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The first "Working Plans" which were laid down for continental forests set out the detailed management of the forests for very long periods, such as one hundred years. But it was found that long before these plans expired conditions altered so much that it was at times absolutely essential to alter portions of the "Working Plan."
Modern forest "Working Plans" lay down the general lines of working for the average time taken by the main species of tree to reach marketable size, and they only set out in detail the work to be done during a short period, such as five to ten years. At the end of the specified period, the plan is brought up to date, and the detailed working laid down for another period. A working plan report is a document embodying working plan proposals in the following order:—
Chapter I.—General introduction and past history of the forest.
Chapter II.—Present condition of the forest, giving particulars concerning the species of trees and the volume of timber in the existing forest.
Chapter III.—Future treatment of the forest, showing how it is proposed to give effect to the objects of management.
Chapter IV.—Utilisation of the present crop and particulars concerning the method of disposing of it.
Chapter V.—Forest protection, setting out the steps to be taken to protect the forest from damage by fire, animals, insects, fungoid diseases, and other harmful phenomena.
Chapter VI.—Administration, in which is set out the manner in which the proposals which make up the Working Plan are to be carried out.
A Working Plan sets out all the operations necessary to make the forest fully productive, and the Forests Act of Western Australia, which became law in 1918, contains a wise provision whereby every Working Plan, after it has received the approval of the Governor, can only be altered on the recommendation of the Conservator of Forests.
A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE OF FOREST MANAGEMENT.
When a farmer desires to settle in a new country and buys bush land with the object of converting it into a farm, he must do months and even years of hard work before the first crops are reaped. He must start by clearing, burning, and fencing. Stumps have to be grubbed and the soil broken with a plough. If his efforts are to succeed he must not waste his time digging up a small tree here and a sapling there, but he must settle clown to regular work and clear the land acre by acre, taking the large trees with the small.
A forester is a farmer of trees on a large scale, and his treatment of the forest may be compared to regular working of a well managed farm.
Let us take an example and see in simplest terms how a forester would set about converting a "wild" into a "cultivated" forest.
A forester is placed in charge of an area of fifty thousand acres covered with a forest of jarrah.
A limited amount of money is provided each year and the forester is instructed to supply as much jarrah timber annually as the forest is capable of yielding. There is only one stipulation which he must observe, and that is that the amount of timber cut each year must not decrease in volume, although any increase in volume which will mean an increase in revenue owing to improved management will be welcomed.
The forest of 50,000 acres is a solid block of ironstone country which was lightly cut over some years ago, but still carries a fair crop of marketable jarrah distributed evenlv over the whole area.
