1384 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



the Landes has created the naval stores industry of 

 southern France, drained its malarial marshes, enor- 

 mously increased its population,, and built up the produc- 

 tivity of its agricultural lands through the extensive 

 cropping of forest undergrowth and litter for the ferti- 

 lization of farms. 

 A similar struggle, not yet ended, has been waged with 



BRUSH FROM FRENCH FORESTS USED IN REVETTING TRENCHES 



the mountain torrents which have seriously eroded por- 

 tions of the French Alps, with resulting floods and the 

 destruction of agricultural lands in the valleys below. 

 One of the worst effects of the sudden removal of restric- 

 tions upon the use of private lands, brought about by 

 the Revolution, was the destruction of many forests 

 in the high mountains and the excessive grazing of moun- 

 tain pastures. Effective legislation to combat these perils 

 was long held back by the difficulty of harmonizing the 

 vigorous public action needed with French conceptions of 

 individual liberty and initiative and by the conflict of* 

 interests between the pastoral folk of the mountains and 

 the farmers of the plains. The terrible floods of 1859 

 prompted the enactment of a law for the reforestation 

 of the mountains (July 28, 1860). It provided for the 

 establishment of restoration areas within which refor- 

 estation and other measures would be undertaken by the 

 state and by communes and private agencies with state 

 aid. All forests within restoration areas, of whatever 

 ownership, were placed under the administration of the 

 Waters and Forests Service in conformity with the con- 

 servative requirements of the "regime forestier." Addi- 

 tional laws passed in 1864 and 1882 provided for the 

 restoration of grass cover on denuded mountain lands 

 under certain conditions and for various preventive 

 measures in the mountain zone generally, particularly 

 the regulation of grazing. 



Some phases of this attempt to check torrential erosion 

 in the mountains have not been successful, and the prob- 

 lem is a very live one in France today. The most effec- 

 tive steps yet taken have been the reforestation of lands 

 owned by the state or communes and the purchase of 

 mountain forests by the central government. This is 



directly analogous to federal purchases of forests on the 

 headwaters of navigable streams in the United States 

 under the Weeks Law. While the French government 

 has ample authority to add to its state forests, by pur- 

 chase, in any part of the country, such acquisitions have, 

 up to the present, been limited to mountain regions in 

 connection with restoration projects. Many French for- 

 esters and economists advocate the extension of the pub- 

 lic holdings in other sections, particularly in the oak for- 

 ests of the plains where the timber of large size and high 

 quality needed by industries like shipbuilding may not 

 be grown by private owners. 



Coupled with the laws restricting the freedom of the 

 private owner in France to destroy his forest, is a series 

 of constructive measures designed to promote the pro- 

 duction of timber on private lands. Tax exemptions, 

 in varying degrees, are extended to forest plantations 

 during their first thirty years. The exemption is com- 

 plete in the case of seeded or planted land on the slopes 



BINDING FAGOTS OF BRUSH FOR USE AT THE FRONT 



or summits of mountains, on sand dunes, and on land 

 previously barren. If the planted land was under culti- 

 vation during the preceding decade, three fourths of the 

 taxes are remitted. If the land has been fallow for ten 

 years or more, it remains taxable but the assessed value 

 of the bare land can not be increased for thirty years. 



Other laws encourage the formation of local associa- 

 tions of forest owners for the joint administration of 

 their properties. (The "syndicate" so common all over 

 France for collective action in various enterprises). 

 Such associations may extend from cooperative protec- 

 tion against fire or trespass to the complete management 

 of timbered areas. And by a statute enacted in 1913 the 

 services of the state foresters are offered to private 

 owners or associations, at cost, in the protection or ad- 

 ministration of their properties. Such measures, aiming 

 to reduce the cost of technical management of timber- 

 lands, are especially adapted to the conditions in France, 

 where timber values are high and forestry practice is 

 general and well understood. 



Private timberlands, in fact, comprise over two-thirds 

 of the forest resources of France. 18.7 per cent of her 



