Large Private Holdings in the North 



269 



public leadership should be directed 

 toward that end. 



Most large private holdings in the 

 North are open to public fishing, hunt- 

 ing, trapping, and camping. A property 

 in the Pocono region of Pennsylvania 

 is operated jointly for timber, fishing, 

 hunting, and recreation. The owner of 

 the 2,500-acre property has fenced it 

 against trespass; he stocks the streams 

 for fishing, and furnishes special hunt- 

 ing privileges to guests at his lodge. He 

 operates his own sawmill and cuts 

 enough timber to supply the needs of 

 his resort and offers some timber for 

 sale. It is one of the few forests oper- 

 ated by a forester to return income 

 from each resource the property af- 

 fords. A similar property in the Gat- 

 skills is managed as a recreational area 

 tributary to a large resort hotel. The 

 timber is cut on a sustained-yield basis 

 and the wood used primarily for fuel 

 for the furnaces and fireplaces of the 

 hotel. 



Some of the owners in the Adiron- 

 dacks are leasing hunting and trapping 

 rights to game clubs and other sports- 

 men. The public generally opposes 

 restrictions on hunting on large pri- 

 vate properties lest the poor man be 

 excluded. Many large companies ap- 

 preciate that viewpoint, and have al- 

 lowed use of their lands for recreation. 

 Many require permits so they can reg- 

 ulate use to some extent, but most 

 impose no restrictions. Perhaps, as 

 pressure of population and hunting in- 

 crease, more and more owners of large 

 holdings will lease hunting and trap- 

 ping rights. 



Cherished by all Americans is the 

 belief that our country is a land in 

 which the energetic man with limited 

 resources can build his own independ- 

 ent business enterprise. The rise of 

 giant corporations in recent decades 

 has restricted the fields of endeavor 

 open to small business. The forest- 

 products industries have occupied a big 

 position in our small-business economy 

 in the past. Has concentration of forest 

 ownership in the North adversely af- 

 fected opportunities for small business? 



Pulp and paper companies, to be sure, 

 have acquired large holdings, but of the 

 1 70 million acres of commercial forest 

 land in the North, large ownerships 

 control but 15 million acres, 9 percent. 

 Ample opportunity still exists for 

 anyone so minded to acquire and man- 

 age his own forest property, provided 

 he have modest capital resources at 

 his command. To the extent that large 

 holdings stabilize industries and mar- 

 ket outlets, the small owner is favorably 

 served by their existence. Moreover, 

 the policies of many large holders is 

 to encourage good practice on the 

 nearby lands. Large owners, as a rule, 

 seek full development and use of their 

 property, thereby expanding rather 

 than restricting economic opportunity. 

 Of course, to the extent that they con- 

 done poor cutting practices in their 

 own lands and on the lands of others 

 that they operate, resources to support 

 additional forest industries are thereby 

 diminished. 



SPECIAL PROBLEMS beset private 

 owners of forests taxes, fluctuating or 

 inadequate markets, and depleted 

 forests, among them. 



The general property tax unques- 

 tionably works heavy hardship on 

 some owners. Sometimes taxes are so 

 high they absorb all income from the 

 property in the form of timber growth. 

 Rarely is the property tax adjusted to 

 the income that might be expected 

 from the land. Paul E. Malone, in 

 a study of forest taxation in Hancock 

 County, Maine, found that small prop- 

 erties tend to be taxed at a higher rate 

 an acre than large properties; improve- 

 ments on the land show a low rate of 

 increase in tax with increase in value; 

 assessment practices and local tax rates 

 vary widely so that little relationship 

 exists between timber yield and the tax. 



In three towns in Hancock County, 

 Maine, taxes per acre varied thus: 



Area 



1 to 9 More than 



acres 1 } 000 acres 



Amherst $0. 10 $0. 09 



Eastbrook .21 .11 



Franklin .49 .08 



