FOREST TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES 377 
In order to dispose of the less important laws at the outset, those 
of limited application will first be discussed. 
LAWS OF LIMITED APPLICATION 
All laws which are limited in application to planted stands, to areas 
of small size, or to properties which are leased or deeded to the State 
are classified as of limited application. This group includes one law 
which imposes, instead of the property tax, a yield tax on timber cut 
from farm wood lots (Michigan), 6 laws (Colorado, Iowa, New Hamp- 
shire—2 laws, Rhode Island, and Vermont) which exempt trees from 
all taxation under special conditions, and 2 laws (Kentucky and 
Virginia) which grant certain concessions related to taxation to own- 
ers who are willing to lease their lands to the State. This group 
includes also the rebate laws of New Hampshire and Pennsylvania 
and the bounty laws of Illinois, Minnesota, and South Dakota. 
The only yield-tax law of limited application, that of Michigan, is 
designed to take care of farm wood lots which conform to certain 
standards of forestry practice. The exemption laws of this group, 
with the exception of those of New Hampshire, concern only planted 
stands. Both of the New Hampshire laws are limited to small areas, 
one granting exemption of forest trees except in the year when cut 
and the other granting complete exemption, but requiring that the 
owner deed the tract in question to the State, subject for 10 years to 
right of reconveyance under specified conditions. The laws provid- 
ing for lease to the State apply to natural as well as to planted 
stands. The rebate and bounty laws, except in Pennsylvania, were 
intended to encourage forest planting and are therefore applicable 
to plantations only. The rebate laws of Pennsylvania, two in num- 
ber, are limited to small areas. They have both been held uncon- 
stitutional by the lower courts, and, while their validity has never 
been finally determined, no attempt is made to apply them. 
The practice of encouraging forest planting by means of rebates 
and bounties has in general been abandoned, and the laws to which 
it gave rise are largely inoperative. They never accomplished sub- 
stantial results except in unusual cases, as those of Nebraska and 
Minnesota, the history of which has been given in the earlier part of 
this section. 
The laws providing for lease or deed to the State are primarily 
conservation measures and are mentioned here only because they 
have an incidental relation to taxation. Their purpose is to extend 
State management to private forest lands. New Hampshire is the 
_ only State that has had such a law for a long enough period to permit 
of an adequate test. Here the property must be deeded to the State, 
reserving right of reconveyance within 10 years, and the owner is 
automatically relieved of any tax liability while the land is State 
property. In Kentucky the State is authorized to lease a forest 
property for a rental not greater than the property tax, while in 
Virginia the State may assume limited contro! of the property, also 
under a lease, during which time the tax may be deferred until the 
timber is marketed or becomes merchantable. However, simple 
interest on the amount of the deferred tax is charged, at the rate of 
6 percent per year, and must be paid with the tax. The tax-defer- 
ment feature of the Virginia law can become operative only when 
accepted by the voters of the county concerned. In general these 
