THE contribution of generations of those who helped shape the Dean was recognised when a plaque celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Forestry Commission was unveiled.

Dozens of former Commission staff members and their families joined current staff and volunteers for the unveiling near the Speech House.

The plaque was unveiled by current Deputy Surveyor Kevin Stannard, Brian Mahony, who undertook the role between 1996 and 1998 and Royston James of Lydney who began his stint with the Commission in 1949.

Mr Mahony said Forestry Commission staff “were not typical civil servants.”

He said: “We’ve always held true to our belief in aiming to do the right thing for the for the public’s forests and the people who use and depend upon them and for the long term.

“It’s the people working in combination with the land and the trees that has made the difference.

“It is a remarkable community of dedicated and highly professional staff in all roles and at all levels.

“That the Forestry Commission has reached this remarkable milestone in good heart and with so many ambitious for its future is a tribute to the people who have contributed to its success.”

The Commission was set up in 1919 when the nation was left with just four per cent woodland cover.

Mr Mahony added: “The challenge for the newly-created Forestry Commission was to restore the devastated and damaged woodlands that remained and to establish a new woodland resource for the country.”

He said that when war came again in 1939, the Commission was sufficiently well set-up to organise the substantial timber harvest for the war effort – much of it from the Dean.

“The second half century has been about evolving and adapting to respond to a changing world in a way which draws the maximum value from the Forestry Commission’s national estate and to do that for people, for wildlife, for the natural and historic environment and for the economy and nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the Forest of Dean.”

Current Deputy Surveyor Kevin Stannard said that although they were commemmorating 100 years of the Commission, the practice of forestry existed in this area for hundreds of years before that.

He said it was an appropriate time to mark the centenary as there would a new name – Forestry England – from Monday (April 1).

“We are still part of the Forestry Commission, we’ll still be part of that federation but the land management arm will be known as Forestry England.

“We are launching with a new brand and a new set of visions that evolve and build upon the superb forestry we have practised over the last 100 years.

“We embrace the public’s use of the woods because forestry has evolved, we are here for the people.

“It’s the nation’s forests, we are here for the wildlife, we are here to grow timber – getting that balance is absolutely critical.

“We are a destination of choice for dog walkers, for visitors, mountain bikers – we are getting record returns on timber income because of decisions made 10, 20, 50, 100 years ago.

“The challenge for my team now is to put in place that same legacy so that in another 100 years, we will see people enjoying superb forest and hearing wildlife.”

Mr Stannard said forestry was “not a job for life but a job for generations.”

Among those at the unveiling was Trevor Jones, the contractor who had a big hand in getting the plaque and stone into position.

He has worked as a contractor for the last 25 years but was a member of staff for 28 years before that – and his father started with the Commission in the early 1940s.