THE OREST ECONOMY CZECHOSLOVAKIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700070447-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 19, 2011
• Sequence Number: 447
• Publication Date: August 1, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700070447-7
CENTRAL TIRE
%&ff REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS O.? RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY Czechoslovakia
SUBJECT Economic - Agriculture
HOW Scientific - Research institirtes
PUBLISHED Monthly periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED Moscow
DATE
PUBLISHED Mar 1950
LANGUAGE
me eewnn werYn uronane~ unrnu m~unoau eanan
er m nme mna nvu m an100 of nneaaa9 act ae
e. a. C.J1 Ye aa.M apaeaa. mTUUUnwa 0arllaanaLllnee
of m MITana n av uuu TO AS eueraoenn nas0M If fao?
Imme n ue. aafronrnoa or nu roll a naaumo.
DATE OF
DATE DIST. ~ 1952
NO. OF PAGES 4
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
THE FOREST ECONOMY OF rZECHOSLoyAKIA
The forests of Czechoslovakia were distributed among the provinces as
follows as c' May 1947:
Forest Area
New Growth
(1,000 ha)
Forest Area (%)
1,000 cu m)
Czech Provinces
2,350
30
8,000
Bohemia
1,560
30
4,700
Moravia and Silesia
790
29
3,300
Slovakia
1,650
3b
5,500
Total
4,000
31
13,500
Czechoslovakia is one of the most heavily wooded countries in Central
Europe. The annual growth per hectare of wooded area amounts to 3.45 cubic
meters, as against an average European growth of 1.61 cubic meters. Fir is
the most prevalent of the coniferous trees. Coniferous species occupy 46 per-
cent of the area, deciduous 26 percent, and mixed 13.6 percent. The remaining
area is covered with brush.
The principal coniferous forests are in the Czech Provinces.
The deciduous forests, found principally in Slovakia, are composed largely
of oak and beech, distributed rather evenly. Slovak oak is highly valued.
Most of the Slovak forests are on high mountain slopes, far from the railroads.
/ CLASSIFICATION
STATE . MAW NSRB
ARMY AIR u FBI
DISTRIBUTION
I
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700070447-7
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700070447-7
In the past intensive logging was practiced in Czechoslovakia. Considerable
destruction of the forests resulted from extensive smelting of iron ore with
charcoal. About 100 years ago coke was substituted for charcoal, and the advent
of blast furnaces put an end to the destruction of the forests.
The Czechoslovak government before 1948 was unable to organize the timber
industry properly. Private owners regarded the forests only as a source of
profit wituout labor. They cut :hem down, and did practically no reforestation.
After being cleared, the land was usually put to the plow. Washouts on the
mountain slopes increased, and soil vas washed into the valleys by streams of
water. As a result, the once fertile forest-protected plains were gradually
.ransformed into steppes. During the period of capitalist ownership, 40 million
cubic meters more timber was cut than was in keeping with the resources of the
country. Indiscriminate logging led to the further destruction of 17 million
cubic meters of wood by fire and insects.
For a pe;iod of 5 years during the Nazi occupation, the forest economy
suffered an additional loss of 26 million cubic meters of wood. As a resat
of the German occupation, there are 100,000 hectares of unreforested clearings
and sparsely wooded areas in the Czech Provinces alone.
In replanting the forests which were cut down during the war, Czechoslovak
foresters rely upon the experience o: leading Soviet agrobiological science.
It is essential to secure an increase in growth in all the old coniferous
plantings where resin was collected during the war. Twee forests suffered
heavily from drying out and from wood parasites. Duringie past 2 years,
foresters also have tried to save approximately 11,000 hectares of deteriorated
txsst land. In order to make up for all the losses to the forest economy by
tW i methods, logging would have to be suspended for 10 years.
At present, favorable conditions are being developed in the forests for
planting and for protection against soil erosion. Efforts are being made to
increase the growing of the most desirable species, of the proper size and
quality. Wind-resistant plantings are also being developed. Forests are to
be planted in all areas not suited for other purposes. Plantings are planned
for the upper reaches of rivers and streams to provide the proper flow of water,
and to utilize the new forests as a climatic factor. Following the example of
the USSR, forest planting is being undertaken in those nonwooded areas which
have suffered from drought and soil erosion.
