When that happens, the taxpayer, the town and 

 the state lose tremendously. 



According to Title 32, Vermont Statutes An- 

 notated, Section 4152 (7) (A), you listers are 

 supposed to record in the grand list book the 

 approximate acreages of woodland, cropland 

 and pasture land owned by the different indi- 

 viduals in your town. In the Handbook for Ver- 

 mont Listers and TAX AIDS, we have recom- 

 mended that rural land be appraised according 

 to these three different types of land. We have 

 noted that land for cultivation, as well as land 

 used for pasture, is very apt to be of more than 

 one grade on nearly every farm and should be 

 appraised accordingly. This also holds true for 

 land that is devoted to raising timber. 



Land that is used for cultivation raises a crop 

 each year, whereas land used for growing trees 

 will take from 50 years to 125 years to raise a 

 single crop of pulpwood or merchantable saw 

 timber, depending on whether or not the trees 

 are hardwood or softwood and the capability of 

 the soil. The same is true for the growing of 

 trees as for the growing of yearly crops, the 

 better the soil, the better the crop. Some soils 

 will grow trees much faster than will others. 

 Also, some species of trees will grow better in 

 a given location than will other kinds. 



There are many problems connected with the 

 appraising of timberland. In some sections of 

 the state, the bulk of the timber is being used 

 for pulp in the paper industry, while in other 

 sections the timber is used for veneer, furniture 

 manufacturing, construction material, etc. 

 There are other sections that are being opened 

 up for recreation — hunting, fishing, skiing. A 

 few areas are seeing plantings of seedlings for 

 Christmas trees, which will be ready for the 

 market in eight to fifteen years, depending on 

 the type of tree planted. There are the active 

 maple sugar orchards, some of which are quite 

 extensive. Also, there are stands of various 

 kinds of hardwood timber, such as beech, yel- 

 low birch, white birch, maple, ash, black cherry, 

 etc., while other stands will be of softwood only. 

 Occasionally, there will be combinations of both. 

 You will find a considerable variation in a given 

 tract of land. As an example, we found an 800 

 acre tract when making the study for the recom- 

 mendations contained herein, that consisted of 

 200 acres of maple and ash, 560 acres of cutover 

 land and 40 acres that had been planted to pine. 



We have repeatedly advised you listers that 

 real estate cannot be appraised from the back 

 seat of an automobile or sitting in the town 

 clerk's office. The same holds true for timber- 

 land as for buildings, pasture land and culti- 



vated land, you must examine the timberland if 

 you expect to make an equitable appraisal. Also, 

 you should look it over once every ten years, at 

 least. It will take just about that much time for 

 a change in the size of timber to be noticed. You 

 don't have to worry about depreciation due to 

 cuttings, the owners will notify you. 



While it is true that some species of hard- 

 woods are more valuable than others, as with 

 the softwoods, we are not going to suggest you 

 appraise the timberlands according to the spe- 

 cies grown. Most of us know some of the various 

 kinds of trees growing in our Vermont woods, 

 but very few, other than foresters or trained 

 timber cruisers, can tell all of the different types 

 from the bark, or shape, and without leaves. 

 Therefore, the categories submitted for your 

 use will be more general in character and are 

 illustrated with pictures and defined on pages 

 3 to 8. 



TOOLS TO WORK WITH 



TAX MAPS 



Just as the recommendations herewith are a 

 tool for the better appraisal of timberland, there 

 are other tools available. For instance, aerial 

 photographs of your town would be a big help. 

 Many taxing jurisdictions have been completely 

 photographed in other states and provinces, 

 with tax maps made therefrom showing the 

 different types of timber and soils, rivers, 

 ponds, roads, etc. Tax maps are just as valuable 

 for a rural community as they are for the larger 

 towns and cities. For those rural towns with 

 hundreds of acres of timberland, aerial photo- 

 graphs would help the listers immensely. While 

 many of the aerial photographs are so old that 

 they have lost some of their value, information 

 on available photographs may be obtained from 

 the Soil Conservation Service offices throughout 

 the state. 



While aerial photography is the best method 

 to use for surveying large tracts of timberland 

 and making tax maps therefrom, we realize 

 not all towns can afford the cost of such work. 

 We firmly believe tax maps, which could be 

 made from an ordinary map of the town or 

 from enlarged copies of topographic maps, 

 should be available to the listers. The topograpic 

 maps are available in stores in the larger towns 

 of the state, at least, and are very inexpensive. 

 With aerial photographs, someone trained in 

 their interpretation could give you all the infor- 

 mation you need, including the size and kind of 

 trees, the acreages of the different tracts and 

 a lot of information relative to the soils. Where 



71 



