The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-07-18
PROTECTING TREES
PRoFTrs FROM FOREST RESERVES TO
 BE SHARED BY COUNTIES.
Ten Fer Cent. Of Grsss Receipts Allotted by Law to Offset Ioss in Taxes--
 Nearly s7s.0oO This

washington, D. c. July 1s.-within the last two years the area set aside for for
 sssS to aao %or. ssa 900 acres Such change caused great eonsssrnation amonE those who were not forest reserves All the enemies of the national forest policy made ammunition of 1t. and many of it's more timid friends too afr. Most of the arguments of doubt CTS. however. could easily be refuted
 be disposed of 70 readiiy-first. that this vast area, as large as all the New England ana Middle States with Maryland and vir- fy for arricuituraI settlement and home building many tracts of land scattered here and there along creeks and valleys within propriety of this criticism keenly and stud led carefully the boundaries of each reserve sossible se rina,ns m that many small tracts Aericuiturs the "Axricuiturai Settlement Congress 1S and which finally received the Presidents signature June II. 1906
 AithouEh under this law all iand actually within the reach of the people, there was another strong objection to the reserves nswey, ,, snf h.ys muoh' ,n some instances more than half. of their area withdrawn from the possibility of private taxation. The fairness of this condition and submitted A bill to grant 10 per cent of the total re- csipts from forest ssssfsss to ss. the counties law was finally incorporated in the forest reserve provisions of the agricultural appro- priation act of uJns 90. 1908. The clause
 '-That ten per centum of all money re- ceived from each forest reserve during any thiritieth. nineteen hundred and six. shall be paid at the end thereof by the Secretary of the Treasury to the state or Territory m turs may prescribe for the benefit of the ty or counties in Which the forest A1 reserve is situated: Provided, That when any forest reserve is in mora than one State or Terri each from the proceeds of said reserve shall be proportional to it's area therein: And Dsa e sss o fop ty an amount equal to more than forty per centun of the total income of such county
 The proceeds from forest reserves in the fiscal year ended June 30. 1904. were $5s.- 4ss ls During the next fiscal year the re forest reserves to the Forest Service was made February 1st of that year. and during vice vie ~ wss % Susy rserTaninin9 I the s plans for for forest-reserve administration. The result Is notable During the year ended June which was more that a tenfoid inrceasc over the previous year.
 The full measure of the importance vf be taken from the figures of this year. The receipts from the reservee will probably in- crease with great strides for years to como. and the contribution to the counties .s des, tined to make up richly for the loss os
 The 10 per cent. contributed to the coun- ties is safeguarded in the act by provision that it must be spent entirely for the main tenence of schools and public roads Tine State Legislatures are allowed to direct the expenditure. Another safeguard is that the contribntions from forest-reservs than 70 per cent of the taxes received frois other sources.
 The governors of ali the states and Ter ed have been informed by letter concerning the amount which will come to each State at the present time from the forest~reserva proceeds Of the last fiscal year. These
 :" The payment of the 10 per centum thus provided will be made by the of state)- Pending this determination the following reports from the records of the Forest Service will show you the gross receipts from the forest reserves in your the approximate Out perhaps not the ex- act) amount which you will receive under the terms of the act just quoted .
 It is with very great pleasure that of the direct contribution of the forest re- serves to the counties in which they lie. The proceeds from the reserves are likely to increase rapidly. that this contribution. although 1t may not yet have reached an important figure. will ultimate Iy pay a very considerable proportion of the their boundaries e"
 The sum which each State and Territory will receive this year is given below: