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TASMANIAN FORESTS
Timber Reservation Work
Wonderful Asset
Departmental Report
The fifth annual report on the opera-
tions of the Forestry Department, that
for the year ended June 30 last, 'by the
Conservator of Foresto (Mr. L. G. Irby)
was tabled in the House of Assembly yes-
terday.
The report stated that it was doubtful
if the policy and objectives of Tasmanian
forestry to-day, as actually commenced
and laid'down, fell short of those of any
.State in tho Commonwealth, while it
might be claimed that the State was rap-
idly approaching n leading position. Tile
policy of creating vast permanent re-
serves by the dedication of areas as State
forest had been greatly accelerated, fol-
lowing tho Conservator's recommenda-
tions. In extensive and magnificent areas
of new forest by natural regeneration in
such spec'es as stringybark, swamp (tum,
Tasmanian blue gum, blackwood, etc., the
Stato possessed a wonderful asset created
by nature, and for which the forester
could claim no share of credit other than
by now dedicating them to permanent
timber production and setting out to iui
Erove and protect them. Tho work of
ringing forest areas within thc province
of forest working plans, obviously a lab-
orious task, and ono which could not be
unduly hastened, was being pushed ahead
?with all possible celerity tm the goal in
each case -which spelt continuity of forest
and consequent forest industries. Forest
blanks were receiving thc necessary treat-
ment to bring them into active produc-
tion. The exotic, softwood planting ob-
jective« where actually commenced con-'
I templatcd not less than half a million
acres, and there was scope for such in
these localities alone, albeit the nctual
area which the State could conveniently
undertake financially had not yet been de-
cided upon.
. THE FORESTRY ACT.
In view of the'possible establishment of
a bark fibre industry in Tasmania, the
Forestry Act, 1924, wns passed on Janu-
ary" 13 last for the purpose of widening
tho powers of the Conservator of Forests
to embraco dealing with bark, a product
of the-forest. The.effect of the Act was
to provide necessary powers to ensure
elimination of waste of what migbt be-
come a valuable 'forest product, and tho
due return to the State cí*íi. farr recom-
pense for it.
FINANCIAL.
The receipts for 'the last 12 months
amounted to over £20,000, being £393
Is. 10d. less than thc collections for year
ended June 30, 1924. Royalty ratee re-
mained on the reduced scale fixed in
June, 1923, With the expansion of forestry
operations, the expenditure had neces-
sarily increased to a great extent, but
despite that fact thc Forestry Fund ac-
count was still well" in credit. The re-
ceipts and payments for the vear showed
a.credit balance of £15,321 18s. 7d.
STATE FORESTS.
The dedication of suitable arcas of tim-
ber land aa State foresta had received con-
siderable attention, and a total of 111,068
acres had' been dedicated during the 12
months under, review, representing areas
in every- forestry district. Chief among
the dedications were 42,000 acres in tbe
Florentine Valley. In setting aside that
splendid valley of timber, areas contain-
ing good soil suitable for agriculture, bad
been excluded from dedication, but those
would be treated" as timber reserves until
such time as the hardwood thereon bad
boen. exploited. Thc dedication of 23,000
acres between tho Esperance and Lune
Rivers in the southern district was. the
first definite action towards ensuring the
rehabilitation of tho Hastings district,
by thc ultimate permanent establishment
of the sawmilling industry. Areas on the
East Coast between St. Marys and Swan-
sea, totalling 29,265 acres, had been dali
vated as required by the Kost Coast De-
velopment Act. The total area now under
State forest was 142,327 acres. The area
comprised land sot aside for plantations
of exotics and arcas either at presen!
caiping timber or for re-afforestation ol
indigenous timbers, viz.,
Acres
Indigenous forests .. 124,187
ArcaB for plantations of exotic
conifers. 18,14t
Total State forest area. 142,321
It was proposed to treat thc State for
cst near Trowutta (500 acres), with f
view to eventually establishing n pun
forest of blackwood. At Queenstown in
spections had been made, und 1,500 acre
dedicated as State forest for thc establish
mont of softwood plantations. This Slat,
forest would, include many of thc muni
cipal water reserves. Now that the dt
vastating effects of thc fumes from smell
mg had been largely overcome, it was
urgent that the waste land about Queens-
town should be made nroductive, and fur-,
ther inspections were rtlready being made
to determine the estent of forest which [
might ultimately be established.
