192 OUR USE OF THE LAND 



which the requirements of the state slash'disposal laws have 

 been met, the state gives a certificate to the lumberman. If a 

 fire starts on this land after the certificate has been issued, and 

 spreads to the land of another, the owner of the land on which 

 the fire started is not responsible. If, on the other hand, a man 

 burns his slash without a certificate and the fire spreads to the 

 land of another, the owner of the land on which the fire started 

 is responsible for the damage to the other operator. 



One of the side issues of fire control is tax-delinquent land. 

 Obviously, after land has been clear cut, it will be a long time 

 before it yields a profit again. Many owners of such land simply 

 stop paying taxes once the timber has been cut off and sold. 

 After a certain period of time, the state takes over the owner' 

 ship. Between the time that the owner abandons the land and 

 the time the state takes it over, the land may get very little fire 

 protection. It so happens that fires start very easily on cut'over 

 land, and such fires are very costly because they kill the young 

 trees which have started to grow. Frequently fires on such an 

 area leave it completely sterile. The owners of cut'over land say 

 that they cannot afford to pay for state fire protection and the 

 state tax, since it will be many years before the land will again 

 yield a profit. They believe that one of the best conservation 

 measures would be for the state to reduce taxes on cut'over land; 

 then the owner could afford to keep the land and protect it. 



Another answer to the same problem is sustained yield man 

 agement. If the land were properly managed so that the 

 annual cut did not exceed the annual growth, it would yield 

 a profit continuously, and thus the taxes and fire protection 

 could be paid out of annual profit. 



THE TOLL OF INSECTS AND DISEASE 



The total amount of timber killed by insects is greater than 

 loss by forest fires. 9 Usually this destruction is not so spectacular 



9 Van Hise and Havemeyer, op. at., p. 260. 



