Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Second part - VII. Forestry - 1. The Forests. By Th. Örtenblad, Chief Master of Forest, Umeå - Private forests
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
PRIVATE FORESTS.
629
a) Central and Southern Norrland and Dalarne are of greater importance
for the timber export of the country than the whole remaining Kingdom.
Over-lumbering of large timber is considered to be general and also of small timber
in the coast-regions. Several, particularly larger forest-owners within the region,
however manage their forests very well.
b) The mining-district comprises a belt from the Län of Vermland to the
Lan of Stockholm, or that part of the country where the mining industry is
specially carried on. The forests are full of growing-power but over-lumbered, which
nuisance has increased since the saw-mill industry has become general here also.
The rejuvenescence of the forest after felling for coaling is good, and the forests
of the iron-works are generally well managed.
c) The forests of the country south of the aforesaid belt do not any longer
give rise to any big industry. The timber export, which compared with the
wood-supply is quite considerable, includes a relatively great percentage of small
timber, as pit-props, rafters, etc. Most of the farm-forests, especially the smaller,
usually resemble badly managed pasture-grounds, where birch, aspen, alder, and
other leaf-trees form a great part of the sparse vegetation. To favour the pasture,
the woods are usually kept thin; the want of pasture-ground for cattle also
counteracts the disposition to cultivate the bare ground with wood. Larger
forest-owners, however, have exemplary forest economy in many places.
The private forests of the country are on the whole — though
with many exceptions — in a neglected state and are, as a rule, objects
for over-lumbering. It is true that exact statements are lacking
concerning the quantity of the over-lumbering, as for its calculation
precise information is required, not only concerning the annual growth of
the forest, but also concerning the quantity of the annual lumbering.
For want of exact statistic informations, one has to be content with
the approximate estimation which has been given above on page 621.
The necessity of finding a remedy for those unfavourable conditions
has during the last decades caused numerous propositions, not only by
private persons but also by Royal committees with a view to regulating
and promoting the conservation of these forests. As early as in the
sixties and seventies, special laws were issued regarding the forests in
the Läns of Gotland, Norrbotten, and Vesterbotten as well as in the
northernmost part of the Län of Kopparberg (parish of Särna), concerning
which see the following. A general law, with regard to the remaining
greater part of the country, has only in very recent times been brought
about, when after many debates and difficulties one has arrived at the
Legislation of 1903 concerning the management of private forests —
from a principial point of view one of the most important economic laws
that ever was promulgated in Sweden. We present below an abstract
of its main provisions as well as a brief historical account of the
development of private forest legislation in our country.
The legislation concerning these forests has in the past gone through highly
remarkable phases of development. From complete freedom, three hundred years
ago, they were by and by made an object of increasingly severe legislation, and
finally even the lumber-felling for household-purposes was placed under the control
of the State. Then followed a reversion, which at last once more led to nearly
complete freedom. During the last five decades a reaction has set in, imposing
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
