Forestry Commission

The Forestry Commission's origins are in the First World War, and difficulties Britain had meeting wartime demands on timber.

Britain's woodland resources had been declining since the middle ages, but reached an all time low - just 5% of land area - by the beginning of the 20th Century With the outbreak of war the country was no longer able to rely on timber imports, and in July 1916 Minister Herbert Asquith appointed the Acland Committee to look at the best ways of developing woodland resources. The Committee reported to Asquith's successor, David Lloyd George, in 1918. They recommended a state organisation as being the most effective way of co-ordinating a reafforestation plan to meet timber needs for the foreseeable future.

On 1 September 1919 the Forestry Act came into force. This set up the Forestry Commission and gave it responsibility for woods in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Eight Forestry Commissioners were charged with promoting forestry, developing afforestation, the production of timber, and making grants to private landowners. They met for the first time in November under Chairman Lord Lovat.

The first Commission trees were planted on 8 December 1919 at Eggesford Forest, Devon.

The bedrock of forestry policy in the 1920s was the need to rebuild and maintain a strategic timber reserve. Stocks were so depleted by the demands of the First World War - especially trench warfare - that the new commission was given a good deal of freedom to acquire and plant land.

The country was split into ten Divisions with 29 Divisional and District Officers and 110 Foresters and Foremen. Finance and administration were concentrated in London and Edinburgh, with 59 staff.

Financial stringency was imposed from the beginning because of high post-war inflation, but agriculture was depressed and the Commission was able to buy land cheaply. By September 1929 around 600,000 acres were managed in 152 forests, and more than 138,000 acres had been planted. In the private sector 54,000 acres had been planted with Commission grants.

Public concern regarding blanket conifers led to the first amenity planting: it became standard practice to plant hardwoods alongside roads, and where possible straight edges were avoided.

The early thirties were dominated by a recession that bit worldwide: the later years by a slow but steady build-up to war.

Agriculture was still deep in depression, and with few private landowners having money to invest in forestry there was comparatively little planting. But the Commission's estates continued to increase, reaching 909,000 acres by 1934. Of these 316,000 were under plantation. The main market for timber was as pit props, with fast-developing heavy industries almost completely dependent on coal. This emphasis was to be maintained throughout the war years.

In 1937 the Commission began working with the Board of Trade to draw up detailed plans for felling in the event of war. To maintain a home timber supply, three categories were identified: woods which could be felled immediately (mature stands); woods which could be felled if necessary (slightly younger or slightly older trees); and woods to be felled only in extreme need. The Home Grown Timber Advisory Committee was established in 1939 as part of these preparations. On the day war broke out, the Commission was divided in two: the Forest Management Department, to carry on its normal activities, and the Timber Supply Department to deal with war demands. The Commission remained in charge of the home timber supply until 1941, when the responsibility was given to the Timber Production Department of the Ministry of Supply.

Research was confined almost exclusively to species selection, establishment and nursery work, with experiments in peatland research in northern Scotland.

As for so many things, the Second World War and its aftermath had a major impact on forestry in Britain.

During the War, Commission forests produced more than 51 million cubic feet of wood. Even so, 90 per cent of timber used in the war effort came from private estates, supplying pit props for mines producing the coal on which so many of the armaments and other industries depended.

Because they were the most mature the Forest of Dean and the New Forest bore the brunt of wartime felling, with almost all conifers aged 20-35 in the new Forest cut. In all, 29,530 acres of Commission forest were clearfelled between 1940 and 1946, with 53,000 acres heavily thinned. The number of people employed rose from 14,000 in August 1939 to 44,300 in February 1941 - including several thousand members of the Woman’s Timber Corps, affectionately christened ‘the Lumberjills’. But it wasn’t all felling. Over 100,000 acres were planted during the war years, and 133,000 acres acquired for forestry. Licences for timber felling were introduced during the war and retained afterwards as a conservation measure.

Once the War was over restoring the forest estate became a priority for the Commission, and there was a marked increase in the acquisition of felled or derelict woodlands. Many of these were planted with broadleaves, especially in south east England. But forestry was repeatedly to clash with agriculture interests as the need to produce home grown food increased, and planting was gradually moved out to land which was unsuitable for other crops.

The Forties saw the beginning of the expansion of the Commissions research work, which in the next few years was to grow out of all recognition. The Engineering Branch was founded virtually from scratch, under Chief Engineer Major-General H P W Hutson, with the twin function of building forest roads and maintaining machinery.