Records of the Forestry Board: Minute Books

The series comprises 3 volumes which furnish an account of the Forestry Board's committee meetings. In effect, the series documents the day-to-day decision-making processes of the board as well as the activities undertaken by the board in order to realise its statutory obligations.

The earliest minuted meeting extant in the series,13 Oct 1926, dates from when the board first began to exercise its core functions but pre-dates the Board's official establishment under legislation in 1931. The last minuted meeting, 17 Jul 1946, dates from shortly before the body's dissolution and the transferral of its core functions to the newly formed Board of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Activities detailed in the minutes include but are not limited to: the appointment of Board members including the Chairman and the Secretary; the approval of Foresters' wages; the appointment of Inspectors; the undertaking of survey work and the issuing of reports regarding the management of the forest crop; and the approval of expenditure in furtherance of the effective development and management of the Island's forest and woodland assets.

The history of publicly owned forestry on the Island can trace its genesis back to the establishment of one of the Forestry Board's antecedents, the Arboricultural Society. The society was established in 1896 with the aim of securing government grants for the planting of forestry.

By 1919, with public appetite for forestry increasing, the Tree Planting Committee of Tynwald was established. The Tree Planting Committee of Tynwald's core functions entailed: the development and ongoing management of publicly owned forestry plantations on the Island.

In 1931, these functions were transferred to the Forestry Board. The new Board comprised seven members who, in addition to their forestry management duties, were responsible for the election of their own Chairman and Secretary. The Forestry Board's core functions were later ceded to the newly formed Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1946 alongside functions of the former Board of Agriculture and the Fisheries Board.

Volumes are arranged in chronological order within the series.

This series is currently subject to a B2 closure period of 84 years under the Public Record Order 2015 due to statutory data protection restriction laid down in the Data Protection Act 2002.

Please contact the Isle of Man Public Record Office for further information: public.records@gov.im

For information on visiting the Isle of Man Public Record Office please see our website: www.gov.im/pro

Please see our website for catalogues: www.gov.im/pro

Series level description created by Gavin Rowan, IOMPRO, 25 Jan 2017.

Selected for permanent preservation in Nov 2015, Angela Skitt, IOMPRO.

Records in consignment C630 were transferred to the Isle of Man Public Record Office as a temporary consignment under section 3(8) of the Public Records Act, 1999 in Mar 2010 by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Forestry, Amenity and Lands division). The records were fully transferred to the Isle of Man Public Record Office under section 3(4) of the Public Record Act, 1999 in Jan 2016.

No accruals are expected.

Also held at the Isle of Man Public Record Office:

• S62 - Records of the Forestry Board: Nursery Books.