GERMAN FOREST MANAGEMENT — WURTTEMBEEG 231 



troublesome times of the end of the eighteenth century. They were remodeled and perfected to 

 suit modern conditions in 1875 and 1870 the law of the former date dealing with the forests of 

 public corporations, the latter with State and private forests in general. 

 The " forest police law" of 1879 requires : 



(a) Clearing of forest requires a State permit; illegal clearing is punished with a fine. 



(b) A neglected piece of forest shall not become waste land; the State authority sees to its 

 reforestation, with or without help of owner, the expenses to be charged to the forest. 



(c) If the forester is convinced that a private owner cuts too much wood or otherwise 

 mismanages his forest, he is to warn the owner, and if this warning is not heeded the forest 

 authority may take in hand and manage the particular tract. 



(d) Owners of small tracts of forest can combine into associations and can place their 

 properties with municipal or even State forests for protection and management. In the latter 

 case they share the advantages of part of the municipal or communal forests which are managed 

 by State authorities. 



The law of 1875 relating to the management and supervision of forests belonging to villages, 

 towns, and other public corporations places the forests under this category all under direct State 

 supervision ; there being a special division of corporation or municipal forests in connection with 

 the State forest bureau. The law demands that all corporation forests be managed in accordance 

 with the principles of a continued supply, the same as the State forests. The corporation may 

 employ its own foresters, but these must be approved by the forest bureau and are responsible for 

 the proper execution of the plans of management. These plans are prepared by the foresters and 

 must be approved by the State forest authorities. If preferred, the corporation may leave the 

 management of its forests entirely to the State authorities. This is always done if a corporation 

 neglects to fill the position of its forester within a certain period after it becomes vacant. Where 

 the State forest authorities manage either corporation or private forest, the forest is charged with 

 8 cents per acre and year for this administration. This fee is generally less than it costs, so that 

 the State really has been making a sacrifice so far in providing a satisfactory management for 

 these forests. 



As in all other German States, nearly every piece of forest la^d was formerly encumbered 

 with certain rights which entitled the holders to certain fixed amounts of firewood, timber, to 

 pasture live stock, etc. The law of 1848 obliges the holders of these rights to part with them if 

 the proprietor pays the value of the rights, the manner of ascertaining the value being set forth 

 in the law itself. Thus, for the right of cutting his supply of firewood in a forest the holder of 

 the right is paid a sum which if placed at 4 per cent interest will purchase as much wood as the 

 holder of the right used per year, the average of twelve seasons being the criterion. Of the 

 different rights or privileges, those concerning pasturage and the cutting of hay in the forests 

 are practically settled, and the State paid between 1873 and 1880 about 2,445,000 marks, or 

 $011,000, for these rights. Eor privileges of cutting wood and timber the State has expended 

 large sums. Even prior to 1S48, between 1825 and 1850, forest land valued in the aggregate at 

 about $3,000,000, and between 1850 and 1880 over $500,000 more have been paid out to rid the 

 woods of these pestiferous rights, and yet as late as 1873 these rights were worth $32,000 per 

 year, or a capital (at 4 per cent interest) of $800,000. 



In matters of taxation all forests are assessed according to the net revenue which they 

 produce. Of the total area of the land, about 42 per cent is plow land, 18 per cent meadows and 

 pastures, 31 per cent forest, 3 per cent gardens and vineyards, and 2 per cent roads. In its 

 distribution over the State the forest forms 27 per cent of the area of the Kekar Kreis, 39 per 

 cent of the area of the Schwarzwald Kreis, 31 per cent of the area of the Jaxt Kreis, and 25 per 

 cent of the area of the Bonau Kreis. 



Of the total of about 1,470,000 acres of forest, 480,000, or 32 per cent, belong to the State 5 

 470,000, or 32 per cent, to corporations, and 530,000, or 36 per cent, to individuals. 



Of the corporation forests, nearly 360,000 acres are managed by State foresters - 7 of the private 

 forests, 200,000 acres are held by the nobility, including the royal family. 



Accurate statistics have been prepared so far only for the State forests and of late also for the 

 corporation forest, so that a more detailed description of these classes must serve as illustration 

 for the whole. 



