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
Firewood, 3 loads for each person, supposed to be taken from the dead
or otherwise useless trees, and small dimension material is free to all.
For the right to cut workwood, the government charges a tax of 25 to 30
per cent. of the value of the material, the price for this being
annually determined. On the material cut in private forests, the
government also levies a tax of from 12 to 18 per cent. of its value.
This pernicious system of promiscuous cutting leads to the most wasteful
use imaginable, not only high stumps, but large amounts of good material
are left in the woods so that it is estimated that hardly 50 per cent.
of what is cut is really utilized. The cut, as far as the tax gives a
clue to it, amounts to around 2.7 million cubic feet workwood, but with
the firewood included it was estimated that near 90 million cubic feet
are cut annually. Importation to the amount of 1.5 million dollars,
mostly from Austria and Roumania, makes up the deficit in work material,
especially for the box factories which manufacture the packages for the
large export of currants, some 2 million boxes. The tax during the
decade from 1862 to 1871 produced an annual income of $600,000, a little
less in 1895.
The forest has been from olden times, and is now almost entirely, State
property (some 80 or 90 per cent.) and in nearly all the remaining,
private, communal and cloister property the State has a partial
ownership or supervision. The waste land of probably 3 million acres
extent also belongs to the State, the whole State property covering over
30 per cent. of the land area.
2. _Development of Forest Policies._
A first definite attempt to regulate matters was made by Otho, who being
a German, took a personal interest in this forest property, and
instituted for each province forest inspectors (dasarchys) under one
chief inspector, with forest guards, to prevent devastation by fire and
theft. The mistake was made of employing in these positions
superannuated Bavarian army officers, who were merely a burden on the
treasury. No management or even regular fellings were attempted. The
population could, as before, supply its needs upon permits, always
granted, from the governor of the province, one of the forest guards
being supposed to vise these, and to see that the wood was properly
employed, not, however, to supervise the cutting.
In 1877, further legislation was had, instituting in the Ministry of
Finance, a forest inspector, technically trained, with two assistant
inspectors, also technically trained, to superintend the outside work. A
forest survey was begun in 1879, but interrupted in 1880 for lack of
funds and personnel. The same law placed the duty of guarding the State
property in the hands of the general police or gendarmerie, 50 officers
and some 340 guards, and during the fire danger (June to October) 110
more, being detailed for this service under direction of the Minister of
War. The pernicious permit system, however, was continued.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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