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I AMERICAN FORESTRY 



VOL. XXV 



OCTOBER, 1919 



iiiiiiii 



NO. 310 



THE FOREST POLICY OF FRANCE-ITS VINDICATION 



BY W. B. GREELEY, LIEUT.-COL. ENGINEERS 



F 



fCTHRANCE will perish for want of wood," exclaimed 

 Colbert in 1669. The fears of this far-sighted 

 Minister of old France, which led to a revision of 

 forestry laws that has profoundly influenced all subse- 

 quent legislation, might indeed have been realized in this 

 great war. Wood was one of the most vital military 

 necessities ; and France had to supply from her own for- 

 ests not alone the needs of her own vast armies for four 

 and a half years but also the larger part by far of the 



element of national strength in the greatest crisis of her 

 history. 



The development of this policy has not been smooth 

 and uninterrupted. It has suffered setbacks. It has re- 

 flected the social and political upheavals of the last two 

 centuries. It has been influenced by changes in eco- 

 nomic conditions and emphasis. Certain chapters in its 

 history bear a striking resemblance to the disposal of 

 public timberlands in the United States. As a whole, it 



A TRAINLOAD OF LARGE HARDWOOD LOGS CUT FROM ONE OF THE ROTHSCHILD ESTATES BY THE 20th ENGINEERS 



timber used by the British, Belgian, and American forces. 

 The American operations alone required 450,000,000 feet, 

 of timber and 650,000 cords of fuelwood, and less than 

 one per cent of this enormous quantity was brought from 

 the United States. For the abundant supplies of timber 

 directly available to the battle lines, the Allied world 

 must thank the patience and foresight with which the 

 French nation has built up its forest resources. Apart 

 from its value to her peace-time life and industries, the 

 forest policy of France has been vindicated as a capital 



is a fruitful field of study for the American forester and 

 economist. Particularly at the present time, when the 

 war has brought home to us the weakness and danger of 

 our own indifference toward the forest resources of the 

 United States, is it opportune to take note how similar 

 problems have been worked out in France. I hope, in 

 subsequent articles, to describe a few of the more impor- 

 tant features of French forest policy, the "regime for- 

 estier" — its backbone, private forestry in France, and the 

 fight against sand dunes and mountain torrents. I shall 



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