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ANNUAL REPORT. The Chief Officer to the Hon. the Commissioner of State Forests. Sir,— Wellington, Ist August, 1919. I have the honour to submit herewith the annual report of the Department of Forestry. I have, &c, E. Phillips Turner, The Hon. Sir F. H. D. Pell, K.0.M.G., K.C. Chief Officer.

BEPOKT. PART I.—INDIGENOUS FORESTS. Legislation. The State Forests Act, 1908, has been found to be in several respects deficient; but, as under the exceptional c rcumstances of last session it was not advisable to introduce an amendment that would deal with all deficiencies, section 34 was inserted in the War Legislation and Statute Law Amendment Act, 1918, to deal with those which at the time were of most importance. Under this section power is conferred upon the Commissioner of State Forests to purchase and to hire sawmills and machinery, to cut and sell timber in State forests, and to purchase private lands for addition to or for the protection of State forests. Power is also conferred upon the Governor-General in Council to sot apart by Proclamation any Crown lands as and for " provisional State forests." These provisional State forests differ from State forests which have been set apart under the State Forests Act, 1908, in that the Governor-General in Council has power by a further Proclamation to declare that a provisional State forest is required for settlement, and the effect of any such Proclamation is to remove the land from reservation as a provisional State forest. Every afforestation purpose is declared to be a public work under the Public Works Act, 1908. The Governor-General in Council is empowered to make, by Order in Council, regulations for limiting the export of timber from New Zealand, and prohibiting the sale of standing timber, or the granting of licenses to cut standing timber, on public or private lands except subject to conditions that may be prescribed. Provisional State Forests. With regard to provisional State forests it may be pointed out that the continuous alienation of forest lands and the rapid depletion of our timber-supplies made it imperative that speedy action should be taken to conserve as much, as possible of our remaining forests. Regular forest demarcation could not be carried out under many years, and, as a substitute, power was obtained to make " provisional State forests." Lands that may be proclaimed provisional State forests will not necessarily be permanently locked up, for, as stated above, the reservation can be uplifted by a simple procedure. No doubt many of the reserves will contain land suitable for settlement, and when these lands have been properly defined they will be made available for settlement; but areas which are more suitable for retention under forest will be kept under reservation and used for the production of timber. At the end of the year under review no provisional State forests had been proclaimed, but plans of areas totalling 1,800,000 acres (a proportion of this area is treeless mountain-tops) have been received from the District Offices, and these areas will shortly bo proclaimed. Limitation of Export of Timber. As the dairy, fruit, and other industries which use a large quantity of white-pine were finding it impossible to obtain adequate supplies, measures were taken through the Board of Trade to limit the export of this timber to 40 per cent, of the total production. This action has met with strong opposition from persons in localities where a large export trade has been worked up, but, on the other hand, the users of white-pine in New Zealand have made strong representations that its export should be entirely stopped. Control of the Sale or the Cutting of Standing Timber on Private or Public Lands. Under the authority of subsection (6) of section 34 of the War Legislation and Statute Law Amendment Act, 1918, regulations were published in the Gazette of the 27th March, 1919, prohibiting the sale of standing timber, or the grant of licenses to cut standing timber, on either public or private lands without first obtaining a license from the Governor-General in Council. Before licenses are issued under these regulations information is obtained as to the kinds and quantities of timber on the land, and the character of the land. In some cases, where considered advisable, a < ondition that the timber shall be used solely within the Dominion is imposed. The regulations do not prevent a private owner from himself cutting or destroying the timber on his own land. The authority of Wardens in mining districts to grant licenses to cut timber growing, in many cases, upon land that is of little use for any other purpose has been limited to the power to grant licenses for cutting timber to be used solely for mining purposes. In this connection it may be pointed out that four different Royal Commissions have recommended that the control of timber in mining districts should be removed from the Wardens. Forestry is, of course, a subject in which Wardens have received no training, and, further, they have no staff to report on forests or to see that the forest regulations are carried