Forest Management on scientific lines in India dates back to 1864, when Sir Dietrich Brandis was appointed as first Inspector General of Forests. A special Department was created for settlement, demarcation, protection and management of forests. Sir Dietrich Brandis recognised the need for fully qualified and scientifically cadre of officers to help in and administration and conservation of forests of the country and recommended that trained forest officers should be engaged to manage the forests of the country. On his recommendation, Mr. William Schlich and Mr. Ribbontrop were appointed in the Imperial Forest Service in the year 1868 as Special Assistant Conservators.
Seven young men including one Indian Mr. F. R. Desai were recruited for training in two most advanced countries in the world of science and forestry – France and Germany. Recruits to the Forest Service continued to be trained in France and Germany up to 1885. From 1886, new recruits received training in Cooper Hills London. Training was closed in Cooper Hills in 1905. University of Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh continued to train Forest Officers up to 1927. Sir Brandis was of the view that the training in Europe was of a preliminary and temporary nature and that the ultimate objective was to provide the means of training required for all branches of Forestry in this Country.
The Indian forest School was established in the year 1879. With the above objective in view, the Forest School was upgraded in the year 1906 and was known as Imperial Forest Research Institute and College. In 1926, the first course was started at Dehradun under the Professorship of Mr. Trevor. In 1928, the Indian forest College (IFC) , Dehradun was opened as a part of the Forest Research Institute .
Forest Department was established in 1891 with the appointment of Mr. J. C. Mc. Donell, Conservator of Forests, as its first head of the Department. In 1895, the J&K State Counsel issued Forest Regulations No.1 with the objective of bringing departmental working on scientific lines. This raised the need for having a trained manpower for scientific management of forests and resulted in laying the foundation of first forestry school in the country at Chitternar, Bandipora for training of Foresters which started functioning in the year 1911. Right now, the school is imparting entry level training to Foresters and Forest Guards. Since more than two third of the land in Jammu and Kashmir is prone to various kinds of soil erosions which in turn adversely affects the productivity of the region. In order to mitigate the adverse effect of soil erosion, need was felt to treat micro watersheds on scientifically approved methodology. This raised the demand for trained manpower to tackle the challenges of prevention and control of Soil erosion. Accordingly, a Soil Conservation Training School was established in the year 1961 at Miran Sahib, Jammu to impart specialized training in Soil and Water Conservation to the in-service officials of Government Departments including Agriculture, Horticulture, State Forest Corporation, Directorate of Soil Conservation, besides the Forest Department. Apart from it, the school has been imparting entry level training to Forest Guards, Class-IV and SFC employees, and also conducting refresher courses/training workshops for Range Officers and Wildlife Officers. The school is also conducting entry level training of Foresters since the year 1992. Later on, it was felt that the capacity of Soil Conservation Training School, Miran Sahib is limited and is focused mainly on training of “Foresters”. This gave rise to need for having an exclusive training school for Forest Guards in Jammu Region and accordingly a Forest Guard’s Training School was established in the year 1988 at Doomi, Akhnoor. Since then, the school has been conducting Forest Guard’s Training Course regularly for Forest Department.
| S. No. | Name of the Training Institute | Location | Year of Establishment |
| 1 | Kashmir Forest Training School | Chatternar, Bandipora, Kashmir | 1911 |
| 2 | Soil Conservation Training School | Miran Sahib, Jammu. | 1961 |
| 3 | Forest Guards Training School | Doomi, Akhnoor, Jammu. | 1988 |
The overall administrative, financial and professional control of Training Schools vests with Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, J&K. The Chief Conservator of Forests, Working Plan Research & Training, J&K and Conservator of Forests, Working Plan Circle, J&K, are the Controlling Officers of the Schools and provide assistance to the PCCF in all matters pertaining to training of frontline staff. A DCF/ACF level officer serves as Principal of these Schools, who runs the training courses and School affairs with the help of Instructors, Curators and ministerial staff/field staff.
The mandate of the Training Schools is to prepare a cadre of dynamic and motivated frontline staff to protect the diverse forest resources of Jammu and Kashmir and provide assistance for their scientific management.
