Forestry men no longer isolated
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THE Forestry Commission has been operating radio-controlled mobiles fitted with Pye or Storno equipment since 1952/1953. Luricint). the mobiles number about 300 and are controlled from 43 base stations. They comprise Land-Rovers and bigger vehicles up to 16 tons gross and are used for a wide variety of duties. These include fire fighting, patrolling areas Where fires have 6ccurred, timber extraction, fencing, aerial fertilizing and spraying, warning the public in a "blasting" area, vehicle and machinery maintenance, guidance of keepers, the taking of photometer readings in the forest for comparison with readings outside and catching roe deer or red deer calves. Radio control also facilitates administration and the overall improvement in vehicle utilization is 10/15 per cent.
In the case of fire fighting, the officer in charge controls the fire with the aid of a radio-equipped vehicle and a team of men with pocket sets, and additional help can be summoned with mirfimum delay. A valuable saving in manpower is provided by using mobile patrols for "post suppression", that is for keeping watch on the site of a recent outbreak and if necessary for dealing with further outbreaks.
Ready communication by radio between choker man and winch man is cited as essential to timber extraction by cable crane, and radio enables assistance to be called in the event of an accident. When spring steel fencing is being erected by a five-man team the distance between the men may preclude verbal communication or sight of each other, and radio is essential to close collaboration. Before the introduction of radio an elaborate warning system that was operated by seven men was used when blasting was in progress; with radio, three men can do the job.
Equipping a mechanic's vehicle with radio often obviates wasteful running in obtaining tools or spares. To keepers in the New Forest, radio is specially valuable as a quick means of summoning aid and it gives them a sense of security. Unfruitful journeys by supervisors are eliminated and queries from the Forest Officer can be answered promptly without waiting for the forester.