146 UNITED STATES FOREST POLICY 



pointments in these various state commissions went to politicians at 

 first, but gradually that class of appointees is being superseded by 

 men with special training for the work. 



The subject of state legislation regarding forestry is too large to 

 be treated here, but it is interesting to note that the idea expressed 

 in the old Timber Culture Act of the seventies has not yet been 

 abandoned, for several states passed timber culture acts after 1891, 

 Wisconsin providing, as late as 1907,^" for a tax exemption of lands 

 planted in trees. Even as late as 1917, several states still have laws 

 in effect permitting county boards of commissioners to offer bounties ; 

 several others offer tax rebates, and still others exempt young trees 

 from taxation for a period of years. Indiana passed a law in 1899 

 allowing partial tax exemption, but it was declared unconstitutional. 

 In recent years, the timber culture movement has developed into a 

 movement for rational taxation of forest lands, and on this problem 

 many of the states are still at work.^^ 



An increasing interest in forestry is indicated by the growing num- 

 ber of states which provide for the observance of Arbor Day. Several 

 states had provided for this previous to 1891, and many others fol- 



reports of the various commissions, from the Proceedings of the American For- 

 estry Congress, the Proceedings of the Society of American. Foresters, and of the 

 American Forestry Association, from Fernow's "History of Forestry," 425-435, 

 and from Kinney, "Forest Law in America." 



10 Report, State Forester, Wisconsin, 1907-08, 92. 



11 House Report 134 of Mass., Jan., 1906: Mass., Report of Commission on 

 Taxation of Wild or Forest Lands, Senate No. 426, Jan., 1914: Mass. Acts of 1914, 

 Chapter 598: "Taxation of Forest Lands in Wisconsin"; Report of State Board of 

 Forestry, Sept., 1910: Report, Wis. State Forester, 1907-08, 93-95: Conn., Report, 

 Special Commission on Taxation of Woodland, 1912: Third Ann. Report, N. Hamp- 

 shire State Tax Commission: Washington, Report, State Board of Tax Commis- 

 sioners, 1912: Report, Commissioner of Corporations on Taxation, Dec, 1913, 16, 

 17, 25, 46, 47, 62, 112, 241, 280, 329, 364: Report, National Conservation Commission, 

 1909, Vol. II, 581-632: Proceedings, Am. Forestry Assoc, 1891-92-93, 22, 23, 74, 75: 

 Fifth National Conservation Congress, Report on Forest Taxation: Report, Com- 

 mittee of National Tax Assoc, on Forest Taxation, by Fred R. Fairchild (Re- 

 printed from Proceedings of Nat'l Tax Assoc, Vol. VII): "Forest Taxation," by 

 Fred R. Fairchild, Address delivered before Sixth National Conference on State 

 and Local Taxation, Des Moines, Iowa; Sept. 4, 1912: Fernow, "Economics of 

 Forestry," Appendix, 465-467: American Lumberman, Jan. 27, 1912: Proceedings, 

 Society of Am. Foresters, Apr., 1906, 115: Addresses by Fred R. Fairchild, A. C. 

 Shaw, and B. E. Fernow at International Conference on State and Local Taxation, 

 Toronto, Canada, Oct. 6-9, 1908; International Tax Assoc, Columbus, Ohio. 



