The most noted work of reforestation which has occupied Austrian foresters for the last forty years or more is that of the “Karst,” a name applied to the waste lands in the mountain and hill country of Istria, Trieste, Dalmatia, Montenegro and adjacent territory skirting the Adriatic Sea. It is a dry limestone country of some 600,000 acres in extent, stony and rough, and overdrained. Originally well forested with conifers and hardwoods, it had furnished for ages ship timber and other wood supplies to the Venetians. Through reckless cutting, burning and pasturing by the small farmers it had become almost entirely denuded, natural reforestation being prevented by these practices combined with the dryness of the soil, intensified by the deforestation.
For centuries, countless laws were passed to stop the progress of devastation, but without effect.
The first attempt at planting was made by the city of Trieste in 1842, and found some imitators, but with meager result.
In 1865, the Austrian government, acting upon representations of the Forestry Association, undertook to encourage and assist private landowners in reforesting their Karst lands by remitting taxes on reforested lands for a period of years, by technical advice, and by assistance with plant material and money.
By this move, so much land was withdrawn from pasture and taxation that opposition was aroused among the cattle owners, which led to additional legislation during the years 1882 to 1887, and finally to the creation of a commission charged to select the lands which in the interest of the country required reforestation, and empowered to enforce this improvement within a given time, the State expropriating the lands of objecting owners. At the same time, the Commission brought about the division of pasture lands which were held in communal ownership.
By 1909, of the 75,000 acres selected by the Commission as of immediate interest 15,000 acres had been planted, mostly with Austrian Pine, at an average cost of $8 to $16 per acre, the cost including stone enclosures for the plantations, to protect them against cattle and fire, and the repairs, which sometimes equalled the original expense. In addition, some 50,000 acres of natural growth were brought into productive condition merely by protection.
While this activity refers to the northern portion of the coast region, the Karst of Dalmatia farther south, being oak country, was mainly recuperated by protective measures. Here, in 1873, the pasturing of goats was forbidden on areas of over one million acres in extent which were found capable of reforestation. In 1876, the partition of communal holdings was ordered, and portions were designated for forest use, to be planted. As a result of these measures, nearly 400,000 acres have been recuperated.
7. Education and Literature.
The first forest schools in Austria were established through private effort, namely one in 1800 in Bohemia by Prince Schwarzenberg, and another one in Moravia by Prince Liechtenstein, these two being the largest forest owners in Austria. In 1805, another private forest school was opened in Bohemia, and at the same time the state institute near Vienna came into existence. This was, in 1813, transferred to Mariabrunn, and, after various changes in the character of the teaching, was, in 1867, raised to the dignity of an academy with a three years’ course. In 1875, it was transferred to the Hochschule für Bodenkultur at Vienna, an agricultural school, which had been instituted in 1872, intended to give the higher scientific education in both forestry and agriculture by a three years’ course. The course was, in 1905, increased to four years. During the years from 1875 to 1904, over 2,600 students in forestry alone had attended this excellent school at which over 70 professors and instructors are employed.