to be, in fact, permanent types. Detailed analysis of this situation involved climatological analysis, for which the systems of Swain and Thornthwaite were found most useful. This analysis indicates that nowhere in Ceylon does the climatic complex preclude the ultimate development of closed forest, and this conclusion applies to the seven major classes of grass, fern and savannah vegetation found. Climate and soil conditions are insufficient to account for differences between these vegetation classes and forest, but historical and other evidence shows that the grass, fern and savannah vegetation was caused by man's activities in clearing, burning and cultivation, and by periodic reburning after abandonment. Thus the major ecological conclusion is that all these are sub-climax types and replacement of them by forest is feasible in ecological terms.
INDONESIA
· An ecological analysis has recently been made in Sumbawa and Timor, the primary purpose being to determine the indigenous tree and shrub species adapted for use in reforestation in the many situations where planting is to be considered. This involves, first of all, a detailed determination of the situations in which each species now occurs or has occurred in the past; second, the rating of species in terms of the purpose for which reforestation is to be done - that is, timber production, watershed protection, shelterbelts or similar purposes.
The published results show that in general, though with some exceptions, the distribution of species is controlled by climate, soils playing a subordinate role. Thus the main sites on an ecological basis are:
(i) lowland soils without high ground water in the monsoon region, sub-divided into six classes based on degree of dryness;(ii) lowland soils with periodically high ground water;
(iii) the moist region in the lower hills;
(iv) the rather dry hill region from 400 to 1,000 meters in elevation;
(v) the moist lower mountain region from 1,000 meters;
(vi) the moist mountain region above 1,500 meters.
For each site or sub-site the species ecologically suitable for use are listed separately for timber production, soil protection, protective strip and artificial shelter planting objectives. The basis of the study is the belief that long-term success in planting must be confined to species ecologically suited to that site, and that, conversely, long-term difficulties will follow attempts to violate this primary rule.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· Sawdust and wood chips can be used for a wide variety of agricultural mulches and for soil improvement, provided the limitations are understood. Such materials contain only small quantities of the usual nutrients required in fertilizers and they should therefore be supplemented by nitrogen fertilizer at the rate of 24 pounds (11 kg.) per ton of fresh sawdust; the nitrogen may be in whichever form is most economical and should be added in at least two applications during the growing season. Sawdust has little effect on soil acidity, but it is desirable to supplement it with 100 lbs. or more of finely ground limestone per ton of dry material unless acid soils are desired. Weathered wood material is preferable, since fresh material may contain substances inhibiting plant growth.
CANADA
· A study has recently been made in Ontario of the effects of different forest litters on height growth of hybrid aspen in pot cultures. Nine types of litter, representing both overstorey and understorey vegetation, were used, applied at the rates of 1,000 and 3,000 pounds per acre (1,120 and 3,360 kg. per ha.) The litters were finely ground and mixed with silica sand. The higher rate of application of plant material produced significantly greater new shoot length than the lower rate, and the litter of subordinate forest vegetation was superior to that of tree species in producing growth.
JAPAN
· Reforestation in Japan began many centuries ago and is a major activity today, but because of extensive overcutting during war years there is a back-log of about 7 ½ million acres to be reforested which! in view of the present forestry situation, constitutes an excessive waste of the limited land resources.
The main conclusions of a recent study of forest planting and nursery practices are:
(i) seed source zones for all species should be established and followed, and additional data should be obtained and thereafter applied;(ii) seed collection according to tree size and age should be liberalized, but tightened as to origin of seed trees;
(iii) seed cleaning and storage facilities should be made adequate to handle the maximum amount of seed needed, and these facilities should be made available to all who require them;
(iv) irrigation systems should be installed at larger nurseries to increase the output of stock per unit of area;
(v) seedling stock rather than transplants should be used more widely and nursery techniques developed to make 2 and 3-year old seedlings the equivalent of transplants;
(vi) chemicals for control of insects, diseases and weeds should be used more cautiously and knowledgeably;
(vii) suitable equipment should be provided for field planting crews;
(viii) except on rocky ground, the one-man grub hoe planting method should be used instead of the center hale method;
(ix) more care should be given to the position of the roots in planting, both in nurseries and in the forest;
(x) on unstabilized soils, plantations should be protected against removal of duff and leaf litter;
(xi) better correlation of research in nursery and field planting with immediate problems is needed;
(xii) more intensive training is needed of those concerned at all levels in the mechanics and techniques of the work.
There are already about 29,000 nurseries, and nursery expansion has about reached its practical limit. The problem of standardizing practice thus involves the retraining of large numbers of technicians and workers.
MALAYA
· According to The Malayan Forester, the mangrove forests of Malaya have a productive area of 78,000 acres. They are managed on a rotation of 30 years, two-thirds for the production of charcoal, one-third for firewood, with an annual yield of 120,000 tons of firewood, 36,000 tons of charcoal, and 12,000 tons of Poles. There is an annual net revenue to the government of about $2.50 (Malayan) per acre. So far there has been no really comprehensive study of mangrove silviculture. Natural regeneration has been successful on over two-thirds of the annual cutover area, and until recently, planting of unregenerated areas was relatively inexpensive. Today, planting costs are very high and it is very difficult to obtain the necessary labor. Moreover, shorter rotations are now regarded as desirable, and delays in securing regeneration are thus -ore significant than formerly. Shorter rotations tend to favor the establishment of inferior species. Although the desirable species begins to produce abundant crops of seed at about 4 years of age, dependence on natural regeneration results in many small blanks which, in the aggregate, have a substantial effect on yield. If the small patches are planted artificially, the plants often suffer severely from attacks by crabs.
