Factors That Have Shaped Today's Forests

By Thembi Borras

Past management has shaped the forests we see today, just as current forest management will shape the forests, future generations will see. The history of forest management has been driven by many factors. More than a hundred years ago, forests were considered by many white settlers as an obstacle and cleared for homesteads and to increase the area in which livestock could graze. After World War II, the demand for housing spurred widespread timber harvesting. Decades later, when I came of age in the early 1990's, deteriorating forest conditions had galvanized a movement. Much of the disgust associated with the deteriorating forest conditions was directed at the large corporation's desirous of maximizing short term profit, but prior to the mid 1970's, tax regulation was also to blame.

According to one old-time forester, one of the most severe pressures on forestland owners, prior to 1970, was the ad valorem tax where the whole stand was taxed at 2% real current money each year. Properties throughout the State were essentially clear cut to reduce the tax basis.

The ad valorem tax law provoked property owners to harvest trees to reduce their property taxes, which undermined the integrity of the timber base of California. Given this unintended consequence, the ad valorem tax on standing timber was replaced with a yield tax on felled timber, which remains in effect today. The 1976 Timber Yield Tax Law is imposed only when a timber owner harvests timber. It also, encourages the continued use of timberlands for the production of trees for timber products, and provides restrictions on the use of timberland to the production of timber products and compatible uses.

A portion of this production was gleaned from the November 2005 Timber and Timberland Values Manual, which can be viewed at http://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/pdf/timbermanualfinal.pdf