Sir, - Donal Whelan (August 14th), commenting on Kevin Myers's article on forestry, refers to the ESRI report on a normal forest area as represented by the Aughrim district of Co Wicklow. He highlights a conclusion in the report that the forestry in this district is a very important element in maintaining household income levels and the fabric of the local community.
As one who participated in the forestry chain in this particular district, I can confirm this conclusion from experience. Firstly, as head forester of Aughrim state forest during the early 1950s, with 100 workers on our payroll, I was conscious of the importance of forestry (the largest employer in the district) to the locality.
I was aware then that at some future date, our afforestation programme would provide the raw material to support the development of local based wood industries, thus continuing the forest chain and its employment potential within the district. The creation of critical mass in the Wicklow area resulted in the location of major mills at Avondale and Knockloe (Wood Industries) and the Smurfit Woodfab complex at Aughrim.
As forestry director with Woodfab from the late 1970s to early 1990s, I noted that the relatives and neighbours of our tree planters of the 1950s were now the worker personnel in the mill. Forty years on, forestry was still the largest employer in the area.
In an intensively afforested district, the continuance of the forestry chain from afforestation through to processing within the area, such as is the case within the Aughrim district, will avoid depopulation and decline - socially undesirable features often wrongly associated with afforestation. - Yours, etc.,
Cypress Road,
Mount Merrion,
Co Dublin.