The distribution of State forests
forestry districts was as follows:
No. of Total
Forests. Area.
Acres.
Western District .... 5 34,790
North-western District 4 3,100
North-Eastern District.. 13 33,463
Southern District .... 7 28,014
Central District .. .. 1 42,060
30 142,327 I
TIMBER RESERVES.
The total area of timber reserves in the I
State at the time of creation of thc For-
estry Department was estimated nt 1,500,-1
000 acres, and by operation of the Forestry
Act, 1920, 172,000 acres were added, mak-
ing a total of 1,072,000 acres. Kvcntually,
as inspections,were effected, the reserves
would be either incorporated in State for-
ests or released for selection after removal
of present stand of timber. During the
year under review a total of 923 acres com-
prised in timber reserves had been revoked
as such.
INDIGENOUS FORESTS.
It was to be regretted that, so far, it
had not been found practicable to do more
with the three well-known species, Huon
pine (Dacrydium franklinii), King William
pine (Atherotaxis selaginoidcs), and celery
toil pine (Phyllocladus rhomboidal^), than I
'endeavour to get suitable areas carrying |
such dedicated ns- permanent State for-
ests. Thc dedication of areas of Huon I
pine, King William pine, and celery top
pine for the perpetuation of these valuable |
species was an urgent need. Thc depart-
ment intended to do all in its power to |
speed thc work up and to carry out a :
policy of furthering in . any way found |
practicable the growth of young forests of
the species. ? Their treatment called for
very different methods than were employed
in the case of blackwood or eucalypts, and
much investigatioiial work would bc essen-
tial before the best methods were definitely
ascertained. Dedication of suitable areus
for their permanent reproduction was thc
first and vital step in their preservation.
EXPLORATIONS.
The policy of determining thc timber I
possibilities of arcas beyond the com-
pass of present milling operations, and j
which to a great extent remained unex-
plored, had been continued, . and con-
siderable progress made during the 1
year. Investigations were being carried
out by officers of the department to
estimate the extent of virgin forest yet |
standing and reasonably accessible.
Should it bc found that sufficient milling |
timber still existed on the Dover
Hastings State forest to warrant active I
operations being started to cut it,'and
other conditions are satisfactory, thc i
aim of the department would be to j
enable a sawmill or sawmills to re-open 1
in the locality. The annual cut would I
be restricted to a quantity which would ;
ensure supplies being available until j
the present re-growth areas aro of age f
enough to take up the running. By that
means it was hoped that within two
years the Hastings district might be
revived by the re-commencement of the |
sawmilling industry, with every pros-
pect of a lifo in perpetuity, safeguarded I
hy thc forcBt working plan of the State
forest. If tho idea proved practicable
by reason of sufficient mature timber j
being available within marketable dis-
tance and conditions, then in lieu of
the mushroom life of the old township
of Hastings, a new village would spring
up which could look forward to unbroken
activities.
Timber areas in thc State were
exbaustively reviewed in the report, and
referring to thc Queenstown State forest
the Conservator stated that by following
up a vigorous and sustained planting
policy thc future of Queenstown and
Gormanston, as also of Strahan, would
be asaurcd, even should mining ulti-
mately fail completely. Among other
important factors, foresters looked with
confidence to the day when moat of the
mining centres of Tasmania would be
able to view with equanimity the pros-
pect of a mine or mines failing, know- I
mg that in their forests they possessed
the raw material to maintain their life ]
as a community.
- SISTERS HILLS.
