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The Forest Taxation Amendment(The Capital Time?,' Madison) V-/'' *n.-' V- ■ , .. : : - J•;f. When Robert M. La Follettc, more than twenty , years njro* started the conservation movement in : this state, he fount! little popular support .The promising work which La Follettc began and which was carried out by W. G. Griffith I in the develop-' . ment of extensive stale. forest areas was almost wholly undone through the forestry decision ( of; the supreme court and the coining into power of i the stalwarts in 1915. : •Now, all this has changed. The people of this state have at last awakened to tlic fact that the north is no longer an Inexhaustible source of timber supply, but consists in large part of millions of ■ acres of tax-delinquent, fire-swept, cut-over lands, which in their present condition are almost vatue-t less. As recently as 1900 Wisconsin led all states in tiro cut of number. Today it produces far lers timber than is consumed in this state.f\• I. r' • V ■ . • . ' T ' . A, . . : •. “ . V ■■ • . »• .I. *’■ •••• ' • *v * *'■.v‘' « That the people are at last awake to this prob-lem, is shown by their vote of more than two to f one for the forestry amendment in the election of 1924. That amendment authorizes the state to .acquire forest lands and to make annual expenditures for forestry up to two-tenths of a million • the assessed valuation of the state.-• ^ r *, This forestry amendment has laid an adequate^ foundation for the development of a great state forest area. It does not, however, help much to*, ward reforestation by private capital, except that it has made possible much needed appropriationsfor forest fire prevention■« tThe drawbacks to forestry by private Individuals ‘ and corporations are two in number. One of these : is the long time required.to realize any return from capital invested. This is inherent, and will render absolutely necessary the development of extensive publicly owned forests. The other is the fact- that under the present constitution forest landsmust be taxed in the same manner and at the ; same rates as other property. This means thatthev must.be taxed at their capita! value eachyear, although it takes thirty or forty years to . . mature a forest crop. v. ■.This method of,taxing forest lands is ruinous. It puts a premium upon the early cutting down • of trees and prevents selective logging. It is likewise responsible for the fact that literally millions of cut-over lands are now delinquent, and yield not one cent of tax revenue. - . .i■ y'-t * iTo change this, the first taxation amendment ' has been proposed ant! will be voted on at the. coming election with the legislative salary amend* ment This amendment does not fix any particular rate of tax upon forest lands, but merely authorizes the legislature to tax forest and'mineral lands on a different basis from other property. This will make possible some sort of a severance tax, such as is now in force in many other states, in* eluding Michigan and Minnesota. Under such a . plan a low tax only will be collected while trees • are growing and a heavy tax, on the Income basis, when the crop is harvested. ; : . ; .► •*reap from this amendment. On nearly every farm in Wisconsin there is a farm wood lot, and all of;V-• This is the only tax system under which forestry can be practiced * by private parties. Nor will the , lumber and paper companies be the solc^ beneficiaries of such a tax system. In fact, it is doubtful whether even under a severance tax, large reforestation projects will be undertaken by private • capital. But there Is nothing doubtful about the benefit*; .which the owners of farm wood lots will‘ these are taxed annually at their full capital . value. .The result has been that a great many farmers have cut. down their wood lots in recent years, to stop this tax drain. Jf this amendment is adopted legislation can be enacted, which will save the last remaining stands of timber in this state, which are principally the farm wood . lots. • A •• ■ V -; • - ; .../Hv V. •This amendment also will make possible the taxation of mines on the tonnage basis, now in use in Minnesota. lt;It is absurd to tax mines upon .. the • estimated value of the. minerals still in the ground, when no one really knows what they are/ worth. The only logical plan is to tax the ore actually mined and experience in Minnesota has proven that this means also getting much , larger taxes from the mining companies than under the present ‘hit and miss’* plan, .- If you want to help in an intelligent forestry ' program for Wisconsin vote “yes’* on the constitutional amendment*at the coming election.
Newspaper Details
Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, US
Fri, Apr 01, 1927
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Madeline K.
NA, 03 Feb 2022
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Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune
