IOWA 
Modified Assessment Law.! 
Optional. Enacted 1906. Amended 1933, 
1935, and 1953. 
Statutes Annotated Secs. 161.1 to 138; 441.22. 
Classification 
Qualification. Continuous tracts of not less than 
2 acres may be classified as “forest reservations.” 
The tract must contain not less than 200 growing 
forest trees of designated species per acre, or, 
in the case of groves or areas to be planted to 
trees, this number must be reached within 2 years 
following classification. Trees must be in groves 
not less than 4 rods wide except those growing or 
planted along gullies or ditches to control erosion 
in which case any width will qualify. 
Certain species of trees qualify only when such 
trees are used as protecting borders not more than 
2 rows in width around forest reservations, or 
when used as nurse trees numbering not more than 
100 per acre. 
No ground upon which any farm buildings stand 
is eligible for classification. 
Procedure. The owner makes application to the 
1 Known as the “‘Forest Reserve Law.”’ 
assessor. The latter reports all reservations to the 
country auditor who maintains a record of classi- 
fied lands and reports these annually to the Con- 
servation Commission. 
Conditions governing continued classification. 
Upon the removal or death of any trees the owner 
must plant other forest trees within one year so as 
to maintain the number required by law. No 
grazing by cattle or other domestic animals is 
permitted. 
Declassification 
If the owner has violated any of the provisions 
of the law within 2 years preceding the making 
of an assessment, the assessor does not list the 
property as a forest reservation for the ensuing 2 
years. 
Tax treatment 
Land and timber. “Forest reservations” 
assessed on a taxable valuation of $4 per acre. 
are 
MAINE 
Modified Assessment Law.! 
Mandatory. Enacted 1954. Amended 1965. 
Revised Statutes, 1964, Title 36, Secs. 563-— 
565; 843-A, 843-B. 
Eligibility 
The Act declares it to be the public policy of 
the State to encourage sustained yield operation 
of all forest lands and to maintain uniformity in 
methods of assessment according to land produc- 
tivity, giving due weight to location and public 
facilities as factors contributing to advantage in 
operation. 
A tract of land under one ownership is eligible 
for modified assessment if it exceeds 25 acres and 
is devoted to the growing of trees for commercial 
use. 
Taz treatment 
Land and timber. “‘An assessment of forest land 
for purposes of taxation shall be held to be in 
excess of just value .. . upon proof by the owner 
that the tax burden . . . creates an incentive to 
1 Known as the ‘‘Chase Law.” 
19 
abandon the land, or to strip the land, or other- 
wise operate contrary to the public policy de- 
clared=*).”’. 
In support of his contention, the owner must 
show that by reason of the tax burden he is unable, 
by efficient operation on a sustained yield basis, to 
obtain an adequate annual net return commensu- 
rate with the risks involved. 
Tax administration 
A Forestry Appeal Board has been established 
to further implement the Act. The Board is com- 
posed of three members, one selected by the forest 
landowner, one by the assessors, and one by the 
Forest Commissioner. Technical rules of evidence 
are not to apply at hearings held by the Board; 
there is provision for appeal from the Board to the 
Courts. 
