Lands and Surveys Branch is divided into three sections vi-ith 

 duties and responsibilities as follows. 



LANDS 



Administration of public lands and their disposition by sale, 

 patent, vesting order, quit claim deed, lease, licence of 

 occupation, or land use permit; release of reservations in 

 patents, assignments and cancellations; and reservation of 

 lands for public and government uses. 



LAND ACQUISITION AND PLANNING 

 Recommendations and applications tor purchase of private 

 lands for public uses; development and co-ordination of 

 land use plans in all districts for the management of renew- 

 able natural resources; Recreational Land Inventory Sector 

 of Canada Land Inventory; co-ordination of departmental 

 A.R.D.A. projects; liaison with Department of Agriculture 

 and Food in private lands and with other Departments on 

 the socio-economic implications of land use objectives; and 

 access roads. 



Water Resources Management and approval of dams; 

 licences of occupation for dams; flooding and diversions; 

 issuance and servicing of Water Power Lease Agreements; 

 engineering consultations; and feasibility studies, inspec- 

 tions, and reports. 



SURVEYS 



Examination, recording and custody of original plans and 

 field notes of restoration of original Crown survey points, 

 retracement and municipal surveys, and surveys of Crown 

 lands for disposition; map compilation; authorization of 

 geographical names; and distribution of maps, publications 

 and copies of survey records. 



Indians, collecting wild rice, Kenora Forest District. 



LANDS SECTION 



The principal function of the Section is the formation of 

 departmental policies and objectives respecting the plan- 

 ning and disposition of public lands. 



LAND TRANSACTIONS in Years ending March 31 



Land LIse Other 



Permits Transactions Total 



1971 7,218 3,630 10,848 



1970 4,494 3,334 7,828 



1969 4,930 3,140 8,070 



1968 4,747 2,693 7,440 



1967 4,555 2,756 7,311 



The number of land transactions processed reached an all- 

 time high during the year. The increase in the numbers of 

 land use permits is of particular significance. There were in- 

 creases in every category of permit issued. A portion of 

 these increases resulted from the regularizing of a number 

 of squatter occupations. 



The demand for summer cottage lots has increased stead- 

 ily since 1966. A review of the summer cottage lots patented 

 over the last 20 years shows the following: 



To Residents of Ontario 20,522 lots — 82.3% 



To Residents of Other Provinces 819 lots— 3.3% 



To Residents of Other Countries 3,586 lots — 14.4% 



Total 24,927 



Average per year 1,246 



All residential lots must be inspected and approved by the 

 health authorities before being offered for disposal. This 

 protects the health of the residents and of the environment. 

 During the year, higher standards were adopted for resi- 

 dential lots which are not supplied with public water and 

 sewage systems. All townsite lots and summer cottage lots 

 which did not meet the revised standards were withdrawn 

 from disposition. In March, 1971, all cottage lots were with- 

 drawn from sale pending the development of the policy to 

 lease. 



The program for the development and operation of gar- 

 bage disposal sites, serving the unorganized areas of the 

 province, was continued and expanded. At the year's end, 

 more than 400 disposal sites were being maintained. In co- 

 operation with the local health units, a number of unsatis- 

 factory sites have been closed. Strategically located and well 

 maintained garbage dumps help to alleviate littering on 

 public lands. 



Two new restricted areas were set up to control and 

 regulate improvements on land. One of these, in the Arm- 



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