Fearnoch Forest Map 1 – Lorne Forest District
The map was recovered from a shed at Newton which acted as a storage area for Forest Research who used the maps to locate forest and tree experiments in the field.
The first mention of Fearnoch Forest is an acquisition of a new area of land in 1928 and named as Fearnoch Forest. The northern area of this map (Comp 2001-2024) does show some remnants of trees planted as early as 1934 (P34 – Comp 2017). Much of this earlier plantings had been felled and replanted by the time this map was last updated in 1991. Obviously a moderately rich soil area as Sitka and Norway spruce predominate with some Douglas fir, larch and some broadleaves. Planting progressed at a modest 100-200 acres per year and following the war in 1947 the area statement indicates a total of 1211 acres planted with 221 acres left to plant.
The area south of an internal fence (Comp 2026 onwards) may well have been a later acquisition as the compartments are annotated with planting years from 1966 on to 1984. Records show that areas of land were acquired in 1961 and 1965 increasing the total land area of the forest to 4370 acres. The map was last updated in 1991.
Staff and foresters names are not recorded from the early days but following the war in 1948 C B MacPhee is noted as the forester in charge. He stays in this post until 1965 when I MacNicol is noted as forester in charge.
In 1984 the Forests of Fearnoch, Barcaldine, Glencoe and Glenorchy were amalgamated into Lorne Forest Disitrict.
Any further details on this forest and its staff would be very welcome.