With the advent of scientific management of Forests in the state, need for trained subordinate staff was felt for efficient protection of forests as well as better supervision and execution of various plans and schemes. Accordingly Kashmir Forest Training School was founded at Chatternar in the year 1911 AD. It is one of the oldest Forest Training Schools in the country . The main school building as of today, was constructed in 1957 to replace the original structure and continues to be the seat of learning till date. The trainees were usually of the rank of Foresters, Dy. Foresters, Forest Guards and Watchers. Untrained Forest Rangers who could not be sent to Dehradun in time were also trained at this school in the beginning. Initially the school used to train 12 Foresters each year and the training period was nine months. Subsequently this number was raised to 16 in the year 1942. With the increased tempo of Forestry development programmes particularly during the second Five-year Plan, more trained personnel were needed for execution of field works. Accordingly the number of trainees was raised to 20 in the session 1956 -57 and later to 40 from 1962-63. The duration of course was also extended to one year. The Forest Guard and Watchers training course was started in 1964. Two batches consisting of 15 to 25 trainees were trained every year. Initially the duration of course was three months which now stands extended to six months.
It is situated at latitude 34 25’ 53’’ N and longitude 74 39’ 25’’E at a mean elevation of 1690m above MSL. It commands an extensive view of the famous Wular Lake and has charming sylvan surroundings.
The school imparts professional training in Forestry to subordinate Forest staff of the ranks of Foresters and Forest Guards of J&K Forest Department and its allied wings and Directorates such as Forest Corporation, Forest Protection Force, Social Forestry, Soil Conservation etc. The trainees are nominated, from amongst the available members of the untrained forest staff, by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests/ Chief Conservator of Forests .
The administrative control of the school vests with the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest J&K, assisted by the Chief Conservator of Forests, Working Plan Research and Trainings, J&K and Conservator of Forests, Working Plan Circle Srinagar/ Jammu. The Deputy Conservator of Forests or Assistant Conservator of Forests, is posted as Principal who is in-charge of the School and runs the school affairs with the help of three Instructors ( Range Offices) , One Curator ( Forester), one Sr. Assistant and Two Jr. Assistants in addition to other ministerial staff.
It is situated at latitude 34 25’ 53’’ N and longitude 74 39’ 25’’E at a mean elevation of 1690m above MSL. It commands an extensive view of the famous Wular Lake and has charming sylvan surroundings.
Kashmir Forest Training School is located at Chatternar in district Bandipora, 59 Kms from Srinagar, inside a natural conifer forest. It commands an extensive view of famous Wullar Lake. The Training School was established in 1911 during the tenure of Mr. W.H Lovegrove who was the Conservator of Forests of Jammu and Kashmir from 1907 to 1915. The objective was to impart basic Forestry Training to in-service junior rank of forest officers. The following training courses are conducted:
| Forest Rangers (R.O Grade-II) | 51 |
| Foresters & Dy. Foresters | 1577 |
| Assistant Supervisors (SFC) | 186 |
| Foresters & Dy. Foresters | 1577 |
| Forest Guards /Watchers | 1140 |
| Forest protection Guards | 208 |
| Class IV employees | 145 |
KFT School has completed 100 years of its existence in 2011. The Hon’ble Minister for Forests and Environment of the time dedicated a Centenary Memorial to the State in commemoration of 100 years of Forestry Training at this Institute on 20th October 2011. In view of this landmark achievement and in order to meet the emerging challenges faced by the field forest officers there is an urgent need to improve training and to upgrade this age-old Institute into an Institute of excellence in forestry.
In the first instance, Kashmir Forest Training School may be renamed appropriately consistent with its historic pioneering contribution and envisaged role in future.
One of the following names may be selected.Kashmir Forest Training School has following Infrastructure:-
A ) ADMINISTRATIVE BLOCK : The training school has an adequately developed Administrative Block for the purpose of administration. It also houses Main School Building , Bath room/ Urinal Block and Lawns.
B ) WESTERN BLOCK : The western block comprises of :
The training school performs following activities:
