168 Austria. 



administrations existed which were often connected 

 with mining administrations and were placed under 

 the Minister of Finance. These, under the influence 

 of the educated foresters issuing from the newly 

 established forest school, had, to be sure, been much 

 improved; nevertheless the Cameralists, as in Ger- 

 many, were at the head of affairs and kept the techni- 

 cal development back until after the revolution of 

 1848, when the acccession of Franz Joseph I brought 

 many reforms and changes in methods of adminis- 

 tration. 



A ministry of Soilculture and Mining was created 

 in that year, and, as a branch of it, a forest depart- 

 ment, separated from the department of the Chase. 

 To the head of this forest department was called a 

 forester, Rudolf Feistmantel, who elaborated an 

 organization. But, before much had been accom- 

 plished, the Ministry and its forest department were 

 abolished (1853) and the forest domain again trans- 

 ferred to the Ministry of Finance. 



Feistmantel returned in 1856 as Chief of the forest 

 division in that Ministry, and his organization of the 

 forest property of the State into forest districts under 

 forest managers and into provincial "forest direc- 

 tions" was perfected. 



Matters, however, did not thrive, and, only when 

 public attention and indignation had been aroused 

 by a policy of selling State property, a change of 

 attitude took place in 1872 which led to the present 

 organization. This places the State forest adminis- 

 tration in the Department of Agriculture, with an 

 "Oberlandforstmeister" and two assistants as su- 