There are various factors inimical to natural regeneration including deep flooding on lower lands, invasion of cutover land by aggressive ferns, heavy accumulation of slash due to poor utilization, crabs, the capture of land by inferior species, digging of canals, and several lesser factors. Although it is desirable to have natural regeneration on the ground before clear felling starts, this is not always possible. Retention of selected seed bearing trees, either permanently or temporarily, has been tried as a means of ensuring regeneration but the expense and effectiveness vary widely, and no really complete study of possibilities has been made. It is considered, however, that only on the basis of retention of seed bearers can the basic problem of regeneration be solved and experiments along these lines are now proposed.
UNITED KINGDOM
· Recent studies in various methods of girdling Goodyear old Corsican pine (P. laricio) as a means of stimulating seed production show that:
(i) girdling the stem increased cone production in the second season after treatment;(ii) trees with large girths and crowns produced more cones per tree than trees with small girths and crowns, both treated and untreated;
(iii) effects of treatment were greater when applied to trees with large girths and large crowns;
(iv) there was no significant difference between the different methods of girdling and banding;
(v) girdling was most effective when applied in May, and least effective in January;
(vi) health and vigor of treated trees remained unaffected two years after treatment.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· Development of tree-planting machines in the U.S.A. began in the late 1930's and has speeded up greatly since 1944. There are at least 16 principal manufacturers, several of whom have different models, and several thousand machines are in use. Experience shows that if a machine can be used at all, survival rate of the trees is equal or superior to that of hand planted trees, and planting cost is lower if the purchase price of the machinery is amortized over the period of serviceability.
A summary of the principal machines has been made by the U. S. Forest Service covering types, method of operation, personnel required, weight and costs. All machines can handle plants other than trees, including various farm crops. Some machines have a single operator, others, two, so that two rows can be planted simultaneously. Most of the machines have replaceable parts.
· In the Lake States, ground preparation as a means of stimulating regeneration in understocked aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands has been tested through disking strips, using a 6-foot wide heavy disk drawn by a tractor at a cost of $4.00 to $7.00 per acre.
In one test, when the disking was done just before a heavy seedfall, the number of seedlings per acre one year afterwards was 185,000 compared with a negligible number on undisked strips. About 173,000 of the seedlings were paper birch (Betula papyrifera), and it is anticipated that deer browsing will greatly reduce this number, favoring the desired balsam fir (Abies balsamea), red maple (Acer rubrum), aspen and spruce (Picea) which are the desired components. Disking can best be conducted with a heavy seed crop and sufficient seed trees.
Experimental thinnings on 11-year-old overdense aspen stands show that the man-hour costs per acre are respectively 11.2 and 16.8, indicating the economy of thinning at the lower age despite the greater number of stems then removed.
· Studies in the vegetative propagation of Canadian hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) in the U.S.A. shows that:
(i) higher precentage of rooting is obtained from cuttings made from first-year wood than from second- or third-year wood;(ii) a low percentage of untreated cuttings took root, whereas a higher percentage of cuttings treated with indolebutyric acid and a-naphtalene-acetic acid rooted;
(iii) in general, treated cuttings taken from the middle of August to late January were most successful;
(iv) percentage of cuttings which rooted was increased by powder-dip treatments with a fungicide.
BRAZIL
· K. McGrath, FAO logging expert, reporting on the problem of mahogany extraction in the Amazon forests, says that "the mahogany belt extends in what appears to be a substantially unbroken belt from the Tocantins to the Solimoes into Peru. However, it occurs only round the top of the basin in the upper reaches of these rivers. Apart from small and recent exploitation in the Tocantins, mahogany has been extracted almost solely for supply to Manaus, where it has been milled since the early 1930's. The Purus, Jurua and Solimoes have been the sources of this supply."
Unfortunately the mahogany belt is no closer than 2,000 miles (3,200 kin.), by water, to Manaus and occurs mainly above the cachoeiras (waterfalls) which are numerous in the upper reaches of all these rivers. Practically all the timber which could be at all effectively extracted by the antiquated hand rolling methods which alone have been practised to date, is now exhausted. At present only a third to two-thirds of the logs felled get to the mill, and then only with the greatest of difficulty and at very high cost.
By modern methods, however, there is no technical problem of any magnitude in delivering this timber in big quantities, and in all probability at only a fraction of the present cost. The basic problem appears to be not so much the lack of modern logging methods and efficient extraction, but rather the total absence of any real idea of the volume of timber standing in the catchment of any given waterway; data of this kind, which is fundamental to an estimate of the economy of carrying out engineering works to permit the ready exit of timber over or round the cachoeiras, could be obtained by aerial survey.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· Regeneration has always constituted a major problem in mixed stands in the California pine region. It is desirable to save such established advance reproduction, as has not been destroyed during the extraction of timber. Experience has shown also that new reproduction of the valuable sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) is not generally obtained when the method of silviculture is on the commonly used tree selection basis. Problems therefore are to save desirable advance growth and to obtain sugar pine reproduction on cleared regeneration areas.
Causes of excessive damage to young growth include: (i) unnecessary and improperly located roads, landings and yarding trails; (ii) improper felling; (iii) use of certain types of heavy machinery in young stands; (iv) insufficient supervision of logging crews.
