14 USE OF THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 



TO THE TAXPAYER. 



What happens to county taxes? People who are unfa- 

 miliar with the laws about National P'orests often argue 

 that they work hardships on the counties in which they 

 lie by withdrawing a great deal of land from taxation. 

 They say that if the lands were left open to pass into 

 private hands there would be much more taxable prop- 

 erty for the support of school and road districts. The 

 National Government of course pays no taxes. But it 

 does something better. It pays those counties in which 

 the Forests are located lo per cent of all the receipts 

 from the sale of timber, use of the range, and various 

 other uses, and it does this every year. It is a sure and 

 steady income, because the resources of National Forests 

 are used in such a way that they keep coming without a 

 break. Congress saw that the money returns would 

 soon be large, and it provided that the amount paid 

 should not exceed 40 per cent of the counties' tax re- 

 ceipts from other sources. 



Taxes from private timber lands, on the other hand, 

 are ordinarily only temporary returns, because after the 

 lands are logged they are usually left to bum up and 

 become vacant and barren, quite valueless for purposes 

 of taxation. Thus a county which is partly covered by 

 a National Forest is better off than one which is not. 

 In 1906 the National Forests paid the county school and 

 road funds over $75,000. This amount will be almost 

 doubled this year. 



