HISTORY

The present State of Karnataka came into being with effect from 1st November, 1956, as
per the provisions of the States Reorganization Act, 1956 by integrating the old Mysore
State, portions of the former Bombay and Madras Presidencies, some areas of the
former Hyderabad State, and the former State of Coorg. As major portion of the re-
organized State was from the old Mysore State, it was then named as Mysore State and
was later rechristened as Karnataka in 1973. Organized management of the forest areas
coming under the present day Karnataka started during the latter part of the 19th century
under the British administration. Prior to the establishment of Forest Departments,
forest-related matters were looked after by Revenue officials.

MYSORE STATE 1864-1901

In old Mysore State, Mysore Forest Department was established on 11th January 1864
and an army officer Major Hunter, was appointed as Conservator of Forests. The
Department then had a complement of five officers - Major Hunter as Conservator and
his four assistants, Lt. G.J. Van Somerson, Lt. E.W.C.H. Miller, Mr. C.A. Dobbs, all
Assistant Conservators and Mr. Madhava Rao, Sub-Assistant Conservator. Major Hunter
was followed by Lt. Van Somerson, who held the post till 1879. In between 1879 and
1885, the Deputy Commissioners of the districts were put in charge of the forests, after
abolishing the post of Conservator of Forests. In 1886, Mr. L. Rickets was appointed as
the Inspector General of Forests, but the Deputy Commissioners continued to be in
charge of the forests in the districts, and they were assisted by small establishments of
Rangers, Foresters and Watchers. The Department was organized to some extent with
16 officers. Mr Rickets was succeeded by Mr. Campbel-Walker in 1895 and Mr. Pigot in
1899. During this time, Mr. M. Muthanna, a trained forester, belonging to the Indian
Forest Service was appointed as the Conservator of Forests and ex-officio Secretary to
the Government.

1901-1935

In 1901, after the retirement of Mr. Pigot, Mr. Muthanna became the Head of the
Department and he steered the Department for twelve long years. Mr. Muthanna held
the stewardship of the Department for over 12 years. It was during Mr Muthanna’s
tenure that the Forest Department was organized on a sound footing. More and more
areas were declared as Reserved Forests. Working Plans were prepared for forest
areas ushering in scientific forest management. After his retirement in 1913, Mr. M.G.
Rama Rao succeeded him in 1914. This coincided with the outbreak of the First World
War, which had a terrific effect on Mysuru Forest economy by cutting off the traditional
export markets for sandalwood, so much so that out of the 1,313 tons of sandalwood
offered for sale in 1914-15, not more than 70 tons could be sold. The Government
decided to open their own factory for distillation of the wood. A factory in Bengaluru and
later, a bigger unit in Mysuru, proved highly successful. Mr. B.V. Rama Iyengar
succeeded Mr. M.G. Rama Rao as Conservator in 1921 and later as Chief Conservator.
He has held the record of the longest spell of any officer in the history of the Department
as its Head, retiring in 1935 after more than 14 Years.
1935-1956

Mr. M. Machaya succeeded Mr. Rama Iyengar as Chief Conservator in 1935. In 1939, a few weeks
before the outbreak of the Second World War, Mr. C. Abdul Jabbar, an officer on deputation from
Madras Presidency, succeeded Mr. Machaya as Chief Conservator. Mr. Jabbar’s term of office was
practically coterminous with the war, he retiring in 1945. During the decade 1946-56, the
Department grew from strength to strength, expanding both in activities and income. A Silviculturist
was appointed for the first time. A State Soil Conservation Board was set up and the Sandal Spike
Committee was revived. And, at about the end of 1956, the Central Government took over the
Forest Research Laboratory to be developed as a regional Centre of Forest Research in the South.

The old Mysore State initially comprised eight districts, namely, Bangalore, Kolar, Tumkur, Mysore,
Hassan, Chikmagalur (Kadur), Shimoga and Chitradurga. In 1939, Mandya district was carved out of
Mysore district.

BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, MADRAS PRESIDENCY, HYDERABAD STATE, COORG STATE

In Bombay Presidency, which included the districts of North Kanara, Belgaum, Dharwar and Bijapur,
Forest Department was established in 1847 with Dr. Alexander Gibson as its Conservator. In Madras
Presidency, which included the South Kanara and Bellary districts, and Kollegal taluk, Forest
Department was established in 1856 with Dr. Hugh Cleghorn, a civil surgeon, as its first Conservator.
In Coorg C State, a Forest Conservancy Department was started in 1865. It was headed by the
Conservator of Forests, Mysore. In the Hyderabad Princely State, which included the districts of
Gulbarga, Bidar and Raichur, Forest Department was established in 1867. However, the Department
was run by non-professionals till the appointment of a trained European Imperial Forest Service
officer Mr. Ballantine, in 1887.
ORGANISATION

Karnataka Forest Department is headed by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests

(Head of Forest Force [PCCF (HoFF)].
For the purpose of territorial administration, the Department is organized into Circles,
Divisions, Sub-Divisions, Ranges, Sections and Beats, headed by Chief Conservator of
Forests (CCF), Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), Assistant Conservator of Forests
(ACF), Range Forest Officer (RFO), Deputy Range Forest Officer (DRFO) and Forest
Guard (FG), respectively.
Wildlife areas such as Tiger Reserves, National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries,
Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves are administered by a Wildlife wing
comprising CCFs/CFs, DCFs, ACFs, RFOs, DRFOs and FGs who are exclusively in
charge of the above wildlife areas, also known as protected areas (PAs). The Wildlife
wing is headed by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife and Chief Wildlife
Warden [PCCF, WL & CWLW].
Each Revenue district has a Social Forestry division headed by a DCF, attached to the
Zilla Panchayat. Social Forestry divisions take up afforestation outside the notified forest
areas and promote farm forestry and agro-forestry. Each Social Forestry division has a
small establishment comprising ACFs, RFOs, DRFOs and FGs.
In addition to the above territorial, wildlife and social forestry units, the Department has a
number of functional units such as Working Plan, Research, Training, Evaluation,
Vigilance, ICT cell, and Mobile Squads. These units are headed by APCCFs / CCFs.
The total staff strength in the Department is 9,816.

TRAINING CENTRES
The history of imparting forestry training in India dates back 150 years. In the year 1878,
by establishing the Indian Forest College in Dehradun, the foundation for scientific
management of India’s forests was laid by the British. The same institution has been
renamed as Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) and caters to the
professional training of senior level forest officers i.e. IFS officers. The training for
frontline staff is carried out by the respective states. The training for Assistant
Conservator of Forests (ACF) and Range Forest Officers (RFO) is carried out in various
academies across the country under the aegis of Directorate of Forest Education,
MoEFCC. There is a long tradition of imparting training to officers and frontline staff at
the induction level in Forest Department and the training wing holds special importance
in the department. To cater to the need of imparting induction training to frontline staff
including RFO, DRFO,Forest Guard, Forest Watcher cadres,the training wing has been
created and is headed by Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Human
Resource Development) headqautered at Dharwad and has seven institutions located in
Kadugodi, Ilwala, Bidar, Kushlnagar, Tattihalla, Chakra and Dharwad carrying out
various training programmes.