WOODLAND TAXATION. 



Judson F. Clark, Ph D., Provincial Forester for Ontario. 



I. — On Lands in Private Ownership. 



The application of forestry methods to the management of 

 woodlands, whether they be the large areas of the lumberman 

 or the woodlot of the farmer, must find its justification in an 

 affirmative answer to the eminently pertinent and practical 

 question: Will it pay? 



Among the many points to be considered in determining the 

 answer to this query under any given circumstances, none, with 

 the single exception of protection from fire, should receive more 

 earnest consideration than the present and prospective taxation 

 of the property. The fairest prospect for large returns from a 

 policy of conservative lumbering may be nipped in the bud by 

 a tax rate that makes it in the financial interest of the ow'ner to 

 strip the land of whatever is merchantable at the time, prepara- 

 tory to abandoning it, much as he may regret having to do so. 

 This, indeed, has been the history of the destruction of many 

 millions of acres of the finest forest lands in North America. 



Of prime importance in dealing with all classes of forest 

 lands, the question of woodland taxation has recently acquired 

 added interest in Ontario and other Canadian provinces in view 

 of the necessity of planting on a large scale in the near future to 

 offset the rapid destruction of the woodlots in the farming 

 sections. It is natural that the woodlot ovv-ner should take 

 more interest in the tax rate applied to his plantations than that 

 applied to a woodlot already fully grown, for, come what may, 

 years must elapse before he can realize on the crop on which he 

 pays the tax. From the standpoint of the state, however, 

 it is of quite as great public interest that the woodlands already 

 in existence be conservatively managed as that the woodland 

 area be extended by planting. 



The principles governing the taxation of woodlands are 

 of course the same, whatever the origin of the forest, once it 

 has passed in fee simple to private ownership, and no distinction 

 should be made in tax rates on this account. 



■ Any discussion of the principles of woodland taxation must 

 kave regard to the three following considerations: 



1. The Assessment Basis: — Whether or not the assessment 

 valuation should apply to the value of the land or the value of 

 the land plus the value of the timber standing on it at the time. 



