Dongshih Forestry Culture Park, in central Taiwan’s Taichung City, showcases the history of logging in the region and examines the industry’s cultural, economic and environmental impact.
Once home to Tashueshan Forestry Co., DFCP was originally constructed in 1959 and adopted logging and processing methods from the U.S. instead of using the Japanese rail-based logging practices introduced during the colonial era (1895-1945).
Workers pose on a log transport truck at a site managed by Tashueshan Forestry Co. (Photo courtesy of Dongshih Forest District Office)
During the 1960s and early 1970s, TSSFC workers departed on trucks before dawn for the logging zones in what are now Dasyueshan and Basianshan forest recreation areas. The firm ceased operation in 1973 and around 17 hectares of its land was later designated as a forestry culture park and opened to the public in 2013.
As part of the government’s Conservation and Redevelopment Program of Forestry Cultural Resources, DFCP’s ongoing revitalization project includes the refurbishment of facilities such as the truck maintenance center, lumber mill, log ramp, wood chip bin, refuse storage shed and boiler room. When they were still active, these TSSFC facilities were an economic powerhouse for Dongshih and neighboring Fengyuan areas, supplying material for paper manufacturers and furniture makers. DFDO Director Chang Hung-yi said, “Industrial roots are an integral part of a place’s historical and cultural legacy as well as its community development.”
The former TSSFC wood refuse storage shed is well-maintained. (Photo by Pang Chia-shan)
What was once the TSSFC log storage pool has been converted to an ecology education site through the introduction of native water plants, all surrounded by a wooden walkway approximately a kilometer in length. A deeper section of the pond has been set aside to demonstrate its original purpose: storage that protected valuable logs from cracking, corrosion and insects.
Plans for DFCP include integration of Dasyueshan Forest Road, opened in 1958 and primarily used by the newly established TSSFC. The 56-km route has a new purpose these days: to expand ecotourism and push for community regeneration from DFCP to Dasyueshan National Forest Recreation Area. “The road that once permitted the area’s economic boom by transporting its resources away can now usher the world back into recovering forests to share vital lessons about human relationships with nature,” Chang said. (E) (By Pat Gao)
Inside the wood refuse storage shed (Photo by Pang Chia-shan)
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(This article is adapted from “Timber Land” in the May/June issue of Taiwan Review. The Taiwan Review archives dating to 1951 are available online.)