Forestry in Sweden

Rector of The Royal School of Forestiy Stockholm, Sweden VISITING PROFESSOR, SCHOOL OF FORESTRY OREGON STATE COLLEGE CORVALLIS, OREGON Published by the School of Forestry, Oregon State College, with the aid of the South Santiam Educational and Research Project of the Louis W. and Maud Hill Family Foundation. Printed at The College Press Oregon State College Corvallis, Oregon 1958 The author, rector (dean) of the Royal School of Forestry at Stockholm, has an international reputation in forestry. He is a grad- uate of the school which he now heads, also of the College of Com- merce at Stockholm, and he received a master of science degree from the University of Stockholm. The University of Uppsala in Sweden and University of Gottingen in Germany have awarded him honor- ary doctoral degrees. Rector Streyffert is widely known for his work in forest economics. He was professor of forest economics at the Royal School of Forestry from 1939 to 1947; at the end of this period he was made rector. He has served the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations as forest economist. In the course of his work in forest economics he has traveled in the United States, Canada, the Soviet Union, India, Japan, and China. Rector Streyffert is the author of several books and many articles in his specialized field. This publication is a compilation of his lectures given at the School of Forestry, Oregon State College. He was en- gaged as visiting professor under the auspices of the Louis W. and Maud Hill Family Foundation. The School of Forestry here acknowl- edges its great obligation to the Foundation in providing the services of this distinguished forester. Rector Streyffert provided a valuable insight into Swedish forestry, many aspects of which may be applic- able here in the United States. The purpose of this publication is to make Rector Streyffert's observations available to a much wider audi- ence than was privileged to hear him in person. W. F. McCulloch, Dean, School of Forestry, Oregon State College Contents Page Forest Regions 5 Introduction to Swedish Forestry 8 Forest Policy in Sweden 12 Forest Research in Sweden 16 Kramfors Company: A Case History 22 The Farm Forest Problem 30 World Timber Trends 33 Does Forestry Pay? 40 Appendix I. Forest Facts About Sweden 44 Table Land area of Sweden by major classes of land (1955) 44 Productive forest area distributed by age classes 44 Volume of growing stock, by species and diameter classes (1953-55) 44 Comparison between the national forest inventories in 1938-52 and 1953-55 45 Annual growth of growing stock on productive forest land 1938-52 45 Productive forest area distributed by ownership 45 Extent and cost of silvicultural measures, draining, and forest roads 1951-55 4O Annual cut 47 Forest fires in Sweden 1951-55 47 Floating in Sweden 1937 and 1950-55 47 Stumpage prices in state forests 1951-55 47 Prices at river mouth for unbarked sawlogs and pulpwood in northern Sweden and logging costs in the logging season 1955-56 48 Wages in woods and forest industries 1951-55 48 Export prices for lumber, suiphite and sulphate woodpulp (unbleached), and news- print 48 Production of the more important forest products in Sweden 49 Exports of the more important forest products in Sweden 49 Appendix II. The Swedish Forest Law 50 1.Forest Regions WEDEN is situated between 55°20' and 69°4' n. Sweden, the fairly large inland areas rising towards the lat., corresponding to a distance of close to one Peninsular divide are treeless. The short summers in thousand miles from north to south. The north- northern Sweden favor the formation of extensive erly location of Sweden is best imagined if we consider moors, especially in a belt adjacent to the Peninsular that Sweden has almost the same latitude as Alaska. To divide, where precipitation is high. For the same reason further illustrate Sweden's geographic position, its capi- the humus layer in the forests is generally not well tal, Stockholm, is situated at the same latitude as Port decayed and often covers the mineral soil as a mat of Churchill on Hudson Bay. Yet the climate of Sweden raw humus with varying thickness. This is especially is comparable with that of eastern Canada or the south- the case at higher altitudes in northern Sweden, where ern interior of British Columbia. it presents a serious obstacle to the natural regeneration The comparatively mild climate of Sweden and the of the forests. However, this and other adverse condi- rest of Scandinavia makes possible both advanced agri- tions gradually recede towards the south, so that the culture and economic forestry in latitudes where barren greater part of the Swedish forest area can be said to lands prevail in North America. This is attributed to offer fairly good natural conditions for tree growth, the influence of the Gulf stream that carries warmth and hence the necessary