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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



THE CAPPER BILL 

 Senator Capper introduced the following bill on May 2, 1921. It was referred to the Committee on Agri- 

 culture and Forestry : 



A BUI to control forest devastation, to perpetuate forests in the United 

 States, to raise a revenue from forest products, and for other pur- 



Betienacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 

 States of America in Congress assembled, 



DEFINITIONS. 



That, when used in this Act 



"Commercial forest land" means all private land within the United States 

 which is now or hereafter in forest, except farm wood lots as in this sec- 

 tion defined, and except such land as the Secretary shall have caused to be 

 examined at any time and shall have found to be at such time chiefly val- 

 uable for other uses than the growth of forest crops. And the Secretary 

 is hereby authorized in his discretion to cause such examination to be made. 



"Farm wood lot" means land which is a part of a farm, whether con- 

 tiguous or not, and is used as a subsidiary source of farm supply or farm 

 revenue, but which is otherwise like commercial forest land as defined in 

 this section. 



"Forest crop" means the wood of trees on forest land. 



"Harvesting a forest crop" means the felling of trees on forest land, to- 

 gether with the production therefrom of one or more raw forest products 

 and/or the removal of such products for sale, consumption, or use. 



"Forest devastation" means the harvesting of a forest crop otherwise 

 than in compliance with standards established by regional and local regula- 

 tions made under section 3 of this Act. - 



"Operator" means any person who is engaged in the business of harvest- 

 ing, or causing to be harvested, for himself, one or more forest crops on 

 commercial forest land. 



"Raw forest product" means the wood of felled forest trees, prepared lor 

 removal from the place of felling to be sold, used, or consumed, such as 

 logs, poles, piles, round mine timbers, round or split posts, split staves, pulp 

 wood, fuel wood, other cordwood, hewn ties, hewn timbers, bolts, and the 

 like. 



"Standard log scale" means such uniform scale for the measurement m 

 board feet of the volume of all raw forest products as the Forester, with 

 tne approval of the Secretary, shall by regulations prescribe; and such regu- 

 lations may provide for the conversion of measurements in any log scale, 

 or in any cord measure, or in any other measure of raw forest products, 

 in*o their equivalent in units of the standard log scale. ' : 



"Taxable product" means a raw forest product produced from trees felled 

 on commercial fores! lands by any operator. 



"Standard product" means a taxable product produced from such part 

 of a forest crop as is harvested in compliance with standards established 

 and defined by regional and local regulations under section 3 of this Act. 



"i'roduct below standard" means a taxable product produced from such 

 part of a forest crop as is harvesttd otherwise than in compliance with 

 standards established under section 3 of this Act. 



"Secretary" means the Secretary of Agriculture. 



"Forester' means the Forester of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture. . 



"Regional forester" means any officer or agent of the United States 

 designated by the Secretary to perform the duties imposed on regional for- 

 esters by this Act. 



"Person" means and includes a natural person, partnership, association, 

 company, or corporation, and any officer, receiver, or employee of any of 

 them, and any member of a partnership who as such officer, receiver, em- 

 ployee, or member is under a duty imposed by this Act or by any regula- 

 tions under this Act. 



FOREST REGIONS 



Sec. 3. (a) That the Secretary shall divide, and may from time to time 

 rcdividc, the United States into forest regions, which shall be delimited as 

 he shall deem best in view of forest and economic conditions, in order that 

 the standards established and defined by regional and local regulations un- 

 der section 3 of this Act may be adapted to and applied in accord with 

 local fores; and economic conditions. The Secretary may conform the 

 national forest districts to said forest regions. 



ADMINISTRATION. 



(b) That the Secretary shall establish in the forest regions provided for 

 in subsection (a) of this section, and in the District of Columbia, such ser- 

 vice as be shall deem necessary for the administration of this Act; and, 

 upon due request from the proper authorities of States with which the Sec- 

 retary is cooperating under section 12 hereof, he may deputize State forest 

 officials to assist in the administration of this Act. 