The California Forest and Range Experiment Station has recently studied on one of its experimental forests the following steps which may be taken to minimize damage:
(i) careful advance planning in the location of roads, etc.;(ii) marking in reference to the ways in which logs will be taken out;
(iii) conducting cutting in two stages, together with intensive training and supervision of loggers.
There remains, however, the necessity of developing new types of logging equipment capable of handling the heavy logs and which is at the same time less destructive to the young growth.
To obtain reproduction of sugar pine or to prepare the ground for seeding and planting, it is necessary to choose and clear regeneration areas. This involves clear-cutting, bunching of slash and debris with powerful machinery and stirring up and preparing the ground. Further work is needed to devise the best type of blade for use on the tractors so that bunching of debris and proper soil preparation can be accomplished in a single operation.
· In the southern Appalachian Mountains, the high-lead system of logging is reappearing and, due to the high risk of damage inherent in the system, is opening up questions as to where it may be used in logging. On some areas which are highly unstable and erosive, it seems evident that no logging at all should be permitted. On other areas, only extreme caution and additional costs for handling the sale of timber will make it possible to permit logging; and on other areas, ordinary practices will be adequate to minimize damage to soils and water values. The recrudescence of high-lead logging makes a new appraisal of different types of areas necessary.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· A new Federal law, signed by the President on 13 May, clears the way for the northeastern states and the contiguous Canadian provinces to combine in fighting forest fires on either side of the international border. Regional planning, involving both countries, has been developed so that maximum use of available equipment and personnel can be applied in emergencies as required.
· Current advances in methods of fire control reported in Fire Control Notes are of various sorts, origins and significance. In mechanization, refinements and improvements of older basic devices are the general but not exclusive rule. Radio mounting in pickups and jeeps, a long rope parachute, application of hydraulic controls to a sulky plough, a new type of hand compass for smoke chasers, an improved smoke candle for testing lookout visibility, a combined pressure relief and check valve for hose lines from tankers, a tree pusher, three improved hand tools, plastic impregnation for maps, a canteen carrier for trucks, and a hose vulcanizer are reported.
One new device for fire line construction is a heavy duty miniature hay rake, devised and now being tested by the Missouri Conservation Commission for use in broadleaf litter. The Lake States burning meter index, originated in 1936, has been revised on the basis of additional data and their analysis. It has a very good record, but cannot cover all the minor variations that occur in nature from area to area.
One persistent problem in controlling big fires has always been that of timing the various key steps, in each of which several officers are involved. For example, it requires some hours after the line boss calculates control forces needed for the next shift, before service chief, plans chief, fire boss and dispatcher can each perform his function, the forces can be assembled and transported and the line boss receives them ready for work. So postponement of decision anywhere means less than calculated effectiveness in suppression. The problem of regular if limited rest for key officers is often unsolved and costly mistakes due to fatigue result. The answer is a timetable, now worked out from the abundant experience of the California National Forest Region, which integrates key decisions and the key officers concerned.
The ancient and hardy perennial problem of fire prevention where active belief in burning, apathy, carelessness and heavy industrial use are prevalent, as in the National Forests of Oklahoma, is carefully analyzed. Identifying area where fires from specific causes and motives occur, spotting - at least by suspicion -the individuals and groups responsible, a planned campaign of instructing them in the real discordance of fire and their belief in fire, working out substitutes for burning as a land clearing tool or source of employment - these are main steps in the new line of attack.
· Since 1941, stations have been maintained in the National Forests of Oregon and Washington, at which records are obtained of fuel moisture conditions as a measurement of the fire hazard. Standard fuel moisture sticks are used to obtain measurements.
In 1951, the average of the 25 days with the lowest fuel moisture was lower than for any other year of the record, indicating the observed fact that the fire season was more difficult than preceding ones. In each of the last four seasons, appraised on the same basis, the trend in fuel moisture has been steadily downward, indicating the persistence of a period of desiccation.
FINLAND
· Comprehensive time studies on the more important types of logging in Finland have been conducted by the Central Association of Finnish Woodworking Industries with the object of determining the time spent on conversion of stems of different sizes into various kinds of timber.
The elements of working time are divided into: (1) those recurring with every stem and dependent on the size of the stem; (2) those recurring with every stem but independent of the size of the stem; (3) those not recurring with every stem and independent of the size of stem.
Correct piece work schedules for wages have been developed as a result of the studies. Another factor effecting determination of wages is the relative difficulty of the work, which is dependent on such elements as the number of branches, thickness of bark, density of the strip marked for cutting, defectiveness of the trees, depth of snow and air temperature. The effects of these on output and wages have been determined and new schedules prepared, taking account of difficulty factors as well as size of the tree.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· Results of a 9-year study on the effect of farm woodland grazing on watershed values in the southern Appalachian Mountains have recently been reported in the Journal of Forestry. The area chosen for study had not been burned for 40 years nor grazed for many years. It had been logged in 1914 and the hardwood forest had grown back, and before the study began, a 7-year period bad elapsed.
The major results shown by the study were that trampling had substantially reduced soil porosity and infiltration capacity through compacting the top 4-inch (10 cm.) layer of soil; accumulative effects of browsing and trampling were adversely affecting the quantity, timing and quality of runoff in storm periods because the stream showed sharper breaks, rises, peaks and recessions than before grazing began; sheet erosion now occurred from a progressively larger area each year; the water now required treatment for municipal use whereas it did not before grazing began; and the aspect of the forest had changed markedly. Moreover, the annual growth per acre of superior hardwoods was being reduced by at least 30 percent a year, and this loss far more than offset in dollar value the value of the grazing. The cattle in fact did not thrive on the woodland grazing, and there was thus no benefit to offset the demonstrated land and timber losses.
