Finally, by the reboisement law of 1882, the complaints of the mountaineers were properly taken care of by placing the entire expense of the reboisement work on the state. The attitude of the mountaineers, which was at first hostile, due to the restriction of the pasture, has been overcome by the beneficial results of the work, and now the most hostile are ready to offer gratuitously their territory to the Forest Department. Wherever necessary the state has bought territory, and from year to year has increased its holdings, and continues to acquire land at the rate of 25,000 to 30,000 acres per year, the budget of 1902, for instance, containing $1,000,000 for this purpose; that of 1911, only $40,000.
Altogether the state had, up to 1900, acquired 400,000 acres, of which 218,000 have been planted, and it is estimated that about 430,000 acres more will have to be acquired. The total expense, outside of subventions to communities and private owners, up to 1900 has been over $13,000,000, of which somewhat over $5,000,000 was expended for purchases, it is estimated that round $25 to $30 million more will be needed to complete the work. Of the 1,462 torrents there were in 1893, 163 entirely controlled, and 654 begun to be “cured.” Among the former, there were 31 which 50 years ago were considered by engineers incurable. It is estimated that, with the expenditure of $600,000 per annum, the work may be finished by 1945. The names of Matthieu and Demontzey, especially the latter, are indelibly connected with this great work.
Lately, however, Briot in his classical work Les Alpes françaises criticizes severely as improperly extravagant the large expenditures in places where the result does not warrant them, and proclaims as illusory some of the methods adopted.
5. Forestry Science and Practice.
Until the 16th century, whatever regulations had been issued regarding forest use were merely of administrative or police character and had nothing to do with management or silviculture, except perhaps so far as the number of baliveaux, reserved trees to be left, might be considered as bearing upon the subject. The réformateurs who were from time to time appointed had to deal only with judicial questions and abuses; and usually the ordinances referred only to special forests, but in 1563, the Table de marbre of Paris issued instructions which were to serve in all forests.
A futile attempt to secure statistical knowledge of the forest domain was made, apparently with a view to regulation of the cut, by de Fleury, the chief of the forest service in 1561. In default of data from many of the maîtrises, a provisional partial order to regulate the cut was issued in 1573, which remained in force for a hundred years, and was regularly disregarded, extraordinary cuts being made without authority and with the connivance of the officers.
An ordinance of 1579 describes the deplorable condition of the forests at length, and calls for statistical data, but again without result. A number of further ordinances also made no impression upon the callous and corrupt officials of the forest service.
A first class attempt to secure more conservative forest use and to regulate the cut was made by Henry IV in instituting a commission, and, as a result of its report, issuing his general order of Rouen, in 1597, a highly interesting document giving insight into conditions and opinions of the foresters of that period. It also remained without any result whatsoever.
Repeated replacement of the higher officials had no more effect than the issuance of ordinances.