The Five-Year Plan has given the forest economy the task of supplying
raw materials to the lumber and to the cellulose and paper industries, and for
construction, machine building, etc. The export of coniferous lumber and
finished wood products occupies a considerable place in Czechoslovak foreign
trade. The "Cigna" Enterprise has been established to handle the export of
lumber.
By 1947, 32,500 hectares +f forests had already been set out. Seed for
further planting will be available from forest nurseries -- which will be ex-
panded by 1,732 hectares and from forest preserves.
Many borderland fcrests are endangered by bark beetles and other insect
pests, since, during the occupation period, lumbering areas were not kept
clsan. The forests of Czechoslovakia frequently suffer from windstorms.
Forest fires are even more dangerous.
Iz Czechoslovakia a forest-protection week is held every year in April.
Information about the proper care of forests and of new achievements in the
lumber industry is disseminated over the radio and through the press during
that week. In 1949, during forest-protection week, a campaign was begun for
setting out fruit trees.
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700070447-7
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700070447-7
Forestry workers are given a house and a small plot of ground. They are
provider with an issue of work clothing and shoes, and they take special :ourses
to learn about power save, cultivators, and other machines and implements.
According to the journal Czechoslovakia, in 1947 the following scientific
research institutes were in operation: Institute for Forest Protection (in
Prague), specializing in combating forest insect pests from airplanes; Institute
for Forest Biochemistry and Soil Study, specializing in the chemical and
biological aspects of forest soils, and in reclamation problems; Institute for
Forestry and Forest Biology (in Brno), specializing in tree-seed problems, the
develovment of rapid-growing trees, and acclimatization of exotic trees;
Institute for Wood Utilization and Forest Technology, working on forest con-
servation, on obtaining cellulose from beechwood, and on nay methods for sawing
wood; Institute for Forest Management and Appraisal (in Brno), working on prob-
lems of technology and organization of the forest economy, and also on methods
of appraising and estimating forest growth; Institute for Policies and Adminis-
tration in Forestry, studying over-all problems of forestry and lumbering; and
finally, the Institute of Game Preserves (in Prague).
There are several similar institutes in Slovakia, which cooperate with
the Czech institutes.
The land reform of March 1948, limiting private land holdings to 50 hectares,
also applied to forest lands. In he border regions of the Czech Provinces
(the former Sudeten region), approximately one million hectares of forests
were confiscated, and in the internal regions, about 250,000 hectares, most of
yhich was transferred to the state. In accordance with a law approved in
December 1948, the Czechoslovak State Forests Enterprise was established to
administer the state forests.
The Five-Year Plan for 1949 - 1953 envisages lumbering on the following
scale (in million cubic meters):
Coniferous
Deciduous
Round beams
24.0
3.2
Ties
0.02
1.6
Timber supports
3.4
--
Cross beams
7.7
1.1
Telegraph and other poles
0.6
0.2
Pulpwood
0.1
0.4
Firewood
4.18
8.5
The plan does not call for lumbering in excess of the annual growth.
Single-species forests covering an area of 22,800 hectares are slated for con-
version into mixed forests.
In order to increase the growth of forests and to preserve and improve
the fertility of forests soils, thinning is planned for an area of 328,000
hectares and pruning over an area of 938,000 hectares.
In nonwooded areas, to conserve moisture and protect plantings from wind,
the creation of forest windbreaks is envisaged over an area of 76,000 hectares.
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700070447-7
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700070447-7
The forestation program for Czechoslovakia (in thousand hectares) is as
follows:
1947
1948
To re-establish normal output
30.4
31.8
Windbreaks
1.5
1.54
Afforested areas
2.0
2.0
The 1947 reforestation plan was fulfilled 118 percent, and the plan for
new plantings 116 percent. In 1948, the reforestation plan was fulfilled 108
percent, and for new plantings, 156 percent. In accordance with the Five-Year
Plan, an area of 231,000 hectares is to be reforested.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/19: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700070447-7