BRAZIL
· Germany and Portugal are reported to be the chief European markets for the comparatively heavy export of logs from the Amazon Islands, Germany being interested mainly in peeling logs such as Quaruba.
Trade with the United Kingdom is preferred to trade with the United States which calls for thicknesses to the quarter inch, a degree of precision difficult to achieve with the machines available.
The Islands cut chiefly for export and enjoy the advantage of ready local offtake of the poorer qualities produced. The bulk of the latter production is consigned to Brazilian ports, where demand is less exacting than on the European market.
The sawmills in the Amazon Islands are superior to those on the mainland and the quality of the sawn output correspondingly higher. However, logs, whether sawn or exported as such, are comparatively small in girth, and it seems likely that forests accessible to manual extraction will soon he depleted and that the time is approaching when mechanical means of extraction will have to be resorted to if supplies to the sawmills are to be assured.
CANADA
· For the purpose of publicizing Canadian industries and products the Government of Canada is issuing a series of stamps. The series includes the 20 cent stamp illustrated below which represents papermaking, one of the most important industries dependent on the Dominion's great timber resources. This is symbolized by a simple coniferous tree from which curls a broad strip of wood changing gradually to paper.
· The technical Section of the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association had at the time of its 37th annual meeting in 1951, a total membership of 1,246, together with 79 sustaining members, mostly companies. A small paid staff handles the section's affairs. There are 8 branches and 14 technical committees, the latter dealing with alkaline pulping, boards, engineering, engineering data sheets, fine papers, fundamental research, heat and power, mechanical pulping, newsprint, physical and chemical standards, process instrumentation, sulphite, waste, and the joint textbook. Several annual awards are made, two to junior and student members for original papers.
At annual meetings a number of sessions are organized, each including several technical papers dealing with some aspect of the field covered by the Association. The first regular summer conference on basic research was held in 1950, and a regular summer meeting is held as well. Great effort is made by officers to form sound relations with the newly organized Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada and a textbook on pulp and paper manufacture in two volumes has recently been published.1
1 Vol. I: Pulping and Papermaking.
Vol. II: Properties of Paper and Converting.
NEW ZEALAND
· The housing project of New Zealand Forest Products, Ltd., at Tokoroa, the largest private housing scheme in the country, involves almost total use of P. radiata in construction, while interiors of the 800 houses to be provided will be lined with wallboard manufactured from the same timber. P. radiata is available throughout New Zealand in grades conforming to the specifications of the New Zealand Standards Institute. Rough sawn timber is supplied in dressing, framing and boxing grades.
PAKISTAN
· A high-grade paper mill and board manufacturing mill, employing some 700 people, is expected to go into production in the Northwest Frontier Province at Nowshera by the middle of 1954. The mill, which is being set up by the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation, will produce 7,500 tons of high-grade paper and board per annum from indigenous raw material. Construction of the building for the mill is at present under way.
CHINA
· It has been announced recently that the Kiangnan paper mill in Shanghai has begun to make paper pulp from bamboo following a Soviet pulp soaking method which, it is claimed, not only halves the time for producing, but also results in a 12 percent increase in the amount that can be obtained from raw material.
Extensive use of bamboo could have a considerable effect on China's paper output, which is not keeping pace with constantly rising demands. Bamboo, an important product in China for centuries, is widely cultivated and is a conspicuous feature of the landscape in the south-east. Although it has for centuries been an indispensable article of construction throughout south China, its use for housing and scaffolding is declining with the adoption of more advanced building methods and greater quantities will be available for the numerous paper mills in Kwangtung Province.
Following experiments with a variety of materials during the past two years, the Chinese are now manufacturing pulp from straw - again using a Soviet technique - as well as from rice stalks and the stems of cotton plants, in an effort to expand the country's paper industry. The most important success so far, however, has been with chih chi tsao, a kind of grass that grows along the Yellow River. Previously it was used only to make brooms, but it has now been found highly suitable for the making of certain kinds of paper.
In spite of the most intensive efforts, however, China's paper industry is not yet able to supply more than a portion of the country's requirements, which have risen enormously in recent years mainly owing to the nationwide campaign to abolish illiteracy.
INDONESIA
· The Forest Research Institute of Indonesia has recently revised and brought up to date a volume of the names for 400 of its principal tree species. The species are first arranged alphabetically according to scientific names of families, genus and species, for each of which is given the preferred Indonesian name; distribution, specific gravity of the wood, and the wood class, are then given, the last in five groups ranging from those suitable for heavy construction in contact with moist soil to those suitable for temporary construction only. In a second grouping the Indonesian names are arranged alphabetically, followed by the scientific name of the family and species, and finally by cross-reference to the first major listing.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· In the state of Washington, many logs unsuited for sawn lumber were formerly left in the woods. Recently, methods have been developed by which sound material in such logs can be economically utilized by pulp mills. This involves breakdown of the logs to eliminate unsound material, and scaling practices under which the volume of sound material can be determined to the joint satisfaction of buyer and seller. Various practices are in use, including measurement by the cord, cubic volume and weight.
