THE INDIAN FOREST POLICY DEFINED. 145 



of State forests, and for the protection of forest produce 

 in transit. 



(5) Power to provide for suitable punishment of offenders 



against the forest law and regulations made under it. 

 The Act is in force throughout India except in the following 

 areas for which separate Acts or regulations have been passed : 

 Madras, Burma, Assam, the North-west Frontier Province, 

 British Baluchistan and Ajmer. These separate enactments, 

 while conceived in the same spirit as that of the Indian Forest 

 Act, of 1878, provide for local requirements. ■ 



3. The Indian Forest Policy Defined, 

 The general forest policy of the Government of India has been 

 developed by degrees. In 1894, after great progress had been 

 made in the organisation of the department, the Government of 

 India issued a resolution, further augmented in 1904, laying down 

 that the classification of the areas under the control of the Forest 

 Department should be as follows : — 



(a) Forests the preservation of which is essential on climatic 

 and physical grounds. 



(6) Forests which are managed chiefly for the supply of useful 



timber for commercial purposes and general construction. 



(c) Minor forests which afford a supply of wood, fodder, 



grazing and other produce for local consumption, 

 especially for the agricultural classes. 



(d) Pasture lands, or grazing grounds, managed by the Forest 



Department. 

 It cannot be said that this resolution is happily worded, since it 

 is practically impossible to separate the forests into the desired 

 classes, as most of them serve several of the indicated purposes. 

 To class (a) belong the areas preserved for purposes of indirect 

 utility, such as the effect of forests on climate, rainfall, water 

 storage and the prevention of denudation. A special enquiry 

 into the subject was conducted by the Government of India 

 during the years 1907 to 1914, the results of which were (1) that 

 the effect of forests on rainfall is probably very small, and (2) that 

 denudation of the soil following the destruction of forests has been 

 definitely established. Class (6) shall be managed chiefly for the 

 production of the greatest possible quantity of useful timber for 



