FOREST TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES 375 
VII. Classification of property: 
1. Initial classification: 
a. Qualifications of the property (including land and trees). 
b. Procedure: 
(1) Petition by owner. 
(2) With whom filed. 
(3) Official hearing, investigation, appeal, etc. 
(4) Classification effected by specified authority; 
appeal. 
(5) Contract executed between owner and State. 
(6) Classification or contract recorded. 
2. Continuance of classification: 
a. Continuing requirements. 
b. Official control of cutting. 
c. Official authority to make and enforce rules subsequent to 
classification. 
d. Official inspection for enforcement. 
e. Effect of transfer of property. 
3. Declassification: 
a. Causes, procedure, appeal, etc. 
b. Declassification tax or penalty. 
VIII. General penalty provision. 
IX. General appeal provision. 
X. The law a contract. 
XI. Amendments: 
1. Restriction on power of legislature to amend or repeal. 
2. Right of owner to advantage of amendments. 
It should also be noted that in the forest-tax law digests in this part, quotation 
marks indicate exact quotations from the law in question, while brackets are used 
to enclose comments upon the law. All passages not so marked are to be un- 
derstood as representing faithful paraphrase of the words of the statute, except 
when a negative statement records the failure of the law in question to mention a 
particular topic. 
All of the special forest-tax laws, as previously indicated, are designed 
to give owners of forest land some kind of relief from the unrestricted 
operation of the property tax. They may be grouped for analysis 
both according to whether they are of general or limited application 
and according to the nature of the relief provided. The following is a 
classification of this kind, including the laws which were in effect on 
July 1, 1933: 
A. Laws granting tax relief to forests regardless of the origin or area of the stand 
and not requiring lease or deed to the State. 
1. Yield tax: 
a. Optional: 
(1) Land tax unmodified: 
(a) Contract: Alabama. 
(b) No contract: Massachusetts. 
(2) Land tax restricted: 
(a) Contract: Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. 
(b) No contract: Connecticut, Michigan, New York, Ohio, 
Pennsylvania, and Vermont. 
b. Nonoptional: 
(1) Land tax restricted: 
(a) Contract optional: Oregon and Washington. 
2. Exemption (none with contract feature): 
a. Optional: 
(1) Land tax unmodified: Connecticut. 
(2) Land exempt: Delaware and Maine. 
(3) Nominal fixed assessment: Indiana and Iowa. 
b. Nonoptional: 
(1) Land and mature timber tax unmodified: California. — 
B. Laws granting tax relief to planted stands, to areas of limited size, or to 
properties leased or deeded to the State (none with contract feature). 
1. Yield tax: 
a. Optional: 
(1) Land tax restricted: Michigan. 
