A Comparative Study of Forest Policy and Management Practices in Scotland and British Columbia, with particular reference to the use of Pinus Contorta in Scottish forestry

OF THESIS The preface and introduction, describe the method of study and discuss the general scope and outline of the thesis. The objective of the thesis is to provide a comparison of forest policy and forest management practices in Scotland and British Columbia. The first part of the thesis aims at providing a background to the comparison by recounting, in summarised form, the forest histories of the two countries. There are no consolidated forest histories of British Columbia extant, to the author's knowledge, and the account of the British Columbia forest history has been derived from many sources, published and unpublished, and consolidated by the author. The forest history of British Columbia is recounted in three periods. The first period deals with the early .history from 1849 to 1912, when virtually uncontrolled exploitation of the fOrest occurred and policy aimed at the development of a forest industry and of rail communications. It was also a period of devastating forest fires and inadequate forest firefighting resources. The second period described covers the years from 1913, immediately after the enactment of the Forest Act of 1912 and the formation of the British Columbia Forest Branch (now the Forest Service), to 1945 when a Royal Commission conducted by Chief Justice'G. McG. Sloan investigated the Province's forest position. Sloan recommended the adoption of a sustained yield forest policy by the Province. The period from 1946 to date is primarily an account of the introduction and development of the sustained yield policy, with its new forms of tenure and management units, the rapid development of industry and the growing ability to fight forest' fires.. The forest history of'Scotland is better documented and consolidated in published works than is that of British Columbia and following a brief description of the destruction of the primeval forest, the growth of replanting from the sixteenth century onwards, with an increasing use of exotics, is traced. The establishment of the Forestry Commission in 1919 and the policy of replanting as a means of providing timber reserves for use in periods of national emergency, particularly during war, is described. The influence of nuclear weapons on this policy and its changes to a policy of practising forestry as an economic venture, coupled with the fostering of industrial development is mentioned. The two forest histories and policies are then compared. Whereas the State. forest authority in Britain operates under a. single Governmental structure, the forests. of British Columbia, although vested in the Province, are affected by the Canadian federal structure of Government. The complications and effects of this latter position are described in .a chapter dealing with the role of the Canadian Government in British Columbia's forest policy and management practices. Next, separate reviews of the literature concerning forest'policy and management practices are made and the problems posed by workers in the two countries are discussed. During the reviews, particular attention is paid to Pinus contorta, a species with which the author has had management experience in British Columbia and which is being' used extensively for afforestation in Scotland. ' ' From observation of the species in Britain and based on his management experience, the author was concerned about the presence of basal sweep or bowing in the south coastal provenances of Pinus contorta currently being planted extensively in Britain. The amount of basal sweep and its approximate value for industrial use were investigated in replicated Forestry Commission experiments at Wykeham (Yorkshire), Achnashellach and Millbuie. These experiments cover a range of Coastal and Inland provenances. From an analysis of results, the author concluded that the south coastal provenances should not be planted unless techniques of site drainage can be substantially improved and that alternative provenances should be investigated more fully for use in afforestation, even though their growth rates are slower. The thesis concludes with recommendations for the two areas under