FORESTRY IN ITALY. 1 63 



TITLE II. 



REPLANTING OF TREES. 



Art. II. The ministry of agriculture, industry and commerce, and the provinces and 

 communes, for the purpose of preserving the firmness of the soil and of regulating water- 

 courses, may either, together or mdependently, take measures for replandng (virith trees) lands 

 under forest bounds. 



The direction of works of replanting, made at the joint expense of the government, the 

 provinces and the conamunes, is intrusted to the forestal committees. 



A suitable provision in the budget of the ministry of agriculture, industry and commerce 

 will provide for such part of the cost of replanting as is chargeable to the state. 



Art. 12. Permission is given to the state, the province and the communes to proceed in 

 the manner established by existing laws to the expropriation of the above-mentioned lands, for 

 reasons of public utility. 



The proprietor, nevertheless, will have the right to cultivate, in a manner consistent with the 

 purposes of the present law, the land that may be expropriated, provided he makes a declara- 

 tion of his purpose before he begins work, and provided he undertakes work within a period 

 of six months and finishes it within the period that may be assigned by the forestal committee. 



The forestal administration may, when-money has been voted for the purpose, acquire waste 

 lands in order to replant them, or to sell or otherwise dispose of them subject to the obligation 

 to replant them. 



Art. 13. The proprietors of land placed under forest bounds may unite together in order 

 to provide for the replanting of the same, and for the preservation and defense of their rights. 



The formation of such a union may also be ordered by the judicial authorities upon the 

 demand of the majority of those interested, when there is a question of the preservation or 

 defense of the common rights. 



Proprietors dessenting from such union have, however, right to exempt themselves from 

 obligations in the matter by surrendering their lands to the union at a fair price in which case 

 their acquisition by the union is obligatory. 



Art. 14. In case where replanting only is intended, the union may proceed in the way 

 provided by the law to the expropriation of lands lying within the area to be replanted when- 

 ever the proprietors of such lands have not wished or do not wish to join the union, and there 

 is proof that forestal culture cannot be carried out without the participation of the dissident 

 proprietors, and that the latter would be benefitted by such culture. 



The permission to expropriate may nevertheless be exercised only in case the expropriated 

 proprietors are owners of at least four-fiths of the land forming the area to be replanted. 



Art. 15. The provisions of articles 3, 4, S, 6 and 7 of the law of May 29, 1873, No. 1387 

 (series 2), are applicable to the unions mentioned in article 14. 



TITLE III. 

 PENAL REGULATIONS AND FORESTAL POLICE. 



Art. 16. The proprietors who shall till or clear, or who having tilled or cleared, in con- 

 travention of the law, shall continue to cultivate land under forest bounds, or wBo shall not 

 execute the works reqinred in article 4, shall incur a fine of not more than 250 lire (S42.25) 

 for every hectare of land, and shall be compelled to make the land safe or wooded within the 

 term of 18 months from the date of the sentence. 



Art. 17. If within 18 months from the conviction referred to in the preceding article the 

 land be not properly prepared for renovation or for replanting, or if the works mentioned in 

 article 4 shall not have been executed, the prefect of the province shall order firom the forestal 

 agent an estimate of the work necessary to be done. 



The offender within a month from the date of notification of the estimate must deposit with 

 the secretary of the prefecture a sum corresponding to the estimated expenses, and the forestal 

 committee will at once cause the work to be done. If the deposit has not been made, or if the 

 cost of the work proves to be greater than the estimated sum, the sum due will be fixed by the 

 order of the prefect in accordance with the rules governing the collection of direct taxes. 



