ownership can be appreciated only in the light 
of the sacredness of property rights in France. 
A people fully as jealous of individual liberties 
as ourselves have not hesitated to curtail prop- 
erty rights in the case of forests as distinct 
from all other classes of land, because of the 
special public interests which the forests serve.” 
This point is of interest because it shows that 
certain of the proposals that have been advanced 
for forest regulation in the United States have 
not been without the justification of the experi- 
ence of another country under a republican 
form of government. 
In practice the private owner can manage 
and exploit his forest as much as he likes, 
always provided, however, that the land shall 
be continued under forest. To clear land even 
for agricultural. use requires the untieing of 
endless red tape, and even should the permis- 
sion be granted, can be done only under official 
supervision. If privately owned forest land is 
devastated by any cause whatever, improper 
methods of cutting, grazing, fire, or clearing 
without the previous sanction of the govern- 
about them is they work. Whatever may be his 
opinion as to the enactment in the United 
States of legislation of this general character, 
it is advisable for anyone who is interested to 
post himself on the forest laws of France. 
THE FRENCH 
FOREST SERVICE 
France has always been noted for the highly 
centralized character of her government. Every- 
thing radiates from Paris, just as in other ways 
that city dominates the entire country. But 
while the central bureau of the French Forest 
Service is in Paris, the “conservateurs” in 
charge of the various districts have a surpris- 
ing degree of autonomy in the conduct of the 
forests under their charge. There are 32 dis- 
tricts or “conservations,” in France, beside the 
three created since the war for Alsace and Lor- 
Taine. There are also forestry officials in the 
French colonies. 
The French Forest Service is under the min- 
ister of agriculture, and in direct charge of 
a director general. In Paris there are three 
z 
bd 
A TYPICAL } : 
STAND OF BEECH| ; 
AND OAK 
IN THE 
BEAUTIFUL 
FOREST OF 
ECOUVES, 
ALENCON 
ment, the owner is subject to fines and other 
penalties, in large sums, and to the requirement, 
also under penalty, that he reforest the area 
within a prescribed time. No excuses or expla- 
nations are accepted or allowed. The case rests 
on the fact that the land has been cleared 
illegally. 
The laws concerning forest fire are very 
strict in France, particularly in the maritime 
pine forests in the Landes and in the dry region 
bordering the Mediterranean. There are also 
special provisions regarding the “protection for- 
est” zones in the high mountains and in the 
region of the sand dunes. The more important 
of these latter laws date from 1882. 
Thus it will be seen that regulation of the 
private forest owner is no new thing in France, 
the essential parts of the Forest Code having 
been continually in operation now for 95 years. 
The laws are drastic but the significant thing 
administrative bureaus, which subdivide into 
sections, somewhat as in our own Forest Serv- 
ice. Two general inspectors supervise the work 
of the 32 districts. In the districts, or con- 
servations, the conservator (who has the mili- 
tary rank of lieutenant colonel) has under him 
several inspectors, each in charge of a number 
of forests, under whom in turn are assistant 
inspectors (gardes generaux), and finally rang- 
ers and laborers. Each man within his prov- 
ince has charge of all the work therein. It is 
an organization by area, rather than by subject 
matter as followed in much of the work of the 
U.S. Forest Service. 
The National Forest School at Nancy is a 
part of the organization, although distinct from 
the administrative branch. In connection with 
the school is the Forest Experiment Station, 
which is divided into four sections. There is 
also a secondary school, at Barrés, for the train- 
(51) 
