18 CIRCULAR 8 9 9, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



If the purpose of these value limits is to exclude from eligibility 

 lands that are more useful for purposes other than forestry or lands 

 that are so poor that they could not yield a forest crop, the purpose 

 could be accomplished in other ways. The value limitations are much 

 less flexible and accordingly less effective in excluding such lands than 

 are general provisions requiring that the land be devoted to forestry 

 and capable of producing forest crops. Land and timber values have 

 changed greatly in recent years and may continue to change in the 

 future. Unless the value limits are changed frequently they soon fail 

 to serve their original purpose. 



Other provisions. — Alabama is the only State among the 12 with 

 optional yield-tax laws that has not established any qualifications for 

 land eligible for classification other than a general suitability for 

 forest culture. 



The provisions of the Mississippi and New Hampshire laws that 

 exempt all growing wood and timber from the property tax and im- 

 pose yield taxes on all forest products harvested are the most impor- 

 tant variations from the general pattern of qualification. One im- 

 portant advantage of these provisions is a simplification of procedure. 

 No applications, hearings, inspections, certificates, or contracts are 

 required. The laws are simpler to understand than the optional laws 

 and are certainly more widely known by forest owners. One dis- 

 advantage is that the immediate imposition of the yield tax on forest 

 products harvested could work a hardship on an owner who, at con- 

 siderable cost, has brought his stand to financial maturity. Without 

 any past advantage derived from reduced tax payments on the value 

 of his timber he becomes subject to the full yield tax on all products 

 harvested. Obviously such a law would not be equitable in a State 

 like Oregon or Washington where large volumes of financially ma- 

 ture timber are still standing. Its application is limited to regions 

 where most of the mature stands have been harvested and where there 

 are few or no ownerships consisting entirely of mature timber. 



PROCEDURE OF CLASSIFICATION 



The general purposes of the procedures established for classification 

 of forest land under a yield-tax law are : To determine the eligibility 

 of land for classification, to obtain a legal description of the area 

 classified, to convey information regarding classification to the local 

 taxing authorities and the interested State agencies, and to establish an 

 agreement between the owner and the State, county, or other taxing 

 authority. 



The object of provisions to determine the qualification of land for 

 classification is to carry out the purposes with regard to qualification 

 discussed in the previous section. Under the optional yield-tax laws 

 the initial step is the filing of a petition or application by the land- 

 owner. This is followed by an examination by the approving agency. 

 Provision is made in some of the laws for public hearings during which 

 any interested person may testify. The legal description of the land 

 classified is necessary in the administration of the yield-tax and prop- 

 erty-tax laws. The establishment of definite relations between the 

 owner and the taxing authority is necessary to give both parties to 

 the agreement an assurance of the owner's obligations and rights both 



