Community Forests 



395 



count for half of the area of all com- 

 munity forests. They vary in patterns 

 and purposes ; some of them are mostly 

 for recreation; others emphasize the 

 growing of timber. 



Eleven miles south of Champaign- 

 Urbana in Illinois is the Lake of the 

 Woods, a 260-acre tract of woodland, 

 open fields, and water bordering the 

 historic Sangamon River. Here one 

 will find a spring-fed 18-acre lake for 

 swimming, boating, fishing, and skat- 

 ing; a playing field for all types of out- 

 door sports ; picnic grounds on the lake 

 shore; camping spots on the river; and 

 equestrian and nature trails through 

 the upland woods. It is Champaign 

 County's newly organized forest pre- 

 serve district. Although small in area, 

 it has fine possibilities for expansion as 

 more woodland areas are added along 

 the river. The public schools are en- 

 listed in a long-range conservation 

 program for the forest, and the school 

 children of the county use it in first- 

 hand studies of the natural sciences. 



The method of financing the forest 

 is both simple and direct. Twenty-year 

 bonds were issued to buy the land and 

 improvements, at a cost of about $80,- 

 000. A special tax levy yields an an- 

 nual fund of about $30,000, for use 

 (during the first 5 years) to extend and 

 develop the forest and, later, to retire 

 the bonds. A commission of five men, 

 who serve without compensation, man- 

 ages the forest. It is under the direct 

 supervision of a resident forester-care- 

 taker. 



There are ten such forests in densely 

 populated Illinois. The most extensive 

 is the Cook County Forest Preserve, 

 which lies within the metropolitan 

 area of Chicago. 



In Wisconsin another pattern is fol- 

 lowed. Great areas of cut-over pine- 

 lands had been abandoned after being 

 stripped of timber; the waste land re- 

 turned no taxes or revenue. In many 

 northern counties, the productive tax- 

 able property could not support the 

 local governments. To meet this situa- 

 tion, many counties availed themselves 

 of the relief offered by the Wisconsin 



Forest Crop Law. Under a cooperative 

 arrangement with the State, 10 cents 

 is paid yearly from the general fund 

 for each acre in the county forest to 

 help support the local government. An- 

 other 10 cents an acre is paid annually 

 to the county from the State forestry 

 funds for improving and developing 

 the forest. The State also furnishes 

 technical supervision of the cutting 

 of timber to insure a consistent forest 

 policy and a uniform standard of 

 management. In return, the State is 

 reimbursed by a 50-percent severance 

 tax when forest products are harvested. 

 It is in the nature of a share-crop re- 

 lationship between the county owner 

 and the State. 



Twenty-eight counties have set up 

 crop-law forests, which have a com- 

 bined area of more than 2 million 

 acres. Some of the counties 20 years 

 ago faced bankruptcy ; under manage- 

 ment, the forest lands now yield reve- 

 nues that in time may absorb a major 

 part of the tax burden. The annual 

 return now is more than $150,000. The 

 forests also furnish opportunities for 

 public recreation. 



This income is from forests that but a 

 few years ago were waste land ; a large 

 part of the new forest cover has come 

 from hand-planted seedlings. The fu- 

 ture prosperity of the crop-law commu- 

 nities, then, seems extremely promising. 

 The pulpwood markets are clamoring 

 for the wood that is growing in those 

 young trees and that will soon be ready 

 to market. 



The philosophy of government that 

 supports a county forest program was 

 well stated in a resolution adopted in 

 Allegany County, N. Y., that provided 

 for establishment of a county forest sys- 

 tem of 2,500 acres on the following 

 premises: Large amounts of idle land 

 not paying taxes are not contributing 

 to the welfare of the county; these 

 lands are contributing to an erosion 

 problem and costing the county large 

 sums annually in clogged stream chan- 

 nels, highway maintenance, and loss 

 of revenue; the areas are too small to 

 be managed under the State forest 



