1020 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



WURTTEMBERG 



25 



Only one third of the forest is in private ownership in Wurttemberg. 

 Clearing of forest land (deforestation) requires the permission of the 

 Department of Finance, following a recommendation of the forest 

 service. Permission will not be granted where the clearing will break 

 up a contiguous forest unit or will endanger adjoining forests, or for 

 forests on heights or those which afford protection against wind. 

 Permission to cut clear or to thin heavily may also be withheld where 

 the forest officer determines that the forest should be kept intact in 

 order to prevent damage through landslides, soil washing, or wind- 

 throw of adjacent conifer forests. 



Forest officers may require the modification of cutting and other 

 practices, including excessive grazing and removal of litter, which 

 endanger the continued existence of the forest. The owner must give 

 notice of outbreaks of insect and other pests and must carry out 

 control measures as directed. 



Bare land suitable for timber production (whether denuded by the 

 owner or not) must be restocked within a specified period ; if it is not, 

 the work will be done by public agencies at the owner's expense. 



The owners of small tracts may combine them for purposes of 

 management, and may arrange with the State forest service to provide 

 technical supervision and protection. The owners are to pay an 

 agreed sum for this service. 



GREAT BRITAIN 



Neither in Great Britain itself nor, with one or two minor exceptions, 

 in other parts of the British Empire has the Government undertaken 

 to exercise any control over the management of privately owned 

 forests. The necessity for some degree of control is coming to be 

 recognized, however, particularly since the World War. The report 

 of the Third British Empire Forestry Conference (1928) contains the 

 following statement: 



It is suggested that legislation might provide for the protection of water sources 

 and the prevention of erosion and shifting cultivation, matters which the dis- 

 cussions show to be of prime importance in many countries. Similarly, it was 

 thought that governments who have not hitherto done so, might in certain 

 circumstances take power to assume, on conditions, the management of private 

 forests in the public interest. 26 



The annual report of the Forestry Commission of Great Britain for 

 1929 contains the following: 



The measures which the commissioners have taken to improve private forestry 

 consist of provision of grants for planting, technical advice as to the conduct of 

 operations and educational facilities, the conduct of research and the dissemina- 

 tion of information. These activities * * * have not been successful in 

 arresting the deterioration of the home woodlands in private ownership, much less 

 in restoring the pre-war position. 



There are three main lines of action to which recourse is possible: (1) State 

 assistance * * *; (2) restrictions on the user of woodlands, such as State per- 

 mission to fell or compulsory replanting * * *; (3) acquisition and replanting 

 by the State of felled and derelict woodland. This procedure has already been 

 applied by the commissioners, but purely on a voluntary basis. 



In reviewing the whole situation with regard to private forestry the commis- 

 sioners have come to the conclusion that while they do not suggest any immediate 



" Forstpolizeigesetz vom 19 February 1902 (and supplementary instructions of July 30, 1902) . 

 26 Third British Empire Forestry Conference, 1928, Summary Report, Resolutions, and Reports of Com- 

 mittees, p. 7. 



