STATE REGULATION OF PRIVATE FORESTS 87 



trees left standing, especially if isolated, usually blow down. On high slopes 

 spruce never or seldom attains large diameters, and could never be cut at all 

 under such a law, which would therefore be confiscation. In forests of mixed 

 spruce and balsam or spruce and hard woods, the spruce can be favored only 

 by allowing the cutting of these other species to a smaller diameter limit. 



In forests composed of the valuable species of pines, the stands make their 

 best growth when the whole stand is composed of trees of the same age. Such 

 stands should be either cut clear and planted, or selected trees marked and 

 left to produce seed. A law of growth common to all trees is that the poorest 

 individuals in a stand grow the slowest. A diameter limit law in such stands 

 where all trees are the same age would result in leaving all the stunted, dis- 

 eased and suppressed trees standing just the trees that should be removed. 



Wherever it is ])ossible to grow forests under good management near 

 markets, it is necessary to thin out the stands from one to three times before 

 the mature trees are finally cut. In these thinnings it is not the large but the 

 small and suppressed trees that are removed, to the great benefit of the re- 

 maining stand. A diameter limit law would make such thinnings illegal. 

 Such illustrations will suffice to point out the absurdity of endeavoring to pre- 

 scribe uniform technical methods by legislation, in the case of either farms or 

 forests, 



Uut if the principle of forest regulation is sound, the desired results can 

 still be attained. The aim in view is, that the forest must be perpetuated or 

 renewed and not destroyed beyond hope of renewal. 



In the case of the national forests, the federal law specifies the objects 

 to be attained in setting aside the forest areas belonging to the government, 

 and gives the secretary of agriculture power to make and enforce all neces- 

 sary regulations covering the technical methods involved. 



A state which has adopted a rational basis of land classification and has 

 constitutional grounds for insisting on interference with private owners, evi- 

 dently must pursue a similar policy. The state forester if his ofiice is removed 

 from political influence and if he is a technically trained man, is the proper 

 person to administer such a law. If a state has no such official the first move 

 must be to secure one. Tower must be given him to make regulations which 

 will attain the desired results or to prescribe the methods to be followed as a 

 result of inspection on the grounds and with full knowledge of local condi- 

 tions. It is undoubtedly true that the enforcement of such regulation by a 

 state service would require a considerable extension of such service and the 

 employment of sufiicient assistance to insure the observance of the law. Hut 

 to try and avoid this expense by specifying technical details in a law and then 

 trusting to luck for their enforcement is not only inadequate but insincere. 

 No law was ever enforced without a definite provision for its enforcement, 

 and this is especially applicable to a law which would attempt to make pri- 

 vate owners do something it was not to their financial interest to do. Furth- 

 ermore, the failure to rigidly enforce such a law would result in placing the 

 additional exi)onse on those who obeyed the law and giving a financial ad- 

 vantage to those who avoided or refused compliance, thus putting a premium 

 on dishonestly. Proper inspection therefore is as vital as elasticity in appli- 

 cation to local conditions, for the success of a law of this kind. 



While laws regulating cutting have not so far been adopted, several at- 

 tempts have been made to regulate private owners in regard to the disposal 

 of slash and the use of fire. It is not so necessary in this case that the lands 

 be classified, but a law may apply to all lands. In New York state, a law has 

 been in force two years which requires lumbermen to lop the branches off 

 the tops left from logging, so that they lie flat on the ground. In operation 



