1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



181 



able lumber. This valuation to be 

 made every ten years, and in no case 

 to be any greater per acre than the 

 lowest valuation placed by the assess- 

 ors on any non-agricultural, barren, 

 treeless or waste land of any sort with- 

 in the county. An appeal to the court 

 from this valuation shall be allowed 

 any land owner, and, upon hearing, 

 the court shall have power to determ- 

 ine the sum. 



If any land owner, whether non- 

 resident or resident, shall elect to de- 

 vote any portion of his land exclusive- 

 ly to tree-growing for commercial pur- 

 poses he shall give notice, in proper 

 form, to the assessor of the district in 

 which such land may be located, and 

 the assessor shall at once report the 

 same to the county commissioners, 

 who shall promptly lay it before the 

 judge of the Court of Quarter Ses- 

 sions of the county. Thereupon the 

 court shall call upon the Department 

 of Forestry of the State to appoint an 

 expert in forestry, who shall at once 

 examine the premises and decide 

 whether they are suitable for growing 

 trees of such species as will make 

 good, marketable lumber, and to de- 

 cide what species of trees shall be 

 cared for, if any such are growing on 

 the land, and also to decide what addi- 

 tional ones, if any, must be planted, 

 or whether all must be planted, and in 

 all cases to determine how many and 

 what species. 



If the report shall be favorable, and 

 the land owner become obligated to 

 the county to conduct tree-planting 

 and tree-growing on said land in ac- 

 cordance with the directions and con- 

 ditions which the Forestry Depart- 

 ment may formidate and exact, then, 

 when so planted or devoted to tree- 

 growing, said land shall not be as- 

 sessed at a higher rate nor taxed more 

 per acre than the valuation set upon it 

 by the board appointed for that pur- 

 pose or the court, on appeal, had fixed, 

 until the trees growing thereon shall 

 be large enough to produce good, mer- 

 chantable lumber and cut therefor. In 

 case of planted trees this period of 

 time should not be fixed for less than 



forty-five years, except where quick - 

 growing trees shall be raised, for spe- 

 cial purposes other than sawed timber. 



If, at any, time, the owner of any 

 such land shall fail to maintain, in 

 some stage of growth, such a number 

 of trees as the Department of Forestry 

 shall deem requisite a designation 

 such number to be furnished the 

 county Commissioners then the land 

 shall be removed from the list of tree- 

 growing lands and subject to taxation 

 as other lands in like condition arc in 

 the county. 



Whenever the owner of any such 

 tree-growing land shall deem it desir- 

 able to cut and remove any or all of 

 the trees growing thereon, he shall ap- 

 ply to the commissioners of the count; 

 for a valuation of such timber tree- 

 growing therean as he shall elect to cut 

 and remove for use or sale, and on 

 such removal he shall pay to the prop- 

 er collectors a total tax of not more 

 than two per cent, on the sum fixed by 

 the county commissioners. Appeal to 

 the court from this valuation shall be 

 at all times a matter of right. 



If any trees shall be removed at any 

 time in order to permit a better devel- 

 opment of those remaining, the value 

 of the trees so removed shall not be 

 liable to any tax unless the value in 

 the vicinity shall be more than the cost 

 of removal or sale, nor shall such fire- 

 wood as may be necessary for use in 

 the owner's house, or the house of any 

 tenant thereon, in his service, be liable 

 to any tax. 



The tax which may fall clue at the 

 time of cutting of said trees shall be a 

 lien upon the same, and upon the lai 

 upon which they grow, and when the 

 same shall be cut and removed the tax 

 must be paid by the party so cutting 

 and removing them. 



Much detail is necessarily omitted 

 in the foregoing, the object being to 

 show, in a general way, a method tc 

 relieve tree-growing land from unjust 

 taxation, yet give to the public fund 

 its due and equitable proportion of tax 

 on property when that property be- 

 comes of merchantable value, but not 

 before. 



