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
Finally, by the reboisement law of 1882, the complaints of the
mountaineers were properly taken care of by placing the entire expense
of the reboisement work on the state. The attitude of the mountaineers,
which was at first hostile, due to the restriction of the pasture, has
been overcome by the beneficial results of the work, and now the most
hostile are ready to offer gratuitously their territory to the Forest
Department. Wherever necessary the state has bought territory, and from
year to year has increased its holdings, and continues to acquire land
at the rate of 25,000 to 30,000 acres per year, the budget of 1902, for
instance, containing $1,000,000 for this purpose; that of 1911, only
$40,000.
Altogether the state had, up to 1900, acquired 400,000 acres, of which
218,000 have been planted, and it is estimated that about 430,000 acres
more will have to be acquired. The total expense, outside of subventions
to communities and private owners, up to 1900 has been over $13,000,000,
of which somewhat over $5,000,000 was expended for purchases, it is
estimated that round $25 to $30 million more will be needed to complete
the work. Of the 1,462 torrents there were in 1893, 163 entirely
controlled, and 654 begun to be “cured.” Among the former, there were 31
which 50 years ago were considered by engineers incurable. It is
estimated that, with the expenditure of $600,000 per annum, the work may
be finished by 1945. The names of Matthieu and Demontzey, especially the
latter, are indelibly connected with this great work.
Lately, however, Briot in his classical work _Les Alpes françaises_
criticizes severely as improperly extravagant the large expenditures in
places where the result does not warrant them, and proclaims as illusory
some of the methods adopted.
5. _Forestry Science and Practice._
Until the 16th century, whatever regulations had been issued regarding
forest use were merely of administrative or police character and had
nothing to do with management or silviculture, except perhaps so far as
the number of _baliveaux_, reserved trees to be left, might be
considered as bearing upon the subject. The _réformateurs_ who were from
time to time appointed had to deal only with judicial questions and
abuses; and usually the ordinances referred only to special forests, but
in 1563, the _Table de marbre_ of Paris issued instructions which were
to serve in all forests.
A futile attempt to secure statistical knowledge of the forest domain
was made, apparently with a view to regulation of the cut, by de Fleury,
the chief of the forest service in 1561. In default of data from many of
the _maîtrises_, a provisional partial order to regulate the cut was
issued in 1573, which remained in force for a hundred years, and was
regularly disregarded, extraordinary cuts being made without authority
and with the connivance of the officers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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