Canadian Forestry Journal, May, 1919 



217 



A BETTER PLAN OF SELLING PUBLIC TIMBER 



Higher Present Revenues and Certainty of a 



Replenished Crop — New Brunswick's 



Experiment 



The Crown timber lands of New Brunswick 

 aggregate some 10,000 square miles, which 

 bring in a direct annual revenue to the Govern- 

 ment of around $500,000. Hitherto, the typical 

 Canadian method of timber disposal has been 

 followed — the license system. Specific areas 

 were put up for license, usually for a twenty- 

 year period, but renewable more or less in- 

 definitely, subject to the payment of a fixed 

 sum per square mile per year as ground rent, a 

 fixed sum per thousand feet as stumpage, when 

 the timber is cut, and a bonus in a lump sum, 

 payable following the sale, determined by com- 

 petitive bidding; a fire tax is also levied, 

 amounting to one-half cent per acre per year, 

 which is supplemented by a levy upon privately- 

 owned forest lands and by an appropriation 

 from the Government. The essential point is 

 that the soil remains in the ownership of the 

 province, only the right to cut the timber being 

 disposed of, under restrictions which are subject 

 to revision at the discretion of the Government. 

 There is thus every opportunity for the enforced 

 adoption of improved methods of cutting, as 

 rapidly as changing economic conditions justify 

 the promulgation of corresponding regulations 

 by the Minister of Lands and Mines. 



The Timber Sale Plan. 



A recent development is the reversion to the 

 Crown of some 400 square miles of land pre- 

 viously held under license, because the licensees 

 considered the lands to be so near exhaustion as 

 not to justify the renewal of the licenses, with 

 consequent obligation to pay the annual ground 

 rental, bonus and fire tax, in addition to other 

 charges. An examination by the forest service 

 showed, however, that considerable amounts of 

 timber still existed on some of these tracts, for 

 which there was a strong local demand. 



It was first intended that these lands should 

 again be put up for sale as licenses, on the 

 old basis, but after very careful consideration 

 the plan was changed to a straight timber sale 

 basis at public auction. 



How the State Gains. 



This sale was held early in October, 1918, 

 and had the effect of fully justifying the tenta- 

 tive adoption of the new policy by the Govern- 

 ment. Under the old system, the stumpage rate 

 was $2.50 per M. Adding to this the pro rata 

 charge for ground rent, fire tax and bonus, the 

 total revenue to the Government was in the 

 neighborhood of only $3.00 per M. At the re- 

 cent sale, however, the prices bid for the coni- 

 ferous species varied from $5.50 per M. to 

 $7.75, according to the character of the timber 

 and its accessibility. The estimated total re- 

 venue to the province will be $70,000 for the 

 110 square miles disposed of. A diameter 

 limit of 12 inches is prescribed for spruce and 

 pine, and 9 inches for balsam. Two years are 

 allowed for removal of the timber. 



If this revolutionary change in policy proves 

 as satisfactory in practice as now seems prob- 

 able, its extension on a large scale may be an- 

 ticipated in the future, with corresponding 

 benefit to the revenues of the province. On 

 larger sales, the time limit for removal must of 

 course be extended. In case of long-time sales, 

 provision would presumably be made for the 

 periodical readjustment of stumpage prices, as 

 is now done on timber sales in the National 

 Forests of the United States, and as is provided 

 for in connection with the sale of timber on 

 provincial Crown lands in British Columbia. 



Holding Worn-Out Lands. 



It is to be anticipated that the reversion to the 

 Crown of timber lands approaching exhaustion 

 will continue, rendering feasible the increased 

 extension of the timber sales policy. It is of 

 course logical and inevitable that the province 

 should, as a rule, have to hold worn-out lands 

 for recuperation. The progressive exhaustion 

 of virgin supplies in New Brunswick will greatly 

 increase the area so held. The adoption of the 

 timber sales policy may be expected to facilitate 

 the practice of better forestry methods, calcu- 

 lated to ensure a more satisfactory regeneration 

 of the most valuable species. 



