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within the Department of Agriculture and Commerce in 1953- Also
created in 1948 was a School of Forestry (which became part of
the University of Liberia in 1951), which was to train personnel
to staff the newly created National Forest Service, Stephen
Tolbert became the School's first Dean (26).
In the early 1960 's the Bureau of Forest Conservation employed
about 70 persons most of whom, however, had only had a minimal
education in forest management (27). About ten years later their
number had increased to 195- Most of them were placed "in the
field" where they had to monitor the activities of the logging
companies (concessions) and had to prevent encroachment of the
National Forests by farmers (shifting agriculture) and hunters.
More specifically, they had to categorize, measure and mark each
log in order to determine the stumpage fee due and had to
supervise the companies' reforestation programmes (as well as the
Government's programme) (28).
The administrative situation became very confusing in the 1970's
after the creation in 1972 of a Concessions Secretariat within
the Ministry of Finance which inherited the functions of the Ministry
of Planning and Economic Affairs with respect to the monitoring
of the activities of concessionaires (but not its files).
The rapid increase of logging activities from 1973 onwards caused
severe technical, administrative and financial problems for the
Liberian Government. Owing to lack of adequate training
facilities, lack of funds and lack of incentives the Bureau of
Forest Conservation could only slightly increase the number of
qualified personnel (both in the field and at the Head Office).
The regional and district forest office in the interior suffered
consequently from lack of personnel, vehicles, and maintenance
facilities, office equipment and supplies, field equipment and
communication facilities. Forestry graduates often sought
employment with logging companies that paid higher salaries and
offered more fringe benefits. Field staff of the Bureau was
inadequately provided for and often had to depend on the
concessionaires for housing, transport and the payment of their
overtime. It has to be borne in mind, however, that It was the
Bureau of Forest Conservation which had required the
Concessionaires to provide housing accomodation for two of the
forest officers assigned directly with them - the district
forester and the sales and contract officer - and to provide
payment for overtime work performed (29).
It is not surprising therefore that in 1976 officials of a
Government agency concluded that the Bureau's field staff's
allegiance tended to lie with the concessionaires - thereby
depriving the Treasury of the correct stumpage revenue - and that
the efficient control of the operating timber concessions was no
longer ensured (30).
In 1974 the World Bank recommended the creation of a Forestry
Development Authority, which agency was created in 1976. The Act
creating the Forestry Development Authority was approved on
December 20, 1976. Actual operations, however, did not start
until between March and June of the following year (31).