fertility that it never has and probably never 

 will grow sound commercial saw timber. Brush 

 covered sand dunes, and dry, rocky ridge tops 

 in the mountains are examples of this class of 

 land. Since non-productive forest land meets the 

 definition of waste land, county assessing au- 

 thorities should apply to it the same classifica- 

 tion and assessment standards." 



APPRAISAL OF FOREST LAND 

 APART FROM STANDING TIMBER 



"... for general assessment purposes, the two 

 primary factors in setting base per acre values 

 on forest land as such are producing power and 

 accessibility to timber market. ... it is suggested 

 that the Advisory Board set base per acre values 

 for such land (including cutover land), using a 

 table substantially as follows for recording 

 their decisions: 



Productivity 



I Above average 

 II Average 

 III Below average 



Accessibility to timber market 

 Good (A) Average (B) Poor (C) 

 IA IB IC 



IIA IIB IIC 



iiia iiib mc 



... In setting these base values the Advisory 

 Board must always keep in mind that their fig- 

 ures should represent average market values for 

 each grade, not unusually high or unusually low 

 prices for the particular kind of forest land 

 property considered. 



"... there is an exception to the rule that for- 

 est land and timber should be assessed sepa- 

 rately. . . . forest land on which there is no 

 merchantable timber, but on which there is 

 either a growth of 'seedlings and saplings' or a 

 growth classified as 'poorly stocked.' Seedlings 

 and saplings have no market value if severed 

 from the land, and poorly stocked timber, re- 

 gardless of the possible value of individual 

 trees, has no market value simply because there 

 is not enough of it to the acre to warrant the 

 costs of severing it. Yet, in both cases, the 

 presence of this timber enhances the value of 

 the land on which it lies above its bare or cut- 

 over value. The difference in value caused by 

 this growth must be taken into account in the 

 tax assessment of the forest land itself, and not 

 in a separate timber value. 



". . . Two possible ways of making this ad- 

 justment present themselves. 



"The simplest procedure would be for ... a 

 flat sum addition per acre . . ." 



"A better procedure would be for the Ad- 

 visory Board to set up flat sums per acre to 

 be added in these cases in the following manner : 



Class 



Stand-size class 



Forest type 



Quality 



Seedlings & 



saplings 

 (per acre) 



Poorly 



stocked 



(per acre) 



I Softwood 



A. Above 

 average 



B. Average 



C. Below 

 average 



I A S & S 



I B S & S 

 I C S & S 



I A PS 



I B PS 

 I C PS 



II Softwood- 

 hardwood 



A. Above 

 average 



B. Average 



C. Below 

 average 



II A S & S 



II B S & S 

 II C S & S 



II A PS 



II B PS 

 II C PS 



III Upland 

 hardwood 



A. Above 

 average 



B. Average 



C. Below 

 average 



III A S & S 



III B S & S 

 III C S & S 



III A PS 



III B PS 

 III C PS 



IV Cove 



hardwood 



A. Above 

 average 



B. Average 



C. Below 

 average 



IV A S & S 



IV B S & S 

 IV C S & S 



IV A PS 



IV B PS 

 IV C PS 



V Bottomland 

 hardwood 



A. Above 

 average 



B. Average 



C. Below 

 average 



V A S & S 



V B S & S 



V C S & S 



V A PS 



V B PS 



V C PS 



"Having settled upon flat additions for the 

 presence of such growths, the Advisory Board 

 should insert them in the table shown above. 

 This table will make it easy for the list taker 

 and assessor to compute the additions to base 

 value for any individual tract of forest land he 

 is called on to appraise. 



APPRAISAL OF TIMBER APART FROM 

 THE LAND ON WHICH IT STANDS 



". . . merchantable timber in North Carolina 

 is classed as timber 5 inches or larger in diam- 

 eter measured 414 feet from the ground, usually 

 expressed as 'diameter breast high.' Trees un- 

 der 5 inches in diameter would normally not 

 command a market price if they were cut. . . ." 



". . . For tax assessment purposes there are 

 five readily recognizable broad forest types in 

 North Carolina: 



(1) Softwood . . . 



(2) Mixed softwood and hardwood . . . 



(3) Upland hardwoods . . . 



(4) Cove hardwoods . . . 



(5) Bottomland hardwoods . . . 



"The County Valuation Committee and its 

 Advisory Board on Timber and Forest Land 



64 



