60% of Poplars to Be Chopped Down : Dutch Makers of Wooden Shoes Fear Loss of Trees

The Dutch who make traditional wooden shoes are worried about the future of their craft because of a government proposal to chop down 60% of the nation’s poplar trees from which they are made.

“Wooden shoes and windmills are mighty big image-builders in Holland,” said Jos Gevers of the Dutch Association of Wooden Shoe Makers. “Everyone in the world knows our clogs, and for this reason alone we must fight for our industry.”

Wooden shoes are still widely used in the Netherlands, especially by gardeners working in muddy soil. They also are sold to tourists as souvenirs.

Gevers charged that the government’s proposal to cut down the poplar trees does not include adequate plans to replace them. The proposal is part of a reforestation plan that would diversify the kinds of trees which grow in the Netherlands.

“The government avoids saying when the replanting will take place and how they will finance it,” claimed Gevers at his home in this southern Dutch town. “If they harvest without replanting immediately, there will be a gap in the supply of wood and that will flatten us.”

He said any major delay in replanting could force manufacturers to import timber, which would double the street price of wooden shoes, currently about 25 guilders ($6.60) a pair.

“Then, I am afraid, we can just as well close our industry,” said the retired businessman who acts as secretary of the association and self-appointed promoter of the industry.

Frits Prillevitz, director of the National Forestry Service, confirmed plans to fell the softwood poplars now standing in an attempt to vary the types of trees in Dutch forests, which are used for recreational purposes in this crowded nation.

However, he dismissed Gevers’ fears, and said that although no definitive replanting schedule is set, the government does plan to plant an equal number of new poplars as the old ones are cut down.

The long-term reforestation proposal is part of a plan to increase use of domestically grown wood from the current 8% to 25% by the year 2000, according to a press officer from the Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry.

About 8% of the Netherlands is now forest, and the government proposes adding more than 37,050 acres to wood cultivation on public lands.

Poplar is the wood overwhelmingly preferred by the wooden shoe industry because it is light and workable. About 45,000-50,000 cubic feet of it is carved into wooden shoes every year.

With a yearly turnover of about $13 million, the industry produces ornamental souvenir shoes for tourists and basic clogs for the Dutch.

About 3 million pairs are turned out every year by 350 or so artisans.