A Brief History of Forestry.: In Europe, the United States and Other CountriesFernow, B. E. (Bernhard Eduard)
History
A Brief History of Forestry.: In Europe, the United States and Other Countries
Fernow, B. E. (Bernhard Eduard)
Forests and forestry -- History
All forests submitted to the _régime forestier_, namely, the state and
communal forests and those belonging to public institutions, are
entirely managed by the state forest administration, the communities or
other public forest owners paying for the service not to exceed 9 cents
per acre, or 5 per cent. of the revenue. All jurisdiction and execution
of forestry laws is in the hands of the officials of the Forest
Administration. The foresters of the state have the exclusive
responsibility of making and executing working plans, without
interference by the municipalities after the plans have once been
submitted and approved by them. The corporations have not even the right
to appoint their own guards, all such being appointed by the prefects of
the departments upon recommendation by the forest department.
The fellings, usually performed by the purchaser, (the wood being sold
on the stump), are supervised most rigorously, making even the smallest
deviations from the conditions of the contract sale, which otherwise
would only entail the payment of damage, punishable by fine; and the
responsibility for any trespass which may occur on the land reaches 250
yards beyond the limits of the purchaser’s territory, unless he gives
proper warning and tries to find out the perpetrators of the same. Legal
proceedings are brought before the courts of correction, and are greatly
simplified, as is customary in Germany.
The public forests may not be sold, mortgaged or divided, and the
product can be sold only through state foresters. As in the olden times,
one-quarter of the stands in the timber forests, and one-fourth of the
felling budget in the coppice is placed in reserve for urgent or
unforeseen needs.
In addition to these and other restrictions which refer to the _public_
forests, there are prescriptions which apply to _all_ woods in general.
All foresters employed, even on private properties, have sheriff’s
power. Walking in the woods with axe, saw and wagon outside of the
public roads which pass through them, is forbidden; the making of fires
is forbidden; the making of fire lines, 20 yards wide, between private
forests can be enforced by either owner, and railroads, along their
rights of way, are required to make such. By special law of 1893, the
setting of fires even within 200 yards of a wood is forbidden in certain
regions, and the punishment of infractions of these laws is very severe.
The rights of user are gauged by the administration according to the
possible yield, even in private forests, and are surrounded by many
other restrictions; the wood falling under such rights of user is cut
and delivered by the forest agents, and the rights can be forcibly
extinguished by exchange of territory.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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