A Brief History of Forestry. / In Europe, the United States and Other Countries

by B. E. Fernow

The result was the installation of a federal forest inspector with one assistant, in 1875, and the enactment of a law, in 1876, which determined the area within which the federal government was to exercise supervision. The execution of the law was, however, left to the cantons—the jealousies of State rights as against federal rights being even more strongly developed in Switzerland than in the United States. Each canton proceeded in its own way, or neglected to proceed, and hence no uniform progress in applying the law was made. Indeed, not a single prescription of the law was applied within the prescribed time, although again and again extended, and even to-day some cantons have not yet complied. Stubborn opposition to the law continues even to date in some cantons.

Besides the unwillingness to submit to federal authority, the lack of technically trained foresters—their employment being a requirement of the law—and the objection to their employment by the cantons, who looked on them as disguised policemen, impeded the progress of the reform. Until 1884, each canton held its own examinations for forest officials, but in that year a standard was enacted for employment within the federally supervised territory.

The most frequent quarrel was as to what was to be considered forest and what pasture, so that finally as a compromise a classification between the two, called pasture woods, was introduced.

It will be noted that the federal surveillance was to extend only to the High Alps above a certain limiting line. This limitation was removed, in 1898, by resolution of the Council, and change of the constitution, by which the federal exercise of water and forest police was extended over the whole country, and a bill to carry this into effect was introduced. Finally, in 1902, a revised law was passed establishing fully the present Federal forest policy.

This law places the surveillance of all forest police in all forests of Switzerland in the Bund, the private forests as well as the public, i.e., State and communal or corporation forests. But, as there are distinctive differences in the manner of this surveillance, a differentiation of ownership conditions and forest conditions was to be made by the cantons within two years.

The forests are to be divided into protection and non-protection forests (by the cantons with sanction of the Bund), the former being such as are located at headwaters or furnish protection against snowslides, landslides and rockfalls, floods, and climatic damage. Most of this segregation had already been made and mapped in consequence of the law of 1876. In 1904, 71% of the total forest area had been classed as protective forest; nearly 80% of the communal, and over 50% of the private forest property.

All public forests are to be surveyed and their corners permanently marked by the cantons according to instructions by the Bund, the latter furnishing the needed triangulation survey, and inspecting and revising any older surveys free of charge.

The surveyed public forests are to be fully regulated according to a sustained yield management, under working plans made according to instructions by the Cantons, to be sanctioned by the Bundesrath. For the unsurveyed forest areas at least a provisional felling budget is to be determined, as nearly as possible representing the sustained yield. In protection forests the working plans must conform to the objects of these forests, and clearings in these are as a rule forbidden. The fellings are to be made under direct supervision of foresters, and, after being cut, the wood must be measured. Sale on the stump is forbidden, otherwise no interference in the management is intended.

Up to 1902, under the law of 1876, working plans for 540,000 acres had been made. In 1907, 90,000 acres of State forest, and over one million acres of corporation forests were under working plans.