Act respecting the Ministère des terres et forêts (R.S.Q., c. M-27).

The Ministery of land and forests shall be responsible for the management of public land, as well as for the management of the timber and forests belonging to public lands. The Ministry shall, inter alia, be responsible for: a) making the survey of the public lands and seeing to the application of the laws relating to surveying; b) supervising the application of the legislation relating to the cadastre and to plans and books of reference; making concessions of public lands, rights of use relating thereto and of timber found thereon; keeping the official registers in which the tenure of the public lands, the related concessions and the rights granted in respect of them are recorded; seeing to the development and conservation of the public lands and of the timber and forests found on them, and supervising their utilization; ensuring the protection of the forests against fire, epidemics and diseases on all the public lands and, if he deems it necessary in the public interest, on private lands; seeing to the afforestation and reforestation of land intended for forest use and to the improvement of timber stands; building and maintaining logging roads; elaborating programs for the development, exploitation and processing in Québec of the forests and the timber found there and, with the authorization of the Gouvernement and in collaboration with other departments, seeing to the carrying out of such programs.