From clearance to crisis?

In 1544 the forester Hans Hagen stated that 150 oaks and pines that had been requested for a new barn at a ducal sheep station was beyond the capacity of any of his woodlands to supply. Mature timber was certainly in short supply in the Forstamt, but it is hardly likely that the 2,300 hectares of ducally owned forest could not supply a mere 150 pieces of timber. What Hagen presumably meant was that he could not fell so many in one place without jeopardising the staddles and mature trees that provided acorns for natural regeneration and fodder for wild boar and pigs. Scattered across the woodlands, and according to the survey of 1583, rather better maintained in ducal woodlands than elsewhere, these fairly isolated mature trees would most likely have grown up fairly crooked with numerous large lateral branches, and thus often also been far from ideal building material. They would have been able to develop amid the clusters of juniper and thorns left alone by grazing animals. As such the ducal woodlands seem to have had enough trees to supply occasional construction needs, especially for repairs, but nowhere enjoyed the density of stock to supply large amounts of timber for even quite minor projects. Is this evidence of a ‘timber famine’? Certainly it shows the relative lack of a very particular kind of tree for a certain use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]