Over-cutting on the mountain slopes in the 
French Alps runs back for centuries, but in: 
the years immediately following the French 
Revolution, when the old forest ordinances 
were thrown aside and law and order had 
not yet been re-established throughout 
France, indiscriminate cutting in the French 
Alps proceeded on an extensive scale and 
with what had been done earlier created 
conditions the evil results of which began 
soon to be felt. Especially troublesome be- 
came the uncertainty in the flow of the 
streams. Floods alternated with periods of 
low water. Industries dependent upon water 
power were crippled, and nearer the sea 
even navigation was involved. A _ situation 
had been created that came near to being 
a national calamity. 
Especially may be mentioned the great 
floods in 1840 and 1856, because it was out 
of the damage wrought in these years that 
there finally came the organization of the 
control work on a comprehensive basis. Be- 
fore that time what had been done was 
largely local and sporadic. In 1860 and 
again 1864 laws were passed dealing with 
reforestation in the mountains; but they 
failed to be effective, primarily because they 
provided that the mountain lands, mainly be- 
longing to the communes, could be taken 
over by the government without payment. It 
was not until 1882 that realiy satisfactory 
legislation was secured. This is the law in 
effect today. Its essential provisions are 
that the state may acquire by purchase or 
condemnation the areas where intensive 
work in reboisement is essential, but the 
lands so taken must be paid for. This per- 
mits the government to control the “key 
areas’. For the remainder of the land with- 
in the project boundaries, an agreement is 
entered into between the state and the owner, 
usually a commune, whereby a _ subsidy iis 
granted by the government, but only pro- 
vided that certain conditions and require- 
ments are satisfied. The plans proposed by 
the forest service must have the sanction of 
a local commission, but it may be remarked 
in passing that the forest service retains the 
whip hand in this matter, because it is large- 
ly upon its recommendation that the govern- 
ment subsidies are granted or withheld. 
From the standpoint of policy the interest- 
ing thing is the breakdown that followed 
the attempt of the government in earlier 
years to make the owner of the land pay the 
cost, and the adoption finally of the present 
arrangement whereby at least the key areas, 
that constitute the core of any given project, 
shall be purchased by the state. It is but 
another illustration that when the benefits 
to be derived from forests are as indirect as 
must be the case with forests of the protection 
forest type, it becomes the business of the 
state, rather than of the individual or cor- 
poration, to undertake their management. In 
connection with the reboisement provisions 
in the law of 1882 there are, however, some- 
what drastic regulations governing the way 
in which the private owner may cut his for- 
est if it lies within certain specified regions. 
Reference to laws of this sort was made in 
an earlier letter in this series. 
METHODS FOLLOWED 
IN REBOISEMENT 
Reboisement work in the French Alps, as 
also in similarly situated areas in Switzer- 
land, divides into two parts; the control of 
torrents, and the prevention of avalanches. 
Torrent control may also be subdivided into 
the “‘correction works’ on the lower por- 
tions of the torrential streams, and the pre- 
ventive measures that are practiced high up 
on the catchment basins to forestall further 
trouble. In the correction of torrential 
streams engineering works play a large part; 
the construction of masonry dams, the pav- 
ing of the stream beds, and the like. In the 
prevention of torrents, especially in recent 
years, more and more emphasis is being put 
on afforestation. 
It has been a subject of much debate in 
what proportion the work of torrent control 
METHOD OF REGULATING THE FLOW OF 
A TORRENTIAL STREAM HIGH UP ON 
A MOUNTAIN SLOPE, SWITZERLAND 
(55) 