foundation for forestry. from the Mexican Gulf to the shores of Scandinavia. This point could be further illustrated by stating Even so, the Peninsular divide between Norway and that the productive capacity of Swedish forest land, if Sweden tends to give Sweden less of a maritime climate fully utilized, has been calculated to be about 30 cubic than Norway. The climate of Sweden is transitional be- feet per acre in northernmost Sweden, about 70 cubic tween the Atlantic climate of Norway and the continen- feet in southern Sweden and on an average about 50 tal climate of the great Eurasian continent to the east. cubic feet per acre (with bark) for the whole of Sweden. Within this general type of climate, the great exten- To put this in another way, while it will take 120 to sion of Sweden north and south, altogether one thou- 140 years to grow a timber tree with a diameter at sand miles, gives rise to considerable variation in local breast height of 12 inches in northernmost Sweden, the climates and other conditions influencing the growth of same tree can be produced in 60 to 80 years in southern forest trees. While the climate offers favorable condi- Swedenand, in greater numbers per acre. This will tions for conifer growth in the greater part of Sweden, give some indication of nature's cooperation in Swedish these conditions gradually grow less favorable towards forestry. the north. As a matter of fact, the northernmost part of While these broad variations in forest growth are Sweden is situated 180 miles above the Arctic Circle, mainly caused by climatic factorsthe governing influ- and although good timber may still be found here, ence of temperature as a minimum factor predominates growth is slow and the stands are open. Since the tree in Swedenvariation in forestsoilwill giverise limitis1,500 feet above sea level in northernmost to local deviations in the forest picture. A fairly great FORESTRY IN SWEDEN uniformity, however, has resulted in Sweden because resulting from the climatic factors, the most striking by far the larger part of the country rests on a shield of these variations refers to the actual distribution of of archean rock. Local variations in the mineral struc- tree species. As a part of the great Eurasian coniferous ture of this rock have been further leveled by ice action forest it is only natural that the forests of Sweden in the glacial periods. As the main result of this action, should be predominantly composed of coniferous spe- the greater part of Sweden is covered by a rocky nb- cies. Only the southernmost coastal districts reach into raine that does not easily lend itself to cultivation, al- the region of temperate hardwoods that occupies west- though it may provide quite good conditions for forest ern and central Europe. Accordingly, the forests of growth. The poor forest soils are above all found where Sweden have been divided into two main regions, the this moraine layer is thin and where drainage is poor. Coniferous Region, occupying by far the greater part Such poor drainageresulting in the frequent occur- of the country, and the Hardwood Region, which on rence of lakes and swampsis characteristic of a mo- account of the predominance of beech in Sweden, is raine country on archean rock as found in Sweden, called the Beech Region. where moraines often have been deposited in a way that prevents natural drainage. Cultivated land in Sweden The Coniferous Region is found primarily on deposits of clay in those parts of The Coniferous Region is dominated by Sweden's the country that were covered by the sea after the re- two indigenous conifers, the Scotch pine (Pinus silves- cession of the ice sheet. tris) and the Norway spruce (Picea excelsa). These Variations in remaining forest soil are, however, are interspersed more or less frequently with the two important enough to decide the pattern of the forest most common broadleaved species occurring over the picture to no small extent. On climatic margins of our whole of Sweden, namely birch (Betula verrucosa and tree species the forest soil may well be the factor decid- B. pubescens) and aspen (Populus tren'iula). A few ing which of several competing species will hold the other broadleaved species are scattered in the southern ground. This is most apparent in the case of the oak part of the coniferous region but become less frequent (Quercus pedunculata), found predominantly on the towards the north, where they subsequently find the best forest soils in middle Sweden, where it reaches its geographical boundaries of their distribution(ash, northern limit. However, similar observations can be Fraxinus excelsior; elm, Ulmus cam pestris; linden, made on a minor scale in regard to other tree species Tilia europaea; maple, Acer platanoides; and oak, reathing the margin of their climatic distribution in Q uercus pedunculata).

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