20 



From the 660,000,000 acres of State forests which are now being 

 worked the net income is now nearly $21,500,000, or 3i cents per acre. 



Russia began to apply forestry before the time of want had ar- 

 rived, though forest havoc had been wrought. She was not forced 

 into it for self-protection, as were, for instance, Germany and France. 

 The lessons mastered by such other countries were regarded by the 

 Russian government as convincing enough without being actually 

 experienced. The United States stands in a much less fortunate posi- 

 tion with regard to forestry. With us the verge of a timber famine 

 has alread}^ been crossed, and we are to know what it means to pay 

 for forest waste. We have mortgaged the future of our forests. 

 Yet it is still possible for us to regain our forest independence. 



Attention was first turned to the protection of Russian forests 

 about two hundred and fifty years ago, when Czars Michael and 

 Alexis undertook to, settle property rights and make provision against 

 fire and theft. By the beginning of the eighteenth centur}^ more 

 careful use of the forests, especially of those yielding ship timbers, 

 was insisted upon by Peter the Great. The more immediate cause 

 which led to the present administration was the forest devastation 

 Avhich followed the abolition of serfdom (1861) and the partition 

 among the liberated serfs of much forest property. Complaints were 

 rife in 1864, and several laws were presently promulgated, the last 

 of which (1888) provides a comprehensive plan for the conservation 

 of forests, public and jDrivate. The worst effects of devastation were 

 felt in the southern districts near the steppes, where the soil and 

 stream flow had been gravely injured by clearings. The law, 

 however, which was passed directly as a result of these evils, applied 

 to all European Russia, and has since (in 1903) been made applicable 

 to the Caucasus, the Trans- Caucasus, and other southern provinces. 



Forests which hold shifting sands or protect the shores of rivers, 

 canals, and other waters, as well as those which serve to prevent ero- 

 sion and avalanches in the mountain districts, are classed as protec- 

 tion forests, which may not be converted to agriculture or cleared 

 or used as pasture. If of natural growth, protection forests are free 

 from taxes forever; if planted, they are not taxed for thirty years. 



Private forests not classed as protective may be cleared only on 

 certain conditions, which, as a rule, provide for returning the land 

 to forest or at least for offsetting the clearing by growing a planta- 

 tion. 



Over 100,000,000 acres of private forests have been placed under 

 supervision as protection forests. 



In each province and district there is a forest protection committee 

 composed of local administrative officers, including one or two for- 

 esters, the justice of the peace or other justice, the county council, and 



[Cir. 140] 



