CONSERVATION AUTHORITIES 

 BRANCH 



THE Conservation Authorities Branch was transferred to the Department of 

 Lands and Forests from the Department of Economics and Development on 

 January 1, 1962. The Branch was originally established as a part of the 

 Department of Planning and Development in 1944. 



The Conservation Authorities Branch is concerned with the administration 

 of The Conservation Authorities Act (1946). Under the Act, Conservation 

 Authorities may be established on the basis of a watershed or drainage area of 

 a stream or group of streams. The Branch advises and assists Conservation 

 Authorities in carrying out conservation projects within the watersheds under 

 their jurisdiction. The Branch is also concerned with the administration of The 

 Grand River Conservation Act, 1938, and with the Parks Assistance Act, 1960. 

 Conservation Authorities are corporate bodies and involve the concept of 

 local responsibility for the development and management of the resources of a 

 watershed. The Act gives an Authority power to undertake programs in all fields 

 of conservation. The initiative to form an Authority must come from the local 

 municipal level. Once formed, an Authority retains the initiative to carry out 

 conservation programs in its watershed. It is only when a Government grant is 

 requested that the Branch examines the proposed project to ascertain if Provincial 

 funds will be wisely expended. 



CONSERVATION AUTHORITIES 



On March 31, 1963, there were thirty-one Conservation Authorities in 

 Ontario. These Authorities cover 21,586 square miles and include 460 

 municipalities. No new Conservation Authorities were formed in the year ending 

 March 31, 1963. 



The Neebing Valley Conservation Authority was enlarged from 86 square 

 miles to 980 square miles and was renamed the Lakehead Region Conservation 

 Authority. It now includes all of the organized municipalities in the Lakehead area. 



Conservation Surveys and Reports 



Newly established Conservation Authorities are not generally in a position 

 to carry out an examination of the conservation problems of their watersheds. 

 It has been Government policy, since the establishment of the first Authorities in 

 1946, to carry out at no expense to the Authority preliminary investigations of 

 the resources of the watersheds concerned. These surveys are often the first 

 service rendered to a new Authority. Information gathered in the surveys becomes 

 the basis of a conservation report to the Authority. In recent years, special surveys 

 for older established Authorities have been undertaken by the Branch on the 

 request of the Authority. 



Conservation reports compiled from the surveys treat the conservation 



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