802 



A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



an exemption law with certain novel features in 1929. Delaware (1931) provided 

 exemption for a limited time for properties containing small trees. 



In some of the more recent yield-tax laws, certain novel features have been 

 introduced. Thus the Michigan law of 1925, the Minnesota and Wisconsin laws 

 of 1927, and the Oregon law of 1929 give up entirely the ad valorem property tax 

 on land and trees and substitute a specific tax at a .flat rate per acre. Another 

 novelty is a provision requiring a contribution from the State to the local sub- 

 divisions, in consideration of the loss of local revenue occasioned by modification 

 of the property tax. Such provision is contained in the laws of Pennsylvania 

 (1913), Michigan (1925), and Wisconsin (1927). 



The constitutional amendment of California (1926) and the laws of Oregon 

 (1929) and Washington (1931) represent an important innovation in forest-tax 

 legislation, in that the classification of lands receiving special treatment is not 

 dependent upon application by the owner. In Oregon and Washington the law 

 requires the State administrative officials to take the initiative in bringing about 

 classification. California goes still further toward universality by exempting 

 from the property tax all immature forest trees without requiring action by either 

 the owner or any public official to complete classification. 



Recent legislation in Kentucky and Virginia (1930), which is designed to relieve 

 the tax burden on forest property, is of an entirely different type from that men- 

 tioned heretofore. Both States provide for the leasing of private forest land to 

 the State. In Kentucky the compensation to the owner is in the form of rental 

 not to exceed the amount of annual taxes, and in Virginia the compensation is 

 the deferment of the annual taxes for not longer than 40 years. 



Many of the laws mentioned in the preceding paragraphs have been repealed 

 and replaced by other forest-tax legislation of similar or of dissimilar type. The 

 States of New Mexico, Utah, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, and Nebraska have 

 repealed the forest-tax legislation which has been mentioned here, and now these 

 States have no special forest-tax laws on their statute books. 



The progress report shows that up to July 1, 1931, a total of 

 1,370,791 acres was classified under the provisions of the laws dis- 

 cussed, distributed among 17 States, in the amounts which appear in 

 the acreage column below: 



State: Acreage 



Alabama 50,494 



Connecticut 6, 846 



Idaho 53,371 



Indiana 60,000 



Iowa 43, 105 



Louisiana 375, 292 



Maine 20,000 



Massachusetts 25,000 



Michigan 74, 285 



New Hampshire 8, 456 



State Continued. Acreage 



New York 2,902 



Ohio 36,803 



Oregon 256, 216 



Pennsylvania 42, 186 



Rhode Island 88 



Vermont 37,472 



Wisconsin 278, 275 



Total 1,370,791 



State laws have apparently been the means of affording tax relief 

 to about 1,400,000 acres of forest land, or less than three tenths of 

 1 percent of the total area of forest land in private ownership in the 

 United ^ States. How much land is now coming under these laws 

 yearly is unknown. Except in Louisiana, Oregon, Washington, and 

 Wisconsin the amount is probably small. In Oregon and Washing- 

 ton the law requires classification of lands of certain well-defined 

 character by the State officials, unless the owner interposes objection. 

 This will eventually bring a large acreage under the operation of the 

 law, provided the land remains in private ownership. In Wisconsin 

 a liberal interpretation of the law is inducing private owners to take 

 advantage of it rather extensively. 



