FOREWORD 



The Annual Report of the Minister is a review of the activities 

 of the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests during the 

 latest fiscal year completed. For both the present term and 

 preceding years, additional detail is reported in "Statistics, 

 1972", which is released concurrently. 



The adoption by the Ontario Government in 1969 of the 

 Planning, Programming, Budgeting System of management 

 required a close examination of the goals and objectives for 

 the Department. Previously, certain work had been done 

 in this area so that what was required was actually a refine- 

 ment. This work led to the goal and objectives statement 

 which follows. 



GOAL AND OBJECTIVES 



— To provide from Crown lands and waters, and to encour- 

 age on private land and waters, a continuing combination 

 of resource development, outdoor recreation and cjuality 

 environment most consistent with the social and eco- 

 nomic well-being of the people of Ontario. 



Since the Annual Report takes the form of a collection of 

 reports by the Department's numerous subdivisions, it is 

 important to note that these represent the considerable 

 variety of the Department's responsibilities and the many 

 duties discharged with the same over-all aim. This common 

 aim is summarized in the Department's goal statement. 



Flowing from the goal statement are three objectives 

 which represent the basis for the program structure and the 

 proposed organization. Essentially, the land management 

 objective is concerned with the land base and its care and 

 up-keep. The other two objectives relate to the consumptive 

 and non-consumptive uses of the renewable resources which 

 exist on the land base. 



LAND MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVE 



— To provide co-ordinated land and water resource manage- 

 ment within the framework of a government-wide quality 

 environment goal through planned land-use allocation 

 and control, environmental protection and inter-agency 

 co-operation so that optimum social and economic bene- 

 fits accrue to the people of Ontario both now and in the 

 future. 



In the present organization, the activities of Forest Protec- 

 tion Branch and Lands and Surveys Branch generally fit with- 

 in the land management objective. 



OUTDOOR RECREATION OBJECTIVE 



— To provide opportunities for (a) a wide variety of outdoor 

 recreational experiences accessible to, and for the con- 

 tinuing benefit of, all people of Ontario, and (b) an 

 optimum continuing contribution to the economy of On- 

 tario and its regions from the tourist industry. 



The activities of Fish and Wildlife Branch and Parks Branch 

 represent the bulk of the activities carried out within this 

 objective. 



RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE 



— To provide an optimum continuing contribution to the 



economy of Ontario and its regions from the industries 



utilizing renewable natural resources. 



The activities of Timber Branch represent the major inter- 

 ests of this objective. 



The activities of the Personnel, Accounts, Law, Operations 

 and Research Branches are of a service nature and are there- 

 fore not represented by a separate objective. 



CONTENTS 



Fish and Wildlife Branch 4 



Fisheries Section 20 



Parks Branch 34 



Forest Protection Branch 44 



Lands and Surveys Branch 54 



Personnel Branch 60 



Accounts Branch 64 



Law Branch 74 



Operations Branch 82 



Research Branch 88 



Timber Branch 102 



Timber Statistics 118 



