Forestry Commission - History

History

The Forestry Commission was established as part of the Forestry Act 1919. The board was initially made up of eight forestry commissioners and was chaired by Simon Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat from 1919 to 1927. The commission was set up to increase the amount of woodland in Britain by buying land for afforestation and reforestation. The commission was also tasked with promoting forestry and the production of timber for trade. During the 1920s the Commission focused on acquiring land to begin planting out new forests; much of the land was previously used for agricultural purposes. During the Great Depression the Forestry Commission's estate continued to grow so that it was just over 360,000 hectares of land by 1934. The low cost of land, and the need to increase timber production meant that by 1939 the Forestry Commission was the largest landowner in Britain.

At the outbreak of the Second World War the Forestry Commission was split in to the Forest Management Department, to continue with the Commission's duties, and the Timber Supply Department to produce enough timber for the war effort. This division lasted until 1941, when the Timber Supply Department was absorbed by the Ministry of Supply. Much of the timber supplied for the war came from the New Forest and the Forest of Dean. The war also saw the Commission introduce the licensing system for tree felling. By the end of the war approximately a third of available timber had been cut down and used.

The advisory committee on Forest Research was formed in 1929 to guide the research efforts of the Forestry Commission. After the war, the Commission began to increase its research output significantly. This included the establishment of three research stations beginning with Alice Holt Lodge in 1946. The expansion in research accompanied a significant increase in timber sales, exceeding £2 million per year during the 1950s.

The Countryside Act of 1968 required public bodies, including the Forestry Commission, to "have regard to the desirability of conserving the natural beauty and amenity of the countryside." This forced the Commission to focus on conservation and recreation as well as the production and sale of timber. The conservation effort was partly driven by Peter Garthwaite and Sylvia Crowe. Crowe also helped the Commission landscape their forests to make them more appropriate for recreational use.

Having begun to develop campsites within their forests during the early 1960s, the Commission set up a Forest Cabins Branch during the 1970s to expand the number of cabins available for the public to stay in during their holidays. In 1970 the Commission opened its Northern research station in Roslin. The 1970s also saw the publication of a Treasury report which stated "afforestation ... and replanting fell far short of achieving the official 10% return on investment" with concerns over the long term profitability of timber production. This was coupled with a major outbreak of Dutch elm disease throughout the decade.

The early 1980s recession forced the Forestry Commission to expand its sales beyond Britain, exports quickly reached 500,000 tonnes of timber per year. The Forestry Act 1981 allowed the sale of Commission land that was used for forestry. By 1986 there were calls for the full privatisation of the Forestry Commission and its estate. The Great Storm of 1987 caused significant damage to Commission owned forests, though most of the downed trees were recovered and eventually sold.

The early 1990s saw the Department of Forestry absorb the Forest Authority from the Commission, which had previously acted as a separate government department. The management of the forest estate became the responsibility of Forest Enterprise, making up a major part of the reduced Forestry Commission. In 1993 it was again suggested that the Forestry Commission could be privatised, sparking protest from many conservation groups. After the Forestry Review Group produced their report in 1994, it was announced by the government that "Forestry Commission woodlands will remain in the public sector".

Devolution meant the Forestry Commission had to report to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly as well as the national Government. This was achieved by splitting responsibility for forests by national borders, resulting in the creation of Forestry Commission England, Scotland and Wales as sub-departments of the Forestry Commission of Great Britain. The decline in timber sales since the mid-1990s forced the Commission to focus on research and recreation more than ever before, something that was encouraged by the Government. As a result the Forestry Commission began to expand woodland around urban areas for the first time.

In October 2010, the Government introduced the Public Bodies Bill to The House of Lords, which would have enabled the Secretary of State to sell or lease public forests in England. According to The Guardian, "the news met with near-universal disgust and shock". The same newspaper also quoted Caroline Lucas MP, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, as saying it was an "unforgivable act of environmental vandalism". An online petition opposing the sale received more than 537,000 signatories. In February 2011, after a sustained campaign of protest by groups such as the Ramblers and Hands off our Forest, the government announced it had abandoned its current plans and would remove the forestry clauses from the Public Bodies Bill. An 'independent panel' was also established to advise on the future direction of forestry and woodland policy in England, and on the role of the Forestry Commission. The panel's interim report in late 2011 suggested that the government had ignored the benefits of publicly owned forests.