Current issue: 58(5)
Articles containing the keyword 'committee'
Category : Article
The Law on Forest Management Associations was passed in 1950. According to the law, forest owners have to pay a forestry fee, which is used to finance local forest management associatons. The effect of the law on Finnish private forestry is considered to be significant.
The number of consulting forest officers has increased by 95% and the labour input by 107% since the law came into effect. Thus, the guidance available for forest owners has increased markedly. 85% of timber cut from private forests are marked by professional foresters, while the share was earlier less than 30%. The amount of forest management work, such as clearing of felling sites, sowing and care of plantations, has also increased.
On the other hand, experience has pointed out a need for revising some points of the law. To this aim, the Government of Finland appointed a committee to outline the ammendments. The present article contains the report of the committee.
The committee suggests that the forestry fee, that according to the present law is 2-6% of the net yield computed for communal income tax, will be changed to 2-5%. Further, forest holding in which the annual increment is less than 20 cu.m. are at the moment exempt from the fee. It is suggested that holdings with an annual increment of less than 30 cu.m. pay half a fee. In addition, the committee suggests some clarifying provisions to be adopted.
The article includes a summary in English.
The government of Finland appointed a committee to study which method of selling wood, sale at delivered price or stumpage sale, is more profitable method for wood sales from state forests.
According to the committee, in normal conditions, when supply and demand determine the price of timber and forest work wages are dependent on the supply and demand of labour, returns from the sale at delivered price has proved more favourable than stumpage sale. During the World War II the case was, however, the opposite. Sale at delivered price can have also other advantages. The state has by means of logging a hold in the labour market and can use loggings, for instance, to ward off unemployment. Also, loggings can be more easily used in rational silviculture. They keep the supervising staff of forest districts employed throughout the year and provide better professional training for the foresters. In addition, the number of buyers from state forests has increased. The stumpage sale may, however, be good method in certain conditions. The committee states that the State forestry officials are best able to decide on the most favourable method of selling.
The article includes an abstract in English.
A committee was appointed in 1940 to prepare a proposal for reform of forest taxation. The taxation based on net income of forestry was considered to have limitations, and the actual net income had been observed to be markedly higher than the income that was used in taxation.
The report describes in detail the principles and shortcomings of taxation used since 1922. These include inaccuracies in the forest areas of a woodland estate, and weaknesses in classification of forest land and demand zones. The committee suggests several improvements in calculating the taxable income, which in the new calculations is based on yield on terms of value.
The article includes an abstract in German.
The article is a proposal of a committee, appointed by the government of Finland, to expand the forest education of landowners, concerning use and management of forests. The proposal also outlines a program for a youth association dedicated to forests. The committee proposes that present organizations are used as a basis for the expanding education. The main forms of education suggested were education in public and agricultural colleges, education in forest colleges, forest clubs, forestry study groups and self-study, courses, excursions, exhibitions, competitions and rising of general awareness. Different age groups would be given education adapted to their needs.
The report includes statistics about rural population of Finland in 1938 and detailed description of how the education would be arranged in different parts of the country.
The article includes an abstract in German.
