FORESTRY COMMISSIONS — PENNSYLVANIA. 179 



copies; to the secretary of agriculture, two thousand copies; to the State librarian, for distribution among public 

 libraries and for reserve work, five hundred copies; and to the State agricultural experiment station, one hundred 

 copies. 



Sec. 7. That the secretary of agriculture shall have an office at the State capitol, and it is hereby made the 

 duty of the commissioners of public buildings and grounds to provide the necessary rooms, furniture, and apparatus 

 for the use of the department. 



Sec. 8, That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith be, and the same are hereby, repealed. 



The legislature of 1897, in addition to passing — 



An act making constables of townships ex officio lire wardens for the extinction of forest fires, and for 

 reporting to the court of quarter sessions violations of the laws for the protection of forests from iire, prescribing 

 the duties of such fire wardens and their punishment for failure to perform the same, and empowering them to 

 require, under penalty, the assistance of other persons in the extinction of such fires; 



and 



An act to amend the first section of an act entitled "An act to protect timber lands from fire," approved 

 the second day of June, anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and seventy, providing for a penalty in case of 

 the failure of county commissioners to comply with the terms of said act, after demand made upon them by the 

 commissioner of forestry, and providing for the Commonwealth bearing part of the expenses incurred under said act; 



also, 



An act to authorize constables and other peace officers, without first procuring a warrant, to arrest persons 

 reasonably suspected by them of offending against the laws protecting timber lands— 



enacted the following laws, thus firmly establishing a forest policy for the State. 



AN ACT for the preservation of forests and partially relieving forest lands from taxation. 



Be it enacted, etc, : 



Section 1. That in consideration of the public benefit to be derived from the retention of forest or timber 

 trees, the owner or owners of land in this Commonwealth having on it forest or timber trees of not less than fifty 

 trees to the acre, and each of said trees to measure at least eight inches in diameter at a height of six feet above the 

 surface of the ground, with no portion of the said laud absolutely cleared of the said trees, shall, on making due 

 proof thereof, be entitled to receive annually from the commissioners of their respective counties during the period 

 that the said trees are maintained in sound condition upon the said land a sum equal to eighty per centum of all 

 taxes annually assessed and paid upon the said laud, or so much of the said eighty per centum as shall not exceed 

 the sum of forty-five cents per acre: Provided, however, That no one property owner shall be entitled to receive said 

 sum on more than fifty acres. 



Sec. 2. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. 



AN ACT authorizing the purchase by the Commonwealth of unseated lands for the nonpayment of taxes for the purpose of creating a 



State forest reservation. 



Be it enacted, etc.: 



Section 1. That from and after the first day of January, anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and 

 ninety-eight, whenever any unseated lands within this Commonwealth shall, under existing laws, become liable to 

 sale by the respective county treasurers or the county commissioners for non-payment of taxes, it shall be the duty 

 of such treasurers and commissioners to publish a notice once a week for six successive weeks in at least two 

 newspapers of general circulation within the county in which the lands lie, and if two newspapers be not published 

 in said county, then in one newspaper in or nearest to the same, which notice shall contain the names of the owners 

 when known, the warrant numbers, names of warrantees when known, the number of acres contained in each tract, 

 the township in which the same is located, and the sums due upon each tract for taxes, and, further, to mail to the 

 secretary of agriculture and the commissioner of forestry each ten copies of such printed advertisement immediately 

 upon the publication thereof. 



Sec. 2. It shall bo the duty of the commissioner of forestry to inquire into and examine the location and 

 character of the lands so advertised, and if in his judgment the same are so located and are of such a character as 

 to make them desirable to the Commonwealth for the purpose of creating and maintaining a forestry reservation, 

 he shall have power, at his discretion, to purchase any such lands for and in behalf of the Commonwealth at such 

 tax sales, subject to the right of redemption under existing laws; Provided, however, That the bid made and the 

 price paid for said lands shall in no case exceed the amount of taxes for the nonpayment of which the same are 

 being sold, aud the costs. For all purchases so made in behalf of the Commonwealth the auditor-general shall 

 draw his warrant upon the. State treasurer to the order of the county treasurer, upon certificate filed by the 

 commissioner of forestry with the said auditor-general. 



Sec. 3. In the event of redemption of said lands, the redemption money paid shall be remitted to the State 

 treasurer by the county treasurer, with a statement describing the tract of land so redeemed. 



Sec, 4. The title to all lands so purchased, and not redeemed after the expiration of the time limited for 

 redemption, shall be taken as vested in the Commonwealth to the same extent and with like effect as though such 

 purchase had been made by an individual at such sale, and the county treasurer shall certify to the secretary of 

 agriculture lists of all lands purchased in behalf of the Commonwealth and not redeemed within the time limited 



