State Forests. 357 



tion as regards altitude, and their public value; namely, 

 the coniferous forest and deciduous oak and chestnut 

 forests, which were declared inalienable; the forests 

 of ash, alder, willow, etc., naturally located in the 

 lower levels, therefore without interest to the state, 

 which were declared salable; and an intermediate 

 third class composed of cork oak and evergreen oak, 

 whose status as to propriety of sale was left in doubt. 

 In 1862, a revision of this classification left out this 

 doubtful class, adding it and the forest areas of the 

 first class which were not at least 250 acres in extent 

 to the salable property. The first class, which was 

 to be reserved, was found to comprise nearly 17 

 million acres (of which 1.2 million was owned by the 

 State), while the salable property was found to be 

 about half that area. 



Ever since, a constant wrangle and commotion has 

 been kept up regarding the classification, and re- 

 peated attempts, sometimes successful, have been 

 made by one faction, usually led by the Minister of 

 Finance, to reduce the public forest area {desamortiza- 

 doro), opposed by another faction under the lead of 

 the forest administration, which was forced again and 

 again to re-classify. In 1883, the alienable public 

 forest area was by decree placed under he Minister 

 of Finance, the inalienable part remaining under the 

 Minister of Public Works (Fomento); very much the 

 same as it was in the United States until recently. 

 The public debt and immediate financial needs of 

 the corporations gave the incentive for desiring the 

 disposal of forest property, and, to satisfy this demand, 

 it was ordered, in 1878, that all receipts from the 



