FORESTS OF ALSACE-LORRAINE 



495 



APPENDIX J 

 THE FORESTS OF ALSACE-LORRAINE 1 



Area. The forests of Alsace-Lorraine cover 1,085,520 acres; this is 30.3 per cent 

 of the total land area, and 47 per cent of the area in agriculture, and corresponds to 0.6 

 of an acre of forest per inhabitant. Therefore Alsace-Lorraine with 30.3 per cent has 

 almost twice the proportional forest area that France proper possesses 18.7 per cent; 

 and it is even above the average for Europe which is 28.8 per cent, but below that of the 

 Vosges Department 36.9 per cent. Since 1871 the average in acres under forests, 

 divided according to ownership, has been as follows: 



This makes a grand total of 1,088,549 acres in 1913 but (to check with the correct total 

 area) from this total must be subtracted 3,029 acres, probably due to incomplete statis- 

 tics on private forests, which gives a net total of 1,085,520 acres. From these statistics 

 it is evident that the area of State forests was increased 12,467 acres and the communal 

 forests 3,768 acres under German management. About half the increase in State forest 

 area was due to purchases and half to transfers from forests formerly in undivided owner- 

 ship. It is of interest that there were no less than 1,123 communes owning communal 

 forests, or about 438 acres average per commune in 1913. A very much larger propor- 

 tion of the forest area is in public ownership than in France proper as may be seen from 

 the following table : 



Per cent owned by classes of owners 



* The most important forest in undivided ownership is Haguenau, with 35,313 acres. 

 This is one of the most interesting forests in Alsace-Lorraine. 



1 Digested from Les Forets d' Alsace et de Lorraine, par H. Lafosse, Vol. II, Traveaux 

 et Notices publics par 1'Academie d'Agriculture de France, 1919. Based on 1913 

 statistics collected by the German Forest Service. A literal translation of the subject 

 headings of the above monograph is as follows: "Area of forests, Methods of treatment 

 and distribution of species, Free use, Forest administrative organization, Management 



