A NATIONAL PLAN FOE AMERICAN FORESTRY 1015 



expropriated for purposes of afforestation, at the option of the forest 

 service. If the land is not expropriated, the owners may continue to 

 use it, but may not clear the brush or trees without permission of the 

 service. 



Abusive exploitation or overgrazing which will result in the destruc- 

 tion of the forest is considered equivalent to deforestation. Grazing 

 on reproducing burns less than 6 years old is prohibited. 



Except for the restriction on clearing, owners may manage their 

 forests as they please, but with certain exceptions they must give 

 notice before cutting timber or harvesting other products. Except 

 where it is proposed to clear the land, this is merely to allow the author- 

 ities to check up the ownership of the forest and thus prevent trespass. 



Burning of brush and slash near forests requires a permit and may 

 be done only if a forest guard is present. An owner of land that is 

 covered with brush or slash may be required by owners of adjoining 

 land to cooperate in clearing a firebreak around his property. 



MADAGASCAR 16 



Proprietors enjoy full rights of ownership and use of their forests 

 in Madagascar except that they may not destroy the forest without 

 permission of the Governor General, and must not use fire to clear 

 the land. Permission to clear may be withheld where the conserva- 

 tion of the brush or forest cover is necessary for protection of soil 

 on mountains or slopes, prevention of erosion by streams and torrents, 

 protection of springs and headwaters of streams, stabilization of 

 dimes and seacoasts, or for purposes of public health or national 

 defense. 



An owner or operator clearing land without authorization may be 

 compelled to reforest it under the direction of the public authorities 

 at a rate not to exceed 25 hectares a year. 



Recent legislation (1930) provides for classification of special 

 "protection forests" and "reforestation reserves". Protection forests 

 which include all forests on lateritic soil with slopes steeper than 

 35, may not be exploited without permission of the forest service 

 and not more than 50 percent of the trees may be cut. Reforestation 

 reserves are temporarily closed to all exploitation. They include 

 bare or insufficiently wooded land on steep mountain slopes, littoral 

 dunes, or lands liable to serious gullying, and also isolated forests 

 of less than 500 hectares unless exempted by the forest service. 



GERMANY " 



In Germany, legislation on forestry matters has been left to the 

 individual States. Since the ^ revolution of 1918 a national forestry 

 law has been proposed and widely discussed, but it has not yet been 

 adopted. In order to clear up any doubts as to the authority of the 

 States to regulate private forests, an ordinance was passed in 1924 

 specifically confirming this authority, subject only to the restriction 



is Decree of 1913 establishing regime forestier for the colony. 



D6cret reorganizant le regime forestier applicable a Madagascar et dfipendances 25 janvier 1930. J 

 Annuaire International de Legislation Agricole. 1930, p. 533-542. Internatl. Inst. Agr., Rome, 1930. 



" Von Arnswaldt, in Allgemeine Forst- und Jagdzeitung 105: 298-306, 1929. 



See also Weber, H., Forstpolitik, Ch. XIX, in Handbuch der Forstwissenschaft Ed. 4, Bd. 4. 1 

 ingen, 1927. 



168342 33 vol. I 65 



