A Brief History of Forestry. / In Europe, the United States and Other Countries

by B. E. Fernow

An Inspector-General, directly under the Secretary of Revenue and Agriculture, (for some time under the Home Department) is the head of the service, and acts as professional adviser both of the Imperial and the Provincial Governments. But this head of the service is shorn of most of executive functions, all administrative matters being reserved to the provincial authorities.

The Inspector-General has charge only of the forest school administration, of forest surveys, and of the making of working plans, which later, after approval by the Provincial government, are in their execution inspected and critically supervised by him, but without power to enforce them, or to give direction directly to the Conservators in charge (at least in Madras and Burma). He also watches over and reports on the progress of all forestry matters in the empire.

Peculiarities and great variety are also found in other official relations and in the appointing power, the general and provincial governments exercising certain rights in this respect.

The Controlling Staff (57 officers in 1869, now about 300) under the Inspector-General, consists of Conservators, Deputy Conservators and Assistant Conservators. The Conservators, now some 20, so far as they are not directly acting as assistants in the Inspector-General’s office, are the heads of the provincial departments and conservatorships, and in that capacity directly subordinate to the local government, which in Madras and Bombay also has their appointment; each is in charge either of the entire forest business of the Province, or of a circle forming part of a Province and the administration unit in India. These are, therefore, the most influential and most responsible agents in introducing forestry practices. Conservatorships are divided into divisions, each in charge of a divisional forest officer, a member of either the Imperial or the Provincial Controlling Staff; but these have to acknowledge subordination to the Chief Civil officer, the Collector of the district in which they are located, in order to harmonize the financial and forestal interests.

About 80 per cent. of the Controlling Staff in the Imperial Service are appointed by the Secretary of State from graduates formerly from the forest school at Cooper’s Hill College, now Oxford, the remaining 20 per cent. from Englishmen in the provincial service, the members of which have passed through the Dehra Dun forest school and through the lower branches of the service. In addition to this Superior Staff, a Subordinate Staff of Extra Deputy Conservators and Extra Assistant Conservators forms the Provincial Service, which is mainly recruited from the natives.

The districts are divided into ranges, for which an Executive Service is organized, of rangers (over 400), who are now selected from graduates of the forest school in Dehra Dun. Deputy rangers and foresters, a lower grade (some 1700), and guards, having their separate beats (over 8500), form the Protective Service, mostly or all recruited from the better class of natives.

5. Forest Treatment.

With the irregular distribution of forests, the peculiarities of Indian government affairs and population, and the wild and difficult forest conditions themselves, it is but natural that the work thus far has been chiefly one of organization, survey, and protection.

In the protection against unlawful felling or timber stealing and grazing, the Government of India has shown itself fully equal to the occasion by a liberal policy of supplying villagers in proximity of the forests with fuel, building material, pasture, etc., at reduced prices or gratis. Over $1,500,000 worth is thus disposed of annually, the incentive to timber stealing being thereby materially reduced. A reasonable and just permit system for grazing, where again the needs of the neighboring villagers are most carefully considered, not only brings the government a yearly revenue of over $800,000, but enables the people to pasture about 14,000,000 head of animals in the State forests without doing any material damage to tree growth. Thirty-one per cent. of the total forest area is open to grazing.

The work of preventing and fighting fires can with the means available not be carried on over the entire forest area, of which large tracts are not even crossed by a footpath, and in a land where the regular firing of the woods has become the custom of centuries, and where, in addition, intensely hot and dry weather, together with a most luxuriant growth of giant grasses, render these jungle fires practically unmanageable. Each year, however, additional territory is brought under protection. In 1902, nearly 37,000 square miles, or nearly 40% of the area in reserve, but only 12% of the total government forest area, were under protection at a cost of $4.00 per square mile or less than one cent per acre, half of what it was 10 years before, and over 2 per cent. of the gross revenue. Nearly 5,000 fires occurred, to be sure, which burnt over 3,000,000 acres, that is to say over 90 per cent. of the area the protection was effective. For nearly half the fires the cause remains unknown. Danger from fire has, however, become less in protected areas because of the changes in herbage and moisture conditions. Yet it costs still about two per cent. of the gross revenue to protect the area, and the figures just cited show that this expenditure is only partially effective. In 1909, the protected area had increased to 43,000 square miles, the cost to $5, the efficiency to 94 per cent.