(j50 journal of forestry 



POLITICS, EDUCATION, AND LEGISLATION 



In consequence of the war and of the revolii- 

 Changes tion which changed the monarchies of the va- 



in rioiis States and of the Empire into republics, 



Germany various changes in forest-pohtical and forest- 



technical direction have taken place. 



First of all we note the creation of a National Forest Commission in 

 October, 1919, under the name Reichsforstwirtschaftsrat, an outgrowth 

 of the hitherto private committee of the same name of the German 

 Foresters' Society. It consists of 77 members, namely, 20 representa- 

 tives of the State Forest Service, 10 representatives of communal for- 

 ests, 10' of private forests, 1-1 of the National Forest Owners' As- 

 sociation, 4 representatives of forestry science, 6 academically educated 

 forest administrators as delegates of the German Foresters' Associa- 

 tion, 6 underforesters, 7 forest laborers, delegates of the German Farm 

 Labor Union. At the head of the commission is an executive com- 

 mittee of 3 with a standing committee of 26. It publishes regular 

 reports of its proceedings under the title "Mittheilungen des Reichs- 

 forstwirtschaftsrates" (which can be had through J. Neumann at 

 Neudamm). 



One of the important questions discussed referred to the increased 

 cut which for the next two years had been determined at one-third 

 above normal. This in the Saxon and Thuringian Forests, which have 

 a very well regulated age class condition, a rotation of 80-90 years 

 and severe thinning practice, might lead to disaster. Nor will this 

 excessive cut suffice for the needs. With the lost provinces there are 

 lost 962,299 hectares of State Forest with a still larger loss of communal 

 and corporation forests and in addition 143,500 hectares in Alsace- 

 Lorraine. An embargo on export seems contemplated. The idea of 

 si^bstituting fuel-wood for the loss in coal production is considered 

 hopeless, since the deficit in coal production of 50 million tons annually 

 would require 200 million stere of fuelwood to replace it, while the 

 usual production of fuelwood was only 27 million stere. 



Of interest in our discussion of a national forest policy is the atti- 

 tude of the commission as regards the Government's influence on 

 private forests owners and change to State ownership. This last is to 

 be negatived as well as a more drastic police supervision ; indirect 

 influence being advocated. Yet it is held that the utilization of the 

 full yield capacity of the soil is no longer a private matter. Property 