· Recent tests have been made of sulfate pulping of thinnings from ponderosa pine stands 20 to 40 years old, 4 to 10 inches d.b.h., and 15 to 30 feet in height in the state of Idaho. Various rates of pulping chemical to wood were used to produce sulfate semi-chemical, kraft, and bleaching sulfate pulps. The ponderosa pine material was generally very similar in pulping characteristics and in strength of pulp produced to jack pine (P. banksiana), a pulpwood of accepted satisfactory quality, except for lower chemical requirements and lower yields of screening rejects.
· In recent years, much research has been conducted on lightweight composite or sandwich construction. This is based on the concept of employing all available materials rather than a single material, and in setting up for specific uses the desired requirements in mechanical and physical properties not yet available in any material. Sandwich construction through efficient structural design makes it possible to stress each material to its practical limits. Research is under way in England and Holland as well as in the U.S.A. In the latter country, much of the work is done by or for the Air Forces and Navy in development of aircraft.
Sandwich construction consists of two facings of a strong material separated by a core of lightweight and weak material, and thus the sandwich is a structure and not a material. Both empirical and theoretical approaches are being made to the work.
Research is done on materials, both for surface and core, on the development of design criteria, on adhesives and fabricating techniques, on inspection methods, on exposure and serviceability tests, and on uses and types. A recent development is that of a paper honeycomb as a core in sandwich structures for use in aircraft.
Already many uses of sandwich structures have been developed, including radar antenna housings, propeller blades, fuselages, wings, doors, flooring, bulkheads, stabilizers, ailerons, flaps and various interior parts, as well as for missile wings. For housing and general building construction, research is already well ahead of application, but there is need for mechanical equipment to fabricate honeycomb cores and prefabricated panels.
It is expected that sandwich construction will find new uses as the work continues.
· From 1926 onwards, a unit of the Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin, has been conducting continuous investigations on means to improve efficiency of small sawmills, defined as those producing no more than 20,000 board feet (47.2 m.3) per 8-hour shift. There are 51,000 such mills in the U.S.A. and the number is increasing rapidly. Thus more and more attention needs to be given to the development of efficient small mills, including equipment, installation and operation.
A very large and comprehensive number of machines and devices are manufactured, and ready means for evaluating these are not always available to the small mill operator. The problem includes not only the relative costs, output, quality of product, degree of waste, etc., of the machinery, but involves also layout of small mills, operational problems, mill management policy in buying and -selling, inventories, sales outlays, and business management.
The first comprehensive and up-to-date handbook resulting from the laboratory's work and covering the aspects of interest to operators has recently been published. One of its more valuable features is the information, for example, on the uniformity of production when different types of head saw rigs are used, and there are many other data which may help the operator to decide between the conflicting claims of manufacturers. A glossary of special terms enables the non-technical reader to understand fully the compact and well illustrated text.
· The U.S. Department of Commerce has recently compiled a select bibliography of 2,737 titles dealing with wood conservation and the production and utilization of lumber and other wood products. The subject is divided under the following ten headings: (1) Production and production equipment (2) Construction and products; (3) Wood needs and market outlets; (4) Physical properties and uses of native woods; (5) Foreign woods; (6) Value of research programs; (7) Veneer, plywood and laminates; (8) Moisture relations and seasoning; (9) Durability and preservative treatment; (10) Utilization of wood waste.
The selection includes mainly articles, bulletins and other references with the principal objective of better wood use in a time of national emergency.
AUSTRALIA
· In the surge of clearing natural vegetation for farms in the wheat belt of Western Australia during the past half century, the process has been carried too far. Insufficient shade trees, wind-breaks and shelter belts, inadequate fire wood and timber supplies, areas of incipient wind erosion, all indicate that a well thought out program of tree planting is now required.
Many species of trees have been tested under varying conditions for varying purposes, and the methods of selecting species, planting and tending are relatively well worked out. Such information has recently been prepared by the Forestry Department for use by the land owners of the area.
· Timber ranks after coal and steel among raw materials required for the expansion of Australian industry, public development schemes and defence programs, and for the fulfillment of housing requirements. Yet preoccupation with coal and steel shortages has distracted attention from the serious inadequacy of available timber supplies.
Sawmill output of indigenous timber rose from 701 million super feet (1.7 million m3) in 1939 to 1,133 million super feet (2.7 million m3) in 1950, but the increase involved deterioration in quality of timber cut and depreciation of forests. Since exploitable forests make up only 4 percent of the total land area, the maximum production which can be sustained from indigenous forests is probably no more than 1200 million super feet (2.8 million m3). Deficiencies in indigenous softwood supplies have always been met by imports which amounted to 323 million super feet (800,000 m3) in 1939, 32 million (75,500 m3) in 1943 and 248 million (585,000 m3) in 1950, the net decline being due to dollar restrictions since alternative suppliers in the Baltic, Pacific islands, Borneo, New Zealand and Brazil have not offset the declines from North America. Although indigenous timber supplies about 82 per cent of normal consumption requirements, its proportion will decrease due to increasing population through immigration and normal growth, and to increasing per capita consumption which has already risen from 161 to 168 super feet (0.380 to 0.396 m3) since 1938 and which, to catch up with war shortages, must rise to 189 super feet (0.446 m3).
The shortage of timber in 1951 was about 212 million super feet (500,000 m3) and by 1955 is expected to be 327 million (772,000 m3). To balance supply and demand, an increase of 93 million super feet (219,000 m3) above current imports of 260 million super feet (614,000 m3) will need to be attained and continued for the next five years.
