C.—3

2

(3.) The policy of dedicating for forest-management all Crown forests and other forest lands chiefly valuable for timber cropping and conservation and not for agricultural or pastoral uses has been maintained by the Government during the period with the results shown in the following schedule :—-

Areas dedicated to Forestry and Conservation during the Period 1920 to 1925.

* 418,370 acres reserved prior to 1919 : of this only 96,409 acres are as yet controlled by the Forest Service. (Acquisition by purchase of forested lands through the medium of the State Forests Account during the period 1920-25 aggregated over 101,000 acres.)

Graph showing Total Area of Forest Land in Dominion and Progress in Dedication of Forests to Conservation of Timber-crop Production.

(4.) State forestation activities under the approved policy have been speeded up during the period, with the result that 25,500 acres of State plantations were formed, as compared with practically the same acreage during the ten previous years. [The total area of Stpte plantations is now 62,945 acres.] (5.) The Forest Service fiscal policy as adopted had for its objective the securing of full value and return for every pound expended and for every stick of timber sold. The results speak for themselves.

Permanent ! Provisional Forest Period. State ; State Reserves and j Total Area. Forests. i Forests. Miscellaneous. * • I I !_ L_ I I , Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Dedicated prior to year 1919 .. .. .. 1,662,007 .. * 1,662,007 Dedicated during the period 1919-25 (net increase) 96,506 5,630,668 96,409 5,823,583 Total, 31st March, 1925 .. .. 1,758,513 5,630,668 96,409 7,485,590

_ _ , t-i Source of Expended J? orest Income. b orest Hixpenaiture. Moneys v Timber-sales, Protection, Forest-land r " Tree-sales, Management, Purchases, Service Grazing, Surveys, Extension of Debentures. l nC ome Miscellaneous Administration, State Plantations, Revenue. &c. &c. i " £ £ £ Per Cent. Per Cent. 1919-20 .. .. 8,514 5,975 00,844 87-3 12-7 1920-21 .. .. 19,518 14,570 64,981 75-5 24-5 1921-22 .. .. 30,784 38,087 69,495 71-4 28-6 1922-23 .. .. 63,372 38,337 , 47,073 25-8 74-2 1923-24 .. .. 93,479 42,897 55,406 4-9 95-1 1924 25 .. . 161,468 43,091 171,205* 24-6 75-4 * Includes £100,000 for purchase of " Selwyn Settlement " forest,