The year 1995 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the State Forests in Lower Silesia and, consequently, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Bolesławiec Forest District. It is therefore an opportunity to present and summarize the effects of 50 years of work by Lower Silesian foresters and all employees connected with the forest.
Let us begin with our history.
The first foresters arrived in the Recovered Territories together with the Polish administration taking over these areas. The first staff came from foresters from central Poland, seconded by their parent Forest Directorates; soldiers of the First and Second Armies of the Polish Army settling these lands as part of military settlement; and soldier-foresters returning from camps. Their first steps in these lands were very difficult. Mr. engineer Marian Korczyński, one of the first foresters in these lands, seconded to the Bolesławiec Forest District by the Forest Directorate in Radom, recalls:
“Together with a group of foresters, I was dropped off from a lorry on 5 October 1945 in the market square in Bolesławiec. It was dark, cold and rainy; the city was deserted and destroyed, nobody was waiting for us, and we found lodgings ourselves; we received food only the following day. First we helped organize the Forest District headquarters, and later we set off into the field to organize the forest divisions there.”
The first task of the newly organized administration was to establish the Forest District and forest divisions, take possession of the forests on behalf of the state, conduct a rapid inventory of the forests, and halt the damage caused to them by the war.
The areas of the Bolesławiec Forest were initially subordinate to the Forest Directorate in Legnica, and from 1948 to the Wrocław Directorate.
Over the past 50 years, the State Forests have undergone a series of organizational changes. The forest districts established just after the war were transformed in 1950 into State Forest Regions. In 1957, the State Forest Regions were abolished, and the forest districts gained substantial independence, including financial independence.
In 1970, the Bolesławiec and Kliczków forest districts were merged, and in 1972 the Świętoszów Forest District was additionally incorporated. The Bolesławiec Forest District created in this way covered an area of 35,000 hectares, consisted of the Bolesławiec, Kliczków and Świętoszów divisions, and was territorially one of the largest forest districts in the country.
After the WNP army left the Świętoszów area, a forest district was established there, and since 1994 the Bolesławiec Forest District has consisted of two divisions: Kliczków and Bolesławiec. These divisions—the former forest districts—are also the focus of my attention.
The first headquarters of the Bolesławiec Forest District was located at 16 Kubika Street (where the Inter-Company Health Clinic was later established).
The first forest district manager was Mr. Józef Gołębiowski, a soldier of September 1939 who returned from internment in Hungary.
The subsequent forest district managers were: 1950–53 – Władysław Janyszck; 1954–60 – Karol Kuźmierek; 1961–68 – Edward Wysocki; 1969–91 – Kazimierz Kochański; 1992 to the present – Jerzy Wisławski. The first chief accountant was Ms. Wiesława Siudak, who took up her position in 1957 and held it for many years, until her retirement (1988). Other distinguished names include office employees of the Forest District: Maria Korczyńska and Władysław Szot; forest guards: Józef Kupczak and Kazimierz Rajski; workers: Władysław Danielewski, Franciszek Michałowski, Aleksy Dymitruk and Stanisław Sowa. The forest divisions were staffed, among others, by foresters: Walenty Majer, Jan Olszewski, Tadeusz Szymański, Zofia Owsiana, Antoni Jankowski, Stanisław Szymański, Władysław Ciesielski, Zygmunt Ciesielski, Piotr Kuczkowski, Antoni Flis, Józef Szemiot, Jan Śmietanka, Andrzej Jaróg, Paweł Krzyżański and Leszek Mikityński.
I will present some history of the Kliczków Forest District, which is now an integral part of the Bolesławiec Forest District as one of its divisions.
The beginnings of the Kliczków Forest District (initially called Kleszczowa) were similar. The Forest District office was located in the small palace at number 5, while the present “castle” housed a canteen, recreation room, workers’ quarters and warehouses.
The first forest district manager was Mr. Stefan Balcewicz, followed by Messrs. Henryk Sienkiewicz, Tadeusz Ojak, Paweł Holona, Kazimierz Lipiński, Kazimierz Czerniak, Tadeusz Zięba and, finally, before the merger with the Bolesławiec Forest District, Mr. Eugieniusz Żurakowski.
I was unable to gather much information about the history of this Forest District because of the limited source material. I can mention only a few distinguished names: foresters – Czesław Kurp and Antoni Jarczak; forest guards – Henryk Wójcicki, Bolesław Witkowski, Józef Stróżek and Włodzimierz Soroka;
workers – Piotr Piotrowski, Stefan Gonciarz, Edward Bartocha, Alfons Bukowski, Feliks Kukułka, Jan Ziomku, Władysław Kubacki and Józef Marciniak.
When speaking of the forests, one cannot overlook the timber yards, since considerable quantities of wood intended for rebuilding the country had to be dispatched. The railway was the cheapest means of transport, and timber yards were therefore established near almost every station.
In the first post-war years, the timber yards were subordinate to the forest districts; later they came under the administration of the State Forest Regions, and after the Regions were abolished, they became part of the newly established State Forest Timber Yard Complex
and Timber Yards. The Timber Yard Complex was located in Bolesławiec at what is now Mikołaja Brody Street, and was later moved to Chojnów. As the volume of timber harvesting declined, the number of timber yards also decreased, and after another reorganization the timber yards once again returned to the forest districts.
The only person from those former times still working at the same timber yard in Trzebień since 1960 is its manager, Mr. Władysław Sokołowski. In Bolesławiec live Messrs. Władysław Andruszyszyn and Jan Wereszczako, retired managers of the Timber Yard Complex in Bolesławiec and Chojnów.
Among the greatest natural and economic achievements of our region should be counted the restoration of the forests of the Bolesławiec Forest to the national economy. Vast burned areas, weakened stands threatened by insect pests, destroyed roads and drainage facilities—this was the picture of the problems facing the pioneering forest administration.
Looking back over these 50 years, we can say that the forest has been developed and managed. There are no longer any unforested or undeveloped areas, and the backlog in tending the stands is not serious. The main task now facing foresters is to increase the diversity and productivity of the stands around us.
In addition to carrying out their own duties, the forest employees of our Forest District also hurried to help forest districts in other regions. We also took part in removing the damage caused by snow breakage in the Kłodzko Valley, the bark beetle outbreak in the Western Sudetes, and windthrow in the Oleśnica Forest District.
Several statistics testify to the results of the work of Lower Silesian foresters:
—increase in the forest cover of Lower Silesia from 24% in 1945 to 28% today,
—steady increase in the share of broadleaf species in the species composition of stands from 45% in 1945 to 24% today,
—increase in the average age of stands from 47 years in 1945 to 55 years in 1994,
—steady increase in average growing stock per hectare from 153 m³ to 213 m³,
—increase in total growing stock from 58 million m³ in 1956 to 102 million today,
—a steadily increasing share of stands over 80 years old.
The data cited clearly demonstrate the unquestionable natural achievements of the pioneers and senior members of our region. Three generations of foresters worked to achieve this success.
The Forest District celebrated the 50th anniversary of the State Forests in Lower Silesia on 24 June of that year with a gathering of the entire staff.
The ceremony took place outdoors in the setting of the historic park in Kliczków. In addition to employees and their families, retired seniors and representatives of the local authorities and fire service also attended.
After a commemorative address by the forest district manager and speeches by the guests, distinguished senior employees and workers were honored with commemorative medals marking the 50th anniversary of the State Forests and with diplomas.
There was a bonfire, an orchestra, memories, competitions, beer and roast wild boar.
The celebration lasted until morning, and despite the rainy June, it did not rain that day.