Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1907-08-21
WOULD induce
TREE PLANTING
RECENT LAW ENCOURAGES FOR
EsTRY BY REMISSION OF TAX.
THIRTY YEARS EXEMPTION
Land May Sc Set Apart and Planted
at Any Time-5tstements Must Be
Made to Assessors Who Shall
Verify Them-other Conditions
Enumerated.

Owners of land in wisconsin now
have an inducement to plant a portion
lof their holdings to forest trees. In
consideration of the public benefit to
be derived from the planting and cult
walton of timber o. forest trees a law
was recently enacted that permits the
owner of any tract of land to set
apart a portion not exceeding 40
acres. for forest llture, and to be ex-
empted from taxation on that portion
OF land for a period of 80 years from
the time Of planting. This privilege
extends to corporations and co-partner-
ssips as well as to individuals.
The exemption right does not apply
t. lands that are worth more than $40
an are. Nor does it apply to lands
that are situated within two miles of
the limits of any Incorporated city or
village, except with the approval OF
the state forester. The law requires
that no less than 1900 trees shall be
planted to each acre and that they
shah be kept alive and in healthy
condition After the trees shall have
been planted ten years the owEer
may thin them out but must leave
600 trees to the acre.
The great obstacles to the cultiva
ton of timber are the expense of taxa
ton and the risk of loss from forest
fires. A single forest crop requires
many years for its maturing and
therefore is taxed repeatedly before it
can be prof.tably harvested. There
also is continual danger from forest
fires For a long time the state has
800 fire wardeng appointed in the
northern and more heavily timbered
counties whose duty it is to prevent
and extinguish. forest and marsh fires
and now, through the law recently
enacted, it offers further encourage
ment to timber culture by exempting
limited tracts planted to forest trees
from taxation for sufficiently extend
cd period to allow them to become
valuable.
Doubtless many land owners viii de-
sire to take advantage of the oppor-
tunity offered under this law to plant
portion of their land to timber, and
for this reason a brief explanation is
made of the proper method Of pro
cedlre:
The land may be set apart and plant
ed at any time and when the town as
SCISSORS are making the annual assess
meht a statement of the paintings
must be made to them. The assessors
must verify these statements, and
make them the basis of the tax eAemp-
ton. Any person applying for an ex-
emption must make in duplicate a de-
scription and plat of all lands that
have ben planted according to the pro
visions of the act, and file one copy
with the town clerk of the town in
which the land is located and the
other copy in the office of the state
forester at Madison on or before May
l of the year in which the exemp-
ton is first claimed.
In some cases the question will
arise whether or not the value of the
land exceeds $40 per acre. Any per
son intending to plant tract of land
in forest trees according to the proyi-
sions of the law may have the value
of the land determined in advance by
the board of review of the town
in which the land is situated, b. filing
in the office of the town clerk writ
ten application containing declara-
ton of such intention, a correct de-
scription of the lands included in the
tract and a request that the valuation
be determined by the board under the
provisions of the raw. which is known
as chapter 592, laws of 1907.