LANDS SECTION 



The primary function of the Section is to provide the nrieans 

 whereby individuals and corporations may obtain the public 

 lands they require for various purposes. The usual require- 

 ments are for living space (either full-time or part-time 

 residence) and for commercial or industrial uses. Public 

 land may be transferred to private ownership for any pur- 

 pose except the propagation of the renewable, natural re- 

 sources administered by the Department. This excludes uses 

 such as tree farming, fish farming and game farming, and 

 large areas for private recreational use. 



To carry out this operation, the Section must study land 

 values, answer enquiries, and plan for the orderly and effi- 

 cient disposal of lands as nearly as possible in tune with 

 the requirements of the population and the economy. Plans 

 for disposal must also ensure that provision is made to pre- 

 serve adequate areas of land for public and government 

 uses. 



Public lands are transferred to private control by sale or 

 rental. The use to be made of the land is always a prime 

 consideration. Except for rental by Land Use Permits, the 

 applicant is required to spend two to ten times the estab- 

 lished land value on improvements within a limited time 

 before title passes to him. Thus, the actual price of the land 

 is always considered as secondary to the economic advan- 

 tages accruing from the new development. 



Land Transactions 



Year Ending 



Land Use 

 Permits 



All Other 

 Transactions 



Total 



The increase in lands transactions is almost entirely in 

 the recreation sector — cottages, hunting camps and fishing 

 camps. There is also an increasing interest in the develop- 

 ment of landing strips or airports on public land. Requests 

 come from municipalities, from interested civic groups and 

 from Indian Bands. 



During the year, a program to operate garbage disposal 

 sites, serving the unorganized areas of the province, got 

 under way. At the year's end, 231 disposal sites were being 

 maintained by the Department. In co-operation with local 

 health units, a number of unsatisfactory sites have been 



closed, and new sites have been established. This is a very 

 necessary program which must be extended. Such facilities, 

 strategically located and well maintained, are necessary in 

 coping with the problems associated with littering. 



Two new restricted areas were set up to control and reg- 

 ulate all improvements on land in unorganized townships 

 near the communities of Chapleau and Temagami. Pre- 

 liminary studies of areas adjacent to the communities of 

 Cochrane, Shebandowan and Timmins were started, for 

 the same purpose. There are now twelve restricted areas 

 covering about 2,500 square miles in all. 



LAND ACQUISITION 

 AND PLANNING SECTION 



The Section was formed in 1963 to implement the pro- 

 gram announced in the Speech From the Throne in the 

 Fall Session of 1962. This program anticipated the expen- 

 diture of $200 million over a twenty-year period for the 

 purchase of land for recreation, wildlife management, 

 parks, reforestation and other resource management uses. 



Since the inception of the program, 340,848 acres had 

 been acquired by March 31, 1969. During the 1968-69 fiscal 

 year. Treasury Board approved 30 projects involving the 

 purchase of 218,606 acres of land. The Ontario Parks Inte- 

 gration Board approved 39 projects involving purchase of 

 18,822 acres of land. A total of 83 leases were acquired in 

 Algonquin Provincial Park and at Rondeau Provincial Park 

 in keeping with the policy to revert these areas to a wilder- 

 ness state and to permit public, rather than private, use of 

 certain areas. 



Included in the land acquisition program are eight pro- 

 jects that are approved under the A.R.D.A. agreement. Dur- 

 ing 1968-69, 28,586 acres were acquired under the A.R.D.A. 

 agreement. 



The Canada Land Inventory is a joint Federal-Provincial 

 project carried out by the Ontario Land Inventory Unit. 

 Under this program, the lands within the A.R.D.A. Agree- 

 ment Area are evaluated in terms of their capability to 

 produce forest, wildlife (ungulates) and recreational prod- 

 ucts. During the 1968-69 fiscal year, the program was 

 continued, and a total of 16 map sheets at a scale of 

 1:250,000 were mapped and submitted to Ottawa for pub- 

 lication. 



The Public Lands Act was amended by the inclusion of 

 Part 1A to provide for the designation of public forest roads 

 and for the use of private forest roads by the public. 



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