HARVESTING REGULATIONS. 



Sec. 3. That in order that this Act may be applied locally in accord with 

 regional and local forest and economic conditions 



(a) The Secretary shall make, and may from time to time amend, regu- 

 lations establishing and defining in general terms as to each forest region 

 such reasonable standards for the harvesting of forest crops as he shall 

 deem necessary to secure in such region a continuous succession of forest 

 crops of reasonable quantity and quality. 



(o) The regional forester of each forest region, with the approval of the 

 Forester, shall make, and may from time to time amend, local regulations, 

 not inconsistent with the regional regulations, establishing and defining as 

 to any locality therein such reasonable standards for the harvesting of for- 

 est crops as he may deem necessary to secure in such locality a continuous 

 succession of forest crops of reasonable quantity and quality. 



(c) Standards established and defined by regional and local regulations 

 under subsections (a) and (b) of this section may include such measures 

 as protection of trees left standing, disposal of slash, reduction of fire haz- 

 ards due to harvesting, temporary reservation from harvesting of such trees 

 as may be necessary for the perpetuation of forest growth, or, on the re- 

 quest of the operator approved b* the Forester, subject to conditions pre- 

 scribed in such approval, reforestation by planting in lieu of such reserva- 

 tion, and the like. 



(d) Before the making of regional regulations as to any region under 

 subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary shall seek the cooperation of 

 an advisory board a* to such region, to consist of the State officials in 

 charge of forest work in the States concerned and one representative each 

 from such lumbermen's and wood-users' organizations as he may designate; 

 and before the making of local regulations under subsection (b) of this 

 section the regional forester shall seek the cooperation of a similar advisory 

 board as to each locality, such advisory boards, at their option, to function 

 as standing advisory bodies on matters relating to the practical application 

 of the regulations and such amendments to them as may from time to time 

 be advisable. 



CLASSIFICATION AND RETURN OF TAXABLE PRODUCTS. 



Sec. 4. That every operator shall truly classify j s standard products, or 



as products below standard, all taxable products produced by him during 

 each year, and shall make return thereof as and when required by regula- 

 tions under subsection (a) of section 7 of this Act. 



INSTRUCTIONS IN 1922 



Sec. 5. That the Forester shall, so far as practicable, cause to be in- 

 spected on the ground, during the calendar year 1922, harvesting opera- 

 tions on commercial forest lands, for the purpose of instructing operators 

 or their agents on the ground in the method of applying the standards es- 

 tablished by regulations under section 3 of this Act. 



TAXES. 



Sec. 6. That for each calendar year after 1921 there shall be levied, 

 assessed, and collected, and shall be paid by every operator, an excise tax 

 on the privilege or franchise of conducting the business of harvesting forest 

 crops on commercial forest lands, measured by the quantities of taxable 

 products produced by him in such year, as follows: For the calendar year 

 1922, at the rate of 5 cents per thousand board feet standard log scale in 

 respect of all taxable products; and for each and every calendar year there- 

 after at the rate of 5 cents per thousand board feet standard log scale in 

 respect of standard products, and at the rate of $5 per thousand board feet 

 standard log scale in respect of products below standard. 



RETURN AND PAYMENTS. 



Sec. 7. (a) That on or before the 15th day of March, 1923, and each 

 year thereafter, each operator shall make, under oath, return for the pre- 

 ceding calendar year, stating specifically the quantities, in board feet stand- 

 ard log scale, of standard products and: of products below standard, respect- 

 ively, produced by him during such preceding calendar year, from trees 

 felled in his harvesting of forest crops on commercial forest lands. Such 

 return shall be made in duplicate, one duplicate to the collector of internal 

 revenue for the district wherein is located such operator's place of business, 

 the other duplicate to the regional forester for the forest region wherein 

 is located such place of business. On or before each such March 15 every such 

 operator shall pay to such collector the taxes imposed by section 6 of this 

 Act in respect of the taxable products produced by him during the preced- 

 ing calendar year. The Forester and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue 

 shall by joint regulations prescribe the form of such return and the form 

 and manner of such payment. 



