Many of the towns and country districts (haerad) have received donations of forest areas from the Crown, which have been a considerable source of revenue to them. The parish of Orsa, e.g., realized from its forest property some 2.5 million dollars, and other similar results are recorded.
These communal and institute forests of various description comprise somewhat over 2.6 million acres, or 5.5%, and are placed under management of local committees, with the governor of the province as chairman. The management consists in selling stumpage of all trees over 13 inches in diameter 5 feet above ground, to be cut by the purchaser under regulations.
In the years from 1840 to 1850, the government sold to English wood merchants considerable tracts of timberland, and in the latter part of the 19th century, as the sawmill industry expanded, many mill firms acquired wood-cutting leases for 50 year terms for prices which were often realized from the forest in the first winter. At present longer leases than for 20 years are prohibited by law. The diameter limit of 12 inches, 18 or 20 feet above ground, was usually the basis of the leases; and as the owners could then lease away other sizes, it might happen that 2 or 3 persons besides the original owner would have property rights in the same forest. Of late years many of the mill owners have endeavored to get rid of the resulting inconvenience by buying the fee-simple of the land. This movement has resulted in the aggregation of large areas in single hands or more often in the hands of large mill companies.
By the acquisition of these properties a certain amount of cultivated land is usually included, which is then left to the former owner at a nominal rent, provided that he pays the taxes on the whole; thereby creating a class of renters in lieu of owners of farms. The area thus privately owned, mostly by sawmill companies, must be over 25 million acres; the total private forest area, which includes the bulk of the commercial forest, is about 30 million acres (61.3%), unreclaimable waste lands swelling the figure to over 50 million.
2. Development of Forest Policy.
From the times of Olaf Tratâlja, the first Christian king of Sweden (about 1000 A.D.), who gained fame by the part he took in exploiting the forests of Wermland, down to the 14th century Sweden suffered from a superabundance of forest. Nevertheless, by the end of that century restriction of the wilful destruction by fire was felt necessary, and an ordinance with that object in view was promulgated.
It is questionable whether this order had any effect in a country, where the homestead law provided, that a settler might take up “as much pasture and arable land as he could make use of, twice as much forest, and in addition on each side of this homestead as much as a lame man could go over on crutches without resting.”
Not till 1638, do we again find an attempt at forest conservancy, this time in the interest of supply of charcoal for the iron industry, by the appointment of overseers of the public forests.
The first general forest code, however, dates from 1647, which among other useless prescriptions made the existing usage of planting two trees for every one cut obligatory, and this provision remained on the statutes until 1789. In spite of this and other, restrictive, laws, exploitation by the liege lords and the communities continued until, in 1720, a director of forests for the two southern districts, Halland and Bohus, was appointed, and, at least in this part of the country, the execution of the laws was placed under a special officer.