Thc policy of thoroughly trying out j
the Sisters Hills country was being con-
tinued, and further work had been
undertaken during the year. As the
heaviest patt of the expense had now
been met, it was anticipated that future
i operations in connection with the
experiment would bc slight, and it was
! recommended that such expenditure
! should not exceed £100 per annum for
thc next three years, while results were
1 closely watched. As was only to be ex
: pected, varying decrees of success had
¡so.far resulted in the difiprent situa-
tions and soils dealt with.'No artificial
I aid was being resorted to, and com
paratively primitive and cheap methods
of planting; are in. the main the policy,,
as it was hoped to ibo able to show that
some two-thirds of the area could be
transformed into valuable forest at a
comparatively low cost per acre.
NURSERIES.
Since its inception tho Sisters Hills
nursery had produced some hundreds of
thousands of young conifers equal in
growth nnd healthy appearanca to any
ever seen from nurseries in any part of
Australia. Insignia seedlings were
being despatched to other parts of the
State from the nursery, and sonic .-ow
12 inches and more in height were only
sown last October.
Many tens of thousands of fine
healthy western yellow pine (P. pon-
derosa), Corsican pine (P. laricio). Mari-
time pine (P. pinaster), and Oregon pine
(pseudosuga douglassii) had also been
reared in the nursery. Despite gloomy
prognostications from sceptics tho
nursery had already more than paid for
itself, valuing the young stock already
reared at a very much reduced rate than
would be put on their stock by nursery-
men.
The Stella nursery, two miles from
Strahan, provided tree stocks for plant-
ing out tho sand-dune country Included
in the State forest of 12,000 acres, be-
tween Strahan and tho Henty River, and
also for planting areas in tho vicinity
of Queenstown. Largo quantities of
very fine young trees were being raised,
including such species as remarkable
pine, Oregon, yellow pine. Corsican
pine, and maritime pine.
BLACKWOOD.
The regeneration power of blackwood
i (acacia melan-oxylon) was very pronounc-
ed, and almost equalled that of the euca
lj-pte. and there was every indication that
I in process of time many of the extensive
[beach foreata would give place to almost
pure forests of blackwood which would
prove an enormous asset to the State. An
establishment of such forests ' could be
''perpetuated ad lib at a low cost, just as
could thc eucalypt«.
WATTLE CULTURE.
In view of the fact that for some time
r^o6t Australia had had to import conaijj.
érable quantities of wattle bark and
tanning material«, it was decided that an
endeavour should foe made to render thc I
country eelf-supporting in these necessary i
commodities. Acacia decurrens was orig-
inally endemic to Australia, and on thc
East CoBst of Tasmania the variety yield-
ing the best tanning bark grew luxuriant-
ly on tho poorest of soils. A difficulty
waa experienced in that most of thc read-
ily available wuttle landa ot tho East
Coast had been alienated. It was finally
decided to make a «tart in a comparatively
small way on some available blocks on
the outside of Triabunna. The typo of
land was of a sandy nature and not of
a clase usually looked upon locally as the
most ideal for black wattle, judged on it«
own choice of soil in theee districts. Never-
theless, there existed sufficient" proof of
the remarkable adaptability of the species,
to. most types of sandy soils that the de-
partment felt fully justified 'in carrying
out ita invefltigational works mi a small
commercial basis, more especially os if
tlve demonstration was successful, os was
fully believed, a profitable use for a type
of land of very low present value would
have been proven.
FIRE PRECAUTIONS.
During thc most dangerous month« of
the aummer, from the; .point of view of
bush fire», a fire-ranger wa» appointed to
each of tne north-west, north-east, and
central forestry districts. These rangen
kept a constant patrol of their districts,
with a view to taking action to suppress
any unattended tires. Fire notices warn
¡ng all iiunters, campers, and other!
against tho careless use of fire, and draw
ing attention to liability under the Fores
try Act, 3820, were posted throughout al
forestry districts. The destruction h]
fire had again been very small during thi
year.
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