The forest Minister's announcement to put a blanket ban on the extraction of even dry timber trees from the forests on selective basis does not appear to be a sound decision in view of the past experiences. First of all this decision of the government cannot be enforced fully in view of the fact that this will force the people to resort to other means for meeting their timber needs in the state besides giving them a chance to the unscruplous traders to sell the available stocks at inflated prices to make a quick buck...editorial