C.—3.

CHAPTER I.—MANAGEMENT. 1. Areas under Control. TABLE I. Areas of State Forests as at 31st March, 1937.

The foregoing table shows that the total area under forest reservation is now approximately 8,000,000 acres, or nearly 12 per cent, of the superficial area of the Dominion ; the gross increase for the year was 61,884 acres, but when this is reduced by the area withdrawn (18,829 acres) and increased by certain corrections in previous figures (2,162 acres) the net increase is 45,217 acres. Forest officers, in collaboration with officers of the Lands and Survey and Agriculture Departments, have, as other duties permitted, been steadily engaged throughout the year in examining blocks of Crown land which have definitely proved unsuitable for farming purposes, and as agreements are reached in this connection new areas are from time to time brought under the Forests Act. It may be fitting to record here the thanks of the Forest Service for the valuable co-operation of the Departments mentioned in carrying out this work of forest and land classification. The areas proclaimed under the Forests Act during the year are shown in forest-conservation regions in Table 2 which follows. Nelson Conservancy is responsible for the greatest area in this respect.

TABLE 2. Summary of Areas added to Permanent and Provisional State Forests, 1st April, 1936, to 31st March, 1937.

As already stated, 18,829 acres were withdrawn from forest control during the year. It will be seen from Table 3 that the major portion of this area —viz., 16,417 acres—will not be denuded of its forest cover as it has been set aside for scenic purposes ; of the remainder, approximately 2,300 acres were released for farm settlement.

TABLE 3. Summary of Areas withdrawn from Permanent and Provisional State Forest Reservation, 1st April, 1936, to 31st March, 1937.

5

Permanent State Forests, j Provisional State Forests. Percentage of Forest-conservation Total Area Region. ! National ! Totals. of Region Ordinary. Endow- | Ordinary. „ atl0na ' under | m ent. ! | Endowment. Reservation. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Auckland .. 313,600 81,645 111,314 14,006 520,565 6-06 Rotorua .. 342,504 235,948 132,315 84,365 795,132 15-82 Wellington .. 970,811 65,891 38,231 7,649 1,082,582 7-23 Nelson .. 451,985 121,615 1,070,945 627,339 2,271,884 32-42 Westland .. 621,195 163,305 521,761 421,641 1,727,902 44-72 Canterbury .. 332,806 3,647 .. 336,453 3-38 Southland .. 432,413 55,774 718,944 13,740 1,220,871 7-19 Totals .. 3,465,314 727,825 2,593,510 1,168,740 7,955,389 11-98

Permanent State Forests. Provisional State Forests. Region. Total _ Ordinary. National Ordinary National Endowment. Endowment. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Auckland .. .. 3,963 .. 164 .. 4 127 Rotorua .. .. .. .. 1.328 .. l'328 Wellington .. .. 15,174 .. 2,647 .. 17,821 Nelson .. .. 35,300 .. 3,138 170 38,608 Westland Canterbury Southland .. Totals .. 54,437 .. 7,277 170 61,884

For Settlement Purpose. For Scenic Reserve. '.? r S to °k AeroKeserve. drome. Region. Totals Permanent Provisional Permanent Provisional Provisional Permanent State Forest. State Forest State Forest. State Forest. State Forest. State Forest. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Auckland .. .. 143 14 317 . . . . .. 474 Rotorua .. .. .. .. 100 .. 11 3 114 Wellington . . 74 .. .. .. .. .. 74 Nelson .. .. 47 .. .. 6,025 .. .. 6,072 Westland .. .. .. 1,610 9,715 260 .. .. 11,'585 Canterbury Southland .. .. .. 510 .. .. .. .. 5X0 Totals .. 264 2,134 10,132 6,285 11 3 18,829