ACCOUNTS AND RECORDS. 



(b) That the Secretary is hereby authorized and required to make, and 

 may from time to time amend, general regulations governing the classifying 

 of taxable products under this Act and requiring the making and keeping 

 of su<.h records and accounts vju] the making of such statements and re- 

 ports under oath, other than the returns required by subsection (a) of this 

 section, and prescribing such forms for such accounts, records, statements, 

 and reports as he shall deem necessary for his information in the adminis- 

 tration of this Act. No such accounts, records, statements, or reports, and 

 no part of the information given therein by any operator shall be disclosed 

 to any other operator or to the public except as may be necessary in the 

 course of and as a part of legal proceedings instituted for the enforcement 

 of this Act, or as may be otherwise required in pursuance of law, and ex- 

 cept in statistical form without identification of persons. 



FIELD INSPECTION AND EXAMINATION OF ACCOUNTS. 



(c) That the Secretary is hereby authorized to cause any officer or 

 agent of the United States designated by him for that purpose to go upon 

 and inspect any commercial forest land before, during, or after the harvest- 

 ing of forest crops for all purposes connected with the administration of 

 this Act, and the Forester and/or the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 

 for the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of any record, account, state- 

 ment, report, or return required under this Act, or for the'purpose of mak- 

 ing the return where none has been made, are hereby authorized to cause 

 any officer or agent of the United States designated by either of them for 

 that purpose to examine any records, accounts, books, papers, or memo- 

 randa bearing upon any matter required to be included in any such record, 

 account, statement, report, or return, and may require the attendance of 

 the person making or keeping the record, account, statement, report, or re- 

 turn, or the attendance of any other person having knowledge in the prem- 

 ises and may take his testimony with reference to the matters required by 

 law or by regulation under this Act, to be included in such record, account, 

 statement, report, or return, with the" power to administer oaths to such 

 person or persons. 



Sec. 3. That the provisions of sections 3164, 3165, 3167, 3172, 3173, and 

 3176 of the Revised Statutes, as amended by the Revenue Act approved 

 February 24, 1919 (Statutes at Large, volume 40, pages 1146 to 1148, in- 

 clusive), so far as they are not inconsistent with this Act, shall apply to 

 the administration of and proceedings under this Act: Provided, That no 

 return in addition to the return required by subsection (a) of section 7 of 

 this Act shall be required under the first sentence of said section 3173 pre- 

 ceding the first proviso thereof. 



PENALTIES. 



Sec. 9. That every person who 



(a) Knowingly classifies any taxable product untruly or in violation of 

 regulations made under this Act, or knowingly causes or permits such un- 

 true or violative classification to be made; or 



fb) Knowingly in any manner falsifies or causes or permits to be falsi- 

 fied any record, account, statement, report, or return required to be made 

 or kept under this Act or regulations made under this Act; or 



(c) Willfully refuses to pay or truly account for and pay over any tax 

 imposed by this Act when and as required by this Act or by regulations 

 under this Act, or willfully attempts in any manner to evade such tax- 

 Shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000 or by imprisonment 

 for not more than one year or by both such fine and imprisonment in the 

 discretion of the court. 



CUMULATIVE PENALTY. 



Sec. 10. That any person found guilty under subsection (c) of section 

 9 of this Act shall, notwithstanding other penalties provided by law, be lia- 

 ble to pay the amount of the tax evaded or not paid, to be assessed and col- 

 lected in the same manner as taxes arc assessed and collected. 



APPROPRIATION. 



Sec. 11. That appropriations are hereby authorized to be made annually 

 out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be ex- 

 pended under the directions of the Secretary for carrying out the purposes 

 of sections I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 of this Act. 



