480 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



or upon his own initiative, as often as he deems advisable, the State 

 forester shall examine lands under classification to see if the provisions 

 of the law are being complied with, and, if not, he shall cancel the 

 classification and thereafter the lands shall be taxed as other land. In 

 order to prevent the owners of such lands whose classification is can- 

 celed from escaping their just share of the tax burden, the assessors 

 when the classification is canceled are directed to deduct the valuation 

 of both land and the timber thereon, as established at the time of classi- 

 fication, from the then value of land and timber as assessed for future 

 taxation, and on the excess value thus determined there shall be col- 

 lected an annual tax of five mills for each year of the period the land 

 was under classification. This tax is to be in addition to any annual 

 tax or yield tax which may have been paid. 



When a cutting is made, the owner, before any timber is removed, is 

 required to file a sworn statement with the local assessors and with the 

 State forester of the quantity or stumpage value of all timber cut. If, 

 in the opinion of. the assessors, the cutting is insufficiently valued, they 

 may determine the value. The owner, however, if not satisfied with 

 the valuation as determined by the assessors, may have the matter re- 

 ferred to a special board, consisting of the first selectman, the town 

 clerk, and the State forester, whose decision is final. Material cut for 

 domestic use, limited to fuel, fencing, building, or other improvements 

 which tend to develop the property of the owner and to increase the 

 taxable value of the same, is exempt from the yield tax, provided such 

 material is used by the owner or by the tenant of the owner living in 

 the same town in which the land from which the material is removed 

 is located. 



Vermont. — Vermont's law, with respect to forest taxation, which is 

 very similar to that of Connecticut, dates from the year 1913. Here, 

 as in Connecticut, owners desiring to have lands classified as forest 

 lands are required to make application to the State forester. Cut-over 

 land fully stocked with forest trees not over fifteen years old ; except 

 scattered trees which do not increase the assessed value of the property ; 

 cut-over or other land incompletely or partially stocked with forest 

 trees not over fifteen years old, when planted so as to insure a spacing 

 of approximately 6 feet by 6 feet ; and open land planted with not less 

 than 1,000 trees of approved variety to the acre, provided such lands 

 are outside the limits of a city or village, shall be classified as forest 

 land and shall thereafter be taxed annually at the local rate on a valu- 

 ation of the land alone. This valuation is established by the listers at 

 the time of classification, but in no case shall exceed $3 per acre. This 



