54 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the right to make and enforce all necessary rules and regulations 

 for their protection and management, and to sell or lease under 

 limited permit any products or uses. 



In justice to a municipality in which an insular forest might be 

 located, provision ought to be made that it receive a certain per- 

 centage of any revenue of such forest as recompense for loss in 

 taxable income caused by the presence of tax-free government land. 

 This method has been adopted by the Federal Government in 

 reimbursing States on account of National Forests. A second method 

 which aims to accomplish the same purpose and is now in effect in 

 some of the States is for the State to pay to the county or town in 

 which a State forest may be located a fixed sum annually, generally 

 from 1 to 4 cents an acre, in place of taxes exempted from these lands. 



During the first few years the work of the insular forest service 

 would yield only such revenue as could be realized from the sale of 

 seeds or seedlings which it seemed desirable to the board to dispose of. 

 After the organization of the insular forests there would be some 

 revenue from leases and other special uses, and later on a regular 

 income from the mature timber. During the formative period, at 

 least, it would be extremely desirable to cover into the insular 

 treasury all revenues from forestry sources, to be constituted a 

 special fund available for expenditure for any forestry purpose. 



It is desirable to make the law as comprehensive as possible at 

 the outset in order to outline in advance the full scope and significance 

 of the work. The initial annual appropriations need, however, 

 provide for only the few essentials required to get the work under way. 

 An appropriation of $5,000 should be sufficient to cover the salary 

 of the forester, his necessary field and office expenses, and the hire of 

 any assistants he may need for nursery and investigative work. 

 When it comes to establishing the experiment station, a special 

 building and equipment fund of $10,000 will be necessary ' and an 

 additional maintenance fund of $3,000 annually. 



There are other considerations than those concerned strictly 

 with forestry which merit legislative attention. The regulation of 

 the indiscriminate and nomadic cropping of ground provisions and 

 the equally indiscriminate practice of charcoal burning are of first 

 importance. The most permanent and logical means are education 

 and the definite establishment of land titles. A cadastral survey 

 of the island has been repeatedly urged by the principal government 

 officials, both present and past, who have come in contact with the 

 land situation in any of its phases. The difficulties in levying taxes 

 and in knowing what are and what are not government lands have 

 already been mentioned. The further difficulty, and the one with 

 which we are particularly concerned here, is the enforcing of the 

 police powers against unlawful trespass on both public and private 

 property. It is obvious that it must be known with certainty who 