During the war, 59 percent of total supplies were devoted to direct war purposes, and the advent of a national emergency could greatly slow down or halt normal civilian building programs. Moreover, emergency demands might again result in damaging the sustained yield capacity of indigenous forests. Thus it is urgent that a vigorous policy of obtaining imports be followed, even to the point of building up reserve stocks against a possible future national emergency.
The outlook for increased imports from North America is not regarded as bright, since the U.S.A. is a net importer, and the bulk of Canadian softwood exports go to the United Kingdom and other countries.
Within Australia there is discordance of timber area and population in the different states, since, for example, New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory have 16.2 percent of the total forest area and 39.7 percent of population, whereas West Australia and Northern Territory have respectively 22.7 and 6.9 percent. Opportunities for additional planting of softwoods above the present area of 297,000 acres may amount to about 600,000 acres but there is no assurance that a program of planting of the necessary magnitude will be carried out and, even if it is, the country will still require a large and continuing program of imports.
BRAZIL
· The greater part of forest land in Brazil is privately owned, except in the states of Para and Amazonas where a considerable proportion is still state-owned. The federal Brazilian forest code dates from 23 January 1934, but some of the states have, in addition, established their own laws. For centuries forest land has been badly exploited or turned to agricultural and pastoral use. However, as a result of the efforts of the semi-governmental Instituto Nacional do Pinho and the Federal Forest Service, in co-operation with State Forest Services and States Secretaries of Agriculture, a new interest in good forest practices and soil conservation has been aroused.
The Instituto Nacional do Pinho has established eight forest parks in the Paraná pine region (in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná and São Paulo) where extensive reforestation has been carried out, primarily with Araucaria angustifolia, and to a lesser degree with indigenous broadleaved species. In addition, the Federal Forest Service has created a number of national parks and forest nurseries which provide seeds and seedling for distribution.
Some forty years ago the Paulista Railroad Company started extensive experiments and plantations with Eucalyptus spp. Other large-scale reforestation work has been carried out since the war by several other private companies, notably the Klabin Paper Mill in Paraná and some of the big mining companies in Minas Gerais, for example the Belgo-Mineira Company.
ECUADOR
· The Forest Department of Ecuador, a branch of the Ministry of Economy, was founded in mid-January 1949 by the present government, and since its inception has been doing intensive work for the welfare of the country through the activities of its various services. It is devoting considerable effort in ascertaining the nature and extent of the country's forest resources with a view to their future systematic development. The natural forests lie on the outer and interior foothills of the Andes, as well as in western and eastern Ecuador, but little or nothing is yet known of the species in many of these forests, their identification, classification, or economic and commercial value. As a beginning the Department has, so far as funds and staff permitted, been conducting scientific botanical surveys of the forest in various parts of the country. First priority has been given to such work, which must form the basis for future determination of economically valuable forest areas, and of stands containing commercially and, above all, industrially valuable species. A botanical and forest atlas is planned, as well as a systematic catalogue of species.
As a result of these surveys of forest resources, the Forest Department has been able to establish a Forest Botany Museum of considerable scientific and historical value. The museum, opened on 5 March 1951, is considered to be one of the finest in Latin America. It includes a herbarium containing 23,000 botanical specimens of Ecuadorian flora collected over the past 15 years from all parts of the country; a dendrology section with specimens, complete with bark, of over a thousand species of Ecuadorian woods from both the coastal area and the mountains (a list of the trees and woody plants of Ecuador already catalogued has been published in a book compiled by the Director of the Department); a lumber specimen collection, undoubtedly one of the most complete in South America, consisting of 1,600 standard-sized samples of Ecuadorian sawn woods of value in international trade, for domestic consumption or display purposes, and samples for studies of the physical and mechanical properties of the woods; a forest products section. Annexed to the lumber specimen section, there is an exhibit of 1,200 microslides of anatomical studies with cross, tangential and radial sections of the main Ecuadorian timbers, prepared by the University of Michigan, U.S.A.
A further branch of the Forest Department, the Forest Statistics Service, was established in order to survey the country's natural and artificial forest resources and to determine the extent of domestic wood consumption.
Afforestation and reforestation work has been, and will continue to be, a primary concern of the Forest Department, whose aim is to establish a network of tree nurseries for reforestation purposes throughout the country, The Department has four tree nurseries at Carchi, Imbabura, Pichincha and Bolivar, from which, as an important social service, it supplies, free of charge, plants suited to the particular district, altitude and climate to persons carrying out reforestation work or individual tree planting. It has so far distributed over 2 million seedlings of various genera, mainly eucalyptus, cypress, walnut, cedar, pine, acacia and willow. With the aid of a grant of $15,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation for the period 1952-1953, the Department will considerably expand its national afforestation and reforestation service; new tree nurseries will be established at Riobamba, Cuenca, Loja, Zaruma and Guayas, the number of plants in existing nurseries will be increased, mechanization will be introduced and more trees and plants will be distributed.
Educational work too has been expanding side by side with practical developments. Through lectures, the press and bulletins, pamphlets, circulars on afforestation and reforestation, control of cutting, etc., the Forest Department has succeeded in arousing "forest consciousness" in the country.
