PRESENT DAY FORESTRY IN AUSTRIA 



Bv F. S. Baker 



Forest Examiner, U. S. Forest Seri'ice 



More or less conflicting stories come to us in the newspapers and 

 magazines of conditions within the area embraced by the old Austro- 

 Hungarian Monarchy. They have to do largely with political situa- 

 tions and general conditions, and on reading these items we often 

 wonder how forestry and foresters are faring in that country. The 

 ■"Wiener Allgemeine Forst-und Jagdzeitung" is a little weekly news- 

 paper published in Vienna, dealing with forestry and the lumber trade, 

 which affords a glimpse into the forest conditions of Austria and the 

 surrounding States, and shows the questions that are worrying present 

 day Austrian foresters. 



Judged by the amount of space and prominence of the articles, the 

 matter of taxation is the most interesting subject. Not only are the 

 heavy income and other taxes bearing heavily upon foresters as 

 individuals, but certain phases of the taxation system are having a pro- 

 nounced effect upon forestry and forest utilization. As is usual today 

 in most countries, the income and property taxes are arranged on a 

 sliding scale so that the wealthy and large property holders are taxed 

 much more heavily than the poor. This hits the big private forest 

 estates very hard and it is doubtful if they can stand the burden. It 

 means mortgaging the property in order to pay present taxes in many 

 cases, or selling the property in small parcels to persons of small 

 income w^hose tax rate is low. This means that handling the area 

 as a forest unit becomes impossible and large scale economical exploita- 

 tion has to stop, both definite steps backward. Other factors also tend 

 the same way. To the forester, a Republic with Socialistic leanings, 

 as Austria now is, ought to socialize the forest lands, take them all over 

 and manage them as a great single unit for the good of the State at 

 large. To the peasant and small land owner. Socialism as applied to 

 the forests means that each ought to have his own little share of the 

 State's forest land and that the great single holdings of private in- 

 dividuals, companies, and the old Crown Forests ought to be at once 

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