Conservation Commission. 23 



The Commission, therefore, on its own motion instituted an 

 investigation and held a series of hearings to which it invited 

 especially those persons who would he likely to be interested in 

 the operations of the top-lopping law or who might possess special 

 information relative thereto, as well as the general public. Care 

 was taken, through correspondence as well as through the public 

 press, to give as wide publicity as possible to the fact that these 

 hearings were to be held, and to have the purpose thereof thor- 

 oughly understood. The importance of these hearings seems to 

 require the transmission of a special report to the Legislature 

 outlining the facts brought out and the conclusions reached. In 

 general, however, we maintain that the top-lopping policy has 

 been vindicated in practice and has served as an efficient means 

 of checking the spread of forest fires. We therefore recommend 

 the re-enactment of the clause prescribing a specific penalty for 

 violation of the top-lopping law. 



Forest Taxation. 



In chapter 444 and in two special acts amending the Tax Law 

 the last Legislature initiated a new policy relative to the taxation 

 of forest lands. The underlying principle of these laws is that 

 the owner of woodlots ought to be upon a parity with the owner 

 of agricultural lands ; that is to say, he ought not to be subjected 

 to an annual tax when it is impossible for him to reap an annual 

 crop. Necessarily, a long term of years must elapse during the 

 process of reforestation, before the owner can realize any profit 

 whatever from his investment. 



Boundary Lines and Valuation Survey. 



One of the chief problems of forest administration has to do 

 with the uncertainty of boundary lines. This fact is strikingly 

 shown by a consideration of the statistics relative to trespass, 

 which show that only three of the twenty-seven cases reported as 

 committed during 1912 amounted to over $25 in computed value 

 of material, and that many if not most of the trespasses at the 

 present time appear to be due to the uncertainty of boundaries or 

 disputes as to title. 



In 1909 there were 83 trespass cases reported; computed value 