JAPAN
· A study of forest and forest products research in Japan recently made by a visiting expert contains the following main conclusions:
(1) To improve economy and increase effectiveness, all forest products research should be centralized in one laboratory, including transfer of wood utilization research from other ministries. Forest research regions should be reduced from 7 to 5, together with consolidation where dual branch facilities exist in the same locality.(2) Operational work on experimental areas, together with the necessary funds, should be, transferred from the National Forest Section of the Forestry Agency to the Forest Experiment Station.
(3) Programs in both forestry and forest products research should be broadened to include practical applicability of results.
(4) Statistical methods should be applied to experimental design, analysis and interpretation wherever possible.
(5) Formal periodic inspection of branches and sub-branches should be made by the Forest Experiment Station.
(6) Provision should be made for the station to receive funds from industry and other agencies for co-operative research.
(7) The budget for research, which is now about 1.3 percent of the total forestry budget, compared with 8.5 percent in the U. S. A., should he approximately doubled during the next 5 years.
(8) The Director of the Station should be authorized to study research organization, program determination, analysis of problems, project evaluation, experimental design, performance control, research applicability and adoption of research results achieved in the U.S.A.
(9) Library facilities and channels for the flow of recent technical information should be improved.
The present forestry situation in Japan obviously demands intensive and comprehensive research to improve both production and utilization of forest products.
MALAYA
· In the Federation of Malaya there is the usual problem of how much and what forest is to be firmly reserved and freed from the insistent demands for agricultural land inevitable with spreading populations. Despite progress, the reserved forest area dedicated to timber production is far less than, for example, in Germany. The responsibility for land use and land planning is divided between two sections of the government.
In Malaya, as elsewhere, land degradation results from improper use of lands naturally covered by forest. During the Japanese occupation, considerable areas of forest reserve were cleared for production of food, and on some of these agricultural use has continued. So far it is only possible to guess or estimate the area of land already degraded. Despite land planning by the Forest Department to maintain climatic and physical conditions of the country, safeguard water supplies and soil fertility, and prevent damage by erosion and floods, much further work and study is evidently needed.
As a whole, the Federation is in a relatively early stage of development, and eventually great additional areas of forest will be assigned to agricultural crops. Even so, the problem of determining what reserved area will be needed to supply timber should be faced now while there is still the opportunity to put a suitable plan into effect. Moreover, the yield of useful timber from the tropical forests of perhaps 500 cu. ft. per acre (35 m3 per ha.) is no more than 1/10 the yield of better coniferous forests in Europe, and 1/30 that of the Northwest American forests. With proper management involving short rotations, the yield can probably be brought to the level of European coniferous forests. If the per caput consumption, now low, increases to the level prevailing in Europe, each 1,000 inhabitants will require 350 acres (142 ha.) of productive forest or 5 acres (2 ha.) cut annually on a 70-year rotation. If an ultimate population of 18 million is estimated, about 10,000 square miles (26,000 sq. km.) of productive forest will be needed for local consumption, compared with the present area of 8,500 square miles (22,000 sq. km.).
In some states, continuation of the present rate of exploitation will result in working of all productive forest within the next 30 years, and dependence on imports for requirements. The tolerance of waste when forests are abundant, as at present, is unsafe ground for planning future self-sufficiency.
Essentially the problem is one of balanced economy, rationally planned, rather than a haphazard scramble which has characterized the past. For one thing, on land to be assigned to agriculture, the timber can be utilized, provided roads are built before clearing and other appropriate steps are taken as well.
NEW ZEALAND
· Forestry legislation in New Zealand began with an ordinance in 1841 asserting Crown ownership of the kauri forests purchased from the Maoris, providing for their protection from the then current abuses. Other laws were subsequently enacted, but it was not until 1918 that the Ministerial Office of Commissioner of State Forests was separated from that of Minister of Lands. In 1920 a separate sub-department, now the New Zealand Forest Service, was organized, and the Forests Act of 1921-22 established the legal basis for operations. The key problems of earlier days were to reconcile forestry and settlement, and the frequency with which forests were destroyed by fire. Permanent State Forests increased from 800,000 acres in 1888 to 6,472,000 acres in 1950 or including Provisional State Forests, to 9,434,000 acres.
Notable recent legislation includes the Forest and Rural Fires Act of 1947 as later amended, and the amended Forests Act of 1949, revising and improving the Act of 1921-22.
Throughout the history of forest legislation there has been a tendency to establish the rights of public ownership and to bring all related matters under one authority. Earlier it was believed that the individual had personal rights in Crown lands, but this has now been abolished and it is fully established by law that State Forest lands are to be administered for the benefit of the nation as a whole, and any use or occupancy must be under lawful authority.
In general, a review of legislation shows that many of the earlier laws recognized correct principles, but both implementation of the laws and their enforcement were incomplete, and thus severe damage, in many cases, was uncontrolled. At present, the body of law provides all the powers likely to be required for a considerable period.
· Recently a member of the New Zealand Forest Service has analyzed the first 30 years of forest practice as a basis for appraising probable future trends.
The Service, when established in 1920, fell heir to a forest estate of about 6 ½ million acres, most of it indigenous forest, together with about 37,000 acres of exotic plantations. Early efforts to manage the indigenous forests resulted in the conclusion that they were unmanageable and thus could not be perpetuated economically. This, coupled with forecasts of timber famine and rapid growth of exotic plantations, led to a great program for exotic plantations, both by the Forest Service and by many private companies. Thus, by about 1930, the country was irrevocably committed to future dependence on an exotic timber economy.
