40 THE CORNELL READING-COURSES 



such timber growth for a purpose other than for thinning as above provided, he shall 

 give thirty days' notice to the assessors of the tax district on which the land is located, 

 who shall forthwith assess the stumpage value of such proposed cutting, and such owner 

 shall pay to the collector of the town in which such land is situated before cutting such 

 timber five per centum of such assessed valuation. If such owner shall fail to give such 

 notice and pay such taxes he shall be liable to a penalty of three times the amount of 

 such tax, and the supervisor of the town may bring an Action to recover the same for 

 the benefit of the town in any court of competent jurisdiction. 

 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 



New York State Laws of 1912, Chapter 363 



AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to the exemption and reduction in assessment 

 of lands which shall be maintained as wood lots and to encourage the growth of trees 

 for such purposes. 



Became a law April 15, 1912, with the approval of the Governor. Passed, three-fifths 



being present. 



The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as 

 follows: 



Section I. Article one of chapter sixty- two of the laws of nineteen hundred and nine, 

 entitled " An act in relation to taxation, constituting chapter sixty of the consolidated 

 laws," is hereby amended by adding at the end a new section, to be section seventeen, 

 and to read as follows: 



1 7. Exemption and reduction in assessment of lands maintained as wood lots and 

 to encourage the growth of trees for such purposes. In order to encourage the mainte- 

 nance of wood lots by private owners and the practice of forestry in the management 

 thereof, the owner of any tract of land in the state, not exceeding fifty acres, which is 

 occupied by a natural or planted growth of trees, or by both, which shall not be situated 

 within twenty miles of the corporate limits of a city of the first class, nor within ten 

 miles of the corporate limits of a city of the second class, nor within five miles of the 

 corporate limits of a city of the third class, nor within one mile of the corporate limits 

 of an incorporated village, may apply to the conservation commission in manner and 

 form to be prescribed by it, to have such land separately classified for taxation. Appli- 

 cation for such classification shall be made in duplicate and accompanied by a plot and 

 description of the land, and such other information as the commission may require. 

 Upon the filing of such application it shall be the duty of the commission to cause an 

 inspection of such land to be made by a competent forester for the purpose of deter- 

 mining whether or not it is of a suitable character to be so classified. If the commission 

 shall determine that such land is suitable to be so classified, it shall submit to the owner 

 a plan for the further management of said land and trees and shall make and execute 

 a certificate under the seal of the commission and file the same with the county treasurer 

 of the county in which the land is located, which certificate shall set forth a description 

 and plot of the land so classified, the area and owner thereof, the town or towns in which 

 the same is situated, and that the land has been separately classified for taxation in 

 accordance with the provisions of this section. Upon the filing of such certificate it 

 shall be the duty of the county treasurer to file with the assessors of the tax district in 

 which the land described therein is located, within ten days after receipt thereof, a 

 certified copy of such certificate. So long as the land so classified is maintained as a 

 wood lot, and the owner thereof faithfully complies with all the provisions of this section 

 and the instructions of the commission, it shall be assessed at not to exceed ten dollars 

 per acre and taxed annually on that basis. In fixing the value of said lands for assess- 

 ment, the assessors shall in no case take into account the value of the trees growing 

 thereon, and said land shall not be assessed at a value greater than other similar lands 

 within the same tax district, which contain no forest or tree growth, are assessed. The 

 assessors of each tax district where said land so classified is located shall insert upon the 

 margin of said assessment and opposite the description of such land a statement that 

 said land is assessed in accordance with the provisions of this section. In the event 

 that land so classified as above prescribed shall at any time by act of the owner or other- 

 wise cease, in the judgment of the commission, to be used exclusively as a wood lot to 

 the extent provided by this section to entitle the owner of such land to the privileges 



