The annexation of the Province of Pegu in lower Burma, in 1852, introduced a new complication, and proved the turning point in forestry matters. In this province, the right to cut Teak had been reserved by the native princes, and hence became a right of the crown, but private lumbermen began to cut this timber, and, after an investigation and report, it was decided to take definite steps to regulate the use of these valuable Teak forests at least.
Lord Dalhousie, the then Governor-General, upon the basis of the report of the superintendent of forests at Pegu, Dr. McClelland, in 1855 laid down in statesmanlike manner an outline of a permanent forest policy for the government, and introduced the first professional adviser.
In 1856, a German forester from Hesse, Dietrich Brandis (afterward Sir) was installed as superintendent of forests for Pegu with wide powers under contract for 10 years, at a liberal salary, and pension after retirement. The only possible check that could at first be applied was to force the lumbermen to make contracts, limit the diameter to which the exploitation was to be allowed, and mark the trees to be felled. This was done, naturally not without a large amount of friction.
The result of this experiment in forest conservancy, as the English are pleased to call it, was so satisfactory, that, in 1862, it was decided to organize a forest department for all India; Brandis was entrusted with the organization, and, in 1864, he was appointed head of the new department under the Secretary of Public Works with the title of Inspector-General, acting as adviser of the various provincial governments.
The forests of India during the next 20 years during which Brandis held office, were, province by province, brought under the regime of the Imperial Forest Department, although the provincial governments retain full and independent administrative power.
The first problem was to settle ownership conditions, which was done in the manner described before, by the act of 1865, and by later acts.
The discontent which was created by this act came very near wrecking the whole enterprise, and much difference of opinion between the local and general governments existed, the government of Madras going so far as to declare the impossibility of establishing State property in view of the acknowledged rights of the villagers over waste lands. The general policy, however, finally prevailed, and an increasingly harmonious cooperation of the provincial governments has allowed the development of an efficient forest service.
Various provincial legislation was considered, passed and repealed, until, in 1878, the Indian Forest Act VII settled the policy at least for the majority of the provinces, Madras and Burma and some minor districts still declining to extend its provisions to their forests. The Burma government enacted, however, similar legislation in 1881, and the Madras government in 1882, and, much later, the other outstanding governments followed (1886 to 1891), so that, while the detail of application varies not inconsiderably, the general policy regarding forest property of the State is the same throughout the empire. Whatever of uniformity exists had to be secured mainly by persuasive means.
The forest acts, as stated on a previous page, contain certain provisions regarding formation of village forests and control of private forest property, but no interference with private forest property has been attempted, although in some parts this is more important and larger than the State holdings. Most of the owners merely exploit their property, but some of the larger, more enlightened native princes have established forest administrations, imitating the example of the Imperial government. Those of Mysore and Kashmir and Hyderabad have placed this administration under an imperial forest officer, furloughed for this purpose, and derive handsome revenues; the Kashmir forests of about 2500 square miles yielding round $180,000; those of Mysore, near 2000 square miles, over $330,000, this largely derived from sales of sandal wood; those of the Nizam of Hyderabad, with 5200 square miles in reserves and 4400 in protected forests, deriving a revenue of $75,000, seven times what it was ten years before.