The depression of the early 1930's made great changes, among them the speeding up of the plantation program due to the abundance of cheap labor. As the depression ended, so did cheap and abundant labor, and foresters began to appraise the great planting program which had reached a total area of about 800,000 acres. Most of this area was concentrated in one region and away from the main centers of timber consumption, and little attention had been paid to providing local timber supplies. Most of the forests were broadly of one age class, and two-thirds of them consisted of one species only, Pinus radiata. Moreover, spacing had been wide, and thinning, though obviously needed, had been little practised. By 1940 the early plantings were beginning to yield substantial quantities of timber which were absorbed by the New Zealand market.
During the war, the exotic forests were called on for production and met demands effectively. After the war, the vastly increased labor costs hamstrung forestry, although there has been a trend toward creation of small forests to meet local demands. But thinning is confined to stands which yield saleable products, and the area treated is limited by manpower and equipment shortages so that there are large arrears in thinning.
Efforts to work out effective silviculture and management for indigenous forests, particularly of kauri and beech, continue but the answer has not yet been found.
At present, one forest is yielding 28 million cubic feet of timber per annum under sustained yield, the bulk of which is over and above domestic needs. The expected timber famine has vanished, and instead there is an embarrassing surplus, effective capitalization on which is a challenge to foresters. A great omission of past practice was the failure to thin the young exotic plantations early and often enough, for which the reason given at the time was the lack of saleability of the thinnings. That this past reluctance, and the timidity in adopting a bold program of thinning based on the needs of the forests, has by no means vanished, is shown by the present limited programs. Meanwhile, shortages of cheap labor are a deterrent to a really adequate silvicultural program, despite the abundant evidence that failure to thin early results in stagnation of growth and great eventual losses of production.
Problems for the future are therefore how to care properly for the great estate of exotic forests, how to manage successfully indigenous forests, and how to capitalize on the large potential timber output now ready for the world market.
SAMOA
· A recent study shows that typical problems of land use and forestry prevail on the 38,000 acres of American Samoa as much as in larger areas elsewhere. About 1,000 acres are suited to permanent agriculture and are already so used. A further 10,000 acres can be used for agriculture followed by forest fallow, provided proper soil conservation measures are used during the agricultural period. The remaining 18,000 acres are wholly unsuited for agriculture, are now mostly covered by forest and should be managed as forest.
The population, which has more than trebled during the past half century, must live primarily upon the vegetative products of the soil, since other industries are of minor importance. Provided proper land use for agriculture is introduced, a population of 25,000, estimated to be reached by 1958, can be supported. Administration of the area by the U. S. Navy has been directed towards justice, law and order, paid employment, medical services and education, but little attention has been given to the production of the essentials of life, only one percent of public expenditure being devoted to agriculture and almost nothing to forestry.
Many of the woods are not used and their qualities are unknown. A small sawmill could be started, using practices established in other tropical areas and employing local labor.
Establishment of control over land use by means of a Land Use Board is of major importance. To be most effective, such a board would need detailed maps and establishment of definite ownership to specific areas to replace the present "custom and usage" system; thus a Land Ownership and Demarcation Commission is needed. A Forest Dedication Scheme, similar to that successfully used in Fiji, appears adapted to American Samoa. Under this scheme, forest land remains in private ownership under control of government technicians, the owner receiving a fair rent with a fair tax paid from the earnings.
A demonstration area is required, and a parcel of land is available for this purpose. The demonstration should be controlled by the Forest Service, which it is proposed to add to the Department of Agriculture.
A most serious problem is loss of alluvial flat land at mouths of streams held in place by mangroves, but which erodes as the trees are cut. Prohibition of tree cutting on the immediate shore would prevent further erosion.
At present, American Samoa is prosperous. To establish it on a really self-supporting basis will take time and effort, but the possibility of doing so exists. To broaden the experience of local legislators and technicians, it is proposed that study in other countries be provided for selected individuals. A forest policy with control of all natural resources, and the commodity and non-commodity values of forests should be recognized.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
· Forestry problems in the urban state of Connecticut have recently been analyzed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Although about 78 percent of the population is urban, over 60 percent of the state's 3.1 million acres is forest of one kind or another. Most of the forest land is of low or medium quality, stands are ragged and irregular, slow growing hardwoods predominate, and thus the outlook for commercial private forestry is generally not good, particularly for hardwood forestry. In particular, the current system of taxing forest lands is regarded as a severe deterrent to private ownership, since tax rates in 95 percent of the townships are higher than forest properties can sustain. Since alternative uses of capital offer higher rates of return, it is evident that a major change in taxation is desirable if private ownership is to be important in future forestry.
· The International Woodworkers of America (Congress of Industrial Organizations) has recently adopted a forest management policy including:
(i) federal regulation for all cutting on private timber lands everywhere to include sustained yield, selective cutting, multiple use and intensive management;(ii) provision of public technical and financial aid to small timberland owners on condition of proper management;
(iii) an end to the federal-private sustained yield units;
(iv) rapid expansion of timber access roads;
(v) management of the old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska to perpetuate the plywood and structural timber industries;
(vi) rapid expansion of the nation al forest system by purchases;
(vii) establishment of a national redwood forest;
(viii) experimentation in public purchase of managerial rights in private timber lands;
(ix) greatly increased public credit for forestry;
(x) use of agricultural aids for forestry;
(xi) greatly increased appropriations for forestry.
