The Somerset reporter., 1908-07-16
total extinction Of the forest. As a

aged as forest reserve under the
plan before outlined would pay into
the State treasury during the first
100 years of its operation not less
. than s1,200,000 in taxes. By the
method now in use, you penaIize or
fine the lumber owner for preserving
his timber, but by the method pro-
posed you penalize or fine the owner
for destroying mis- timber. By your
present method your timber owner
gets relief from burdensome ia Ration
by destroying his timber. BY the
new method he would incur increased
burdens of taxation by cutting his
timber. By your present method the
entire forest tract will be destroyed
in few more than ten years. BY
the new method it would remain a
permanent forest, a source of income
to the State and to its owners for
hundreds Of years.
In his third recommendation. he
says: upon all lands declared as
forest preserves assess uniform an
nual tax of cents an acre, or tax
upon the land values alone without
the timber, and in addition thereto
assess specific tax of either GER
tain amount per thousand feet, or
est products cut from such lands as
are declared forest preserves, or a
certain percentage upon the net in
come derived from timber cut, at the
time the timber is cut and sold, eX
empting, perhaps, from such specific
tax such wood as may be used solely
for the domestic use of owners of
small wood lots"
l. = y i kn
says: provide suitable assistance
and encouragement to induce private
capital to be interested in your wild
lands for representation purposes by
exempting such lands SO committed
as forest lands and effectively main
tanned as such from all but an annual
tax of cents per acre, deferring fur
Their taxation until the first crop Of
timber is ready for cutting, and then
levying certain percentage on the
net income produced, or specific tax
upon some unit of measure upon tim
Der actually cut at the time it is man
ufactured and sold.o
In the sixth recommendation, he
says: "ProVide and enforce effective
protection laws and proper and effec-
tive forestry supervision" In clos
X =
this plan needs much thought, as it is
radical change from past methods of
dealing with taxation, and il may be
trenching upon your constitution, but
if the constitution would not now
admit of putting such plan in effect,
the State of Michigan would be a
great gamer in the end if the consti.
tuition should be changed to admit
of it.
Filbert Roth, State Fire Warden of
Michigan, says: ITO leave millions of
acres i'll waste land conditions is a
waste of money which no State should
be guilty Of" To this Mr.. Ward adds
THAT no State should be guilty- of
preserving a system of taxation that
mas been known to operate as pro-
Queer of waste lands.o
B. E. Fernow, in his address on
"TaXation of Woodlands" before the
Conference of the Lake states at
Saginaw, Mich in November, 1907,
saws: Zone of the latest contributors
to the discussion of equitable timber
land taxation, having first raised the
crop idea, somewhat inconsistantly
contends that land should not be
taxed at all, but the timber after it is
cut into logs. This would relieve the
necessity for cutting half grown
trees, allowing them To grow 10 matu-
rity first He then raised the very
practical point that "A crop Of logs is
a definite value, obtainable from scale
bills, while the value of wild land is
something on which no two timber
land explorers ever agree 1t has
been pointed out again and again
that timberlands afford no income
until the timber is cut and since taxes
are, or ought to be, paid out of in
come, the tax should be levied when
The timber is cut, assessing the actual
cut ut its fair stumpage value. The
principle would appear just, but the
practical objection to this method Is
that administrations have annual
needs for funds, and cannot be de-
pendent upon the Whim of owners as
to when and how much they propose
, to cut, and hence an annual tax must
, be levied The method of assess
, ment must therefore be modified to
, meet this necessity, which is, perhaps
also best done by separation of land
, tax and stunpage tax" Continuing
he says: The sooner, therefore, the
, stump lands, either by abandonment
for tax or otherwise, fall into the
hands of the State or corporation, and
the sooner these realize that the
i. future timber supplies and favorable
r monetary returns are their concern
, the simpler will become the tax
question"
During the Great Lakes Forestry
Conference, in Saginaw, Mich, il
, November, 1907, President Van Hise
after much discussion, said: 1T is the
sense of the conference that lands
containing forests should be taxed il
the usual manner, SO far as the land is
, concerned, said land TO be taxed as il
:. it contained no timber; but the forest
! products should be assessed and taxed
. only when they are cut and removed
, and then II an appropriate manner"
, Any system of taxation in vogue or
wild lands should be equitable and
render inducement and not hardship
/, to the man who holds his timber until
it is mature, because by so doing he is
actually benetiting others.
+ the following system of wild land
!, taxation is briefly outlined with the
:. hope that it may, in some manner, aid
, in arriving at a policy which shall
: be equitable and which shall give en-
, enlargement to the holding of timber
= upon wild lands until it is mature.
: /. Have ground tax, namely, tax
all wild lands a certain definite sum
, per acre regardless of what timber il
: contains. This tax could readily be
, determined and levied and would
= provide for steady tax return.
: