classes of land from which it cannot easily be sep- 

 arated. General tax rates vary widely among the 

 counties, and the range is even greater between tax 

 districts within a county. That the relation of as- 

 sessed to appraised value varies even more was re- 

 vealed by a study of several years' taxes on approx- 

 imately 75,000 acres of forest land in small tracts 

 scattered through 7 South Carolina counties. The 

 average county tax here ranged from 7 to 17 cents 

 per acre, and the assessed valuations averaged about 

 half the appraised and sales value. On some forest 

 land the taxes are excessive and no distinction is 

 made in the appraisal between forest and other land, 

 nor is it customary to distinguish between land and 

 standing timber. Cut-over and reproducing areas 

 are commonly assessed at a higher proportion of the 

 market value than are timbered areas, and there is 

 a particularly unjust tendency to assess .small hold- 

 ings at a higher level than large holdings. 



Improvements in forest taxation methods could 

 be effected by adopting the suggestions made by the 

 Forest Taxation Inquiry of the United States Forest 

 Service {2). Particularly helpful would be a sepa- 

 rate classification, for assessment purposes, of forest 

 land and standing timber, with an adjustment of 

 the rate on the latter to take care of the long-time 

 investment involved. State action to bring about 

 more accurate and consistent assessments would be 

 a constructive step in the direction of better forest 

 management. It would eliminate discrimination 

 against individual owners, do away with the uncer- 

 tainty as to future taxes on individual properties, 

 and at the same time provide a more stable tax 

 revenue. 



Establishing A Forest Credit System 



Financial obligations and difficulties of various 

 kinds now prevent some timber owners and oper- 

 ators from adopting forestry methods which will 

 perpetuate their supplies. Since the accumulation 

 and improvement of adequate growing stock is of 

 concern to the State as a whole, as well as to indi- 

 viduals, safeguarded financial assistance by the 

 State becomes practicable and desirable. 



A forest credit system could be used for many 

 purposes. It would tend to make forest invest- 

 ments more liquid without liquidating the forest 

 itself and the sacrifice of immature or economically 

 unripe timber could be prevented. The credit 

 might be used to pay carrying costs or to consolidate 

 timber holdings. Some operators might use it to 

 refinance unduly burdensome loans, others to install 



needed improvements and facilities. State credit 

 might greatly aid groups of small owners desiring to 

 form cooperative associations for the management 

 of their forests and the processing and marketing of 

 their forest products. In these ways, and with the 

 necessary guarantees as to proper forest manage- 

 ment. State credit would help directly in bringing 

 about sustained-yield production. 



The report of the Joint Committee on Forestry of 

 the 77th Congress recommended the establishment 

 of a credit system whereby long-term loans at low 

 interest rates would be made to private forest and 

 naval stores operators through such agencies as the 

 Reconstruction Finance Corporation or the Farm 

 Credit Administration. The loans would be ad- 

 justed to the long-term nature of forestry and naval 

 stores operations, and would be conditioned upon 

 good forest practice and sound investment. Pro- 

 visions for a forest credit system are contained in at 

 least one bill placed before the 78th Congress. 



Public Regulation of Forest Practices 



While advocating additional public assistance for 

 private forest landowners, and recognizing the note- 

 worthy spread of commercial forestry in recent 

 years, the Forest Service is convinced that, in addi- 

 tion, public regulation of forest practices on these 

 lands is essential in order to keep them reasonably 

 productive. It believes that a floor of standards for 

 such practices should be established by Federal 

 legislation. To assure Nation-wide application of 

 these standards and, as far as possible, prevent in- 

 equitable interstate competition in the production 

 and marketing of forest products, the Secretary of 

 Agriculture should be authorized to take direct 

 action in any State where suitable legislation is not 

 enacted and enforced. 



The public is entitled to require compliance with 

 reasonable standards of forest practice, for several 

 reasons. First, adequate and well-distributed grow- 

 ing stock, or forest capital, must be maintained to 

 produce needed timber crops. Second, the public's 

 investment in fire protection and other cooperative 

 activities benefiting private owners must be pro- 

 tected. Third, it is necessary to maintain the forest- 

 land tax base in order to protect watersheds and to 

 provide regular employment and sat sfactory living 

 standards for forest industry workers. Finally, 

 small and large operators who wish to practice good 

 forest management must be protected from loss of 

 markets and the general maladjustments brought on 



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