1350 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



that the public will help to protect his property against fire and other 

 damage caused by others. 



Protection forests, moreover, are in a sense quasi-public forests, 

 even though the private owner retains the title. The owner may be 

 required to sacrifice income or undergo expense purely for the benefit 

 of other individuals or the public as a whole. The cost of carrying 

 out such requirements, so far as they do not return a direct benefit 

 to the owner, should be recognized as an obligation of the public. 

 Public funds contributed for these purposes should not be regarded 

 as a bonus or gratuity, or as a bribe or bait to induce the owner to 

 adopt the desired practices. Adoption of these practices should be 

 mandatory; but the public, which enjoys the benefits, should pay the 

 costs. 



THE STATES' SHARE 



FIRE PROTECTION 



Each State should provide fire protection for all forests within its 

 borders, except those owned by the Federal Government. The cost 

 should be paid partly from the State treasury (with such contribution 

 by towns or counties as may be agreed upon), partly by Federal con- 

 tribution (see below), and partly by a contribution from the owners, 

 either in trie form of a special fire-protection tax or in some other form. 

 Except for the costs of eliminating hazards resulting from operations, 

 all of which should be borne by the owners or operators, it would be 

 reasonable to expect the public (Federal Government, States, and 

 smaller units) to pay at least 50 percent of the protection cost for 

 ordinary nonprotection forest and 75 to 100 percent in the case of 

 protection forest. Where the owners are in no way responsible for 

 the fire hazard, public agencies should pay the entire cost of protection. 

 The States' share might be 25 to 75 percent for nonprotection forest, 

 25 to 50 percent for State protection forest, and to 25 percent for 

 Federal protection forest. 



In order that owners may know fairly definitely what protection 

 will cost them, in case they are required to contribute, it might be 

 desirable to provide that the assessments shall not exceed a fixed 

 sum per acre in any one year, and that the actual amount to be col- 

 lected in each year shall be determined by the State forestry board, 

 subject to this limitation. It might be desirable in some instances 

 that the State also collect a small assessment from the owners of 

 nonforest property which benefits directly from the maintenance of 

 the forests (e.g., water users, recreation interests, etc.). This is done 

 now by several California counties. 



FOREST PLANTINGS 



The State should furnish planting stock and technical advice and 

 supervision at nominal cost for afforestation in classified protection 

 areas, except where the land has been denuded in violation of the 

 regulations. In cases where owners may be required for reasons of 

 public interst to afforest land already denuded, the entire cost should 

 be borne by the public. 



FOREST TAXATION 



The State should provide that the assessed valuation of protection 

 forests (Federal or State) for purposes of taxation shall take into ac- 

 count any reduction in value due to restrictions on their management. 



