310 Norway. 



regimen, during which the general government and 

 district officers were in charge. 



The old orders under which forest use had been regu- 

 lated remained mostly in force until in 1795 all the 

 reasonable and the unreasonable obstructions to export 

 were removed. The sawmill privileges, under which 

 English lumbermen held large areas for long terms 

 and devastated them without regard to the impracti- 

 cal regulations, were, however, not ended until 1860. 

 The wood industries were then relieved entirely from 

 restrictions, and forest destruction progressed even 

 more rapidly with the increasing facilities for trans- 

 portation. 



This final cessation of the destructive policy was 

 the outcome of a campaign which started once 

 more with a forest commission instituted, in 1849, to 

 take stock and make new propositions. This com- 

 mission reported in 1850, and pointed out not only 

 the necessity of terminating the sawmill privileges, 

 which was done in 1854, giving time till 1860, but also 

 very wisely accentuated the need of technically edu- 

 cated foresters if anything for forest recuperation 

 was to be done. 



To meet this latter want, young men were sent to 

 Germany at government expense to study forestry. 

 Some 10 or 12 men were educated in this way during 

 the next decade and thereby the basis for a technical 

 forest management was laid. In 1857, the first two 

 professional foresters, Mejdell and Barth, were placed 

 in charge of affairs under the Interior Department, 

 and when in 1859 a new commission was charged 

 with organizing a forest service, these two men were 



