In the earlier times, and, indeed, into the 18th century, the most
important use of the forest was in the mast from oak and beech for the
pigs and pasture for the cattle, besides firewood, for which mostly the
soft woods were used. This was given free from the royal domain, and the
administration consisted mainly in regulating this use. The main
incentive for the regulation of forest use on the part of the king were
the interests of the chase.
Towards the end of the ninth century, special forest officers,
_forestarii_, are mentioned in Charlemagne’s celebrated _capitularium_,
which describes in detail the administration of the public domains.
These were, to be sure, only lower rank officials, working under mayors,
intendants and the count (_comes_), who was the administrator and soon
independent arbiter of the royal domain as well as of the administration
of justice in general. His office early became hereditary.
The first mention of “forest masters” (_maîtres des eaux et forêts_)
dates back to 1291, and later ordinances mention higher officials. But
the credit for a full and detail organization and regulation of
management belongs to Charles V, the wise Valois, in his ordinance of
1376. This organization, after various changes, by the end of the 16th
century, under the reign of Henry IV, took about the following form:
Under a general superintendent of forests, titulary head of the forest
service, a number of _grands maîtres_, _généraux réformateurs des eaux
et forêts_, some 17, were appointed by the King to watch over the
conduct of the _maîtres_ and _gruyers_, officers in charge of the forest
districts (_maîtrises_). All of these officials had their deputies and
lieutenants under various designations (_procureur du roi_, _greffier_,
_gardemarteau_, _sergent du garde_, etc.)
A stamping hammer (kept by the _gardemarteau_) was employed for marking
trees which defined the boundaries, or which were to be reserved in the
fellings. In addition to these regular officers there were employed a
great number of _capitaines des chasses_ whose functions, as the title
indicates, related mainly to the chase. The function of the
forestmasters did not stop with the supervision of the use of the forest
and sale of wood, but included also the jurisdiction of all misdemeanors
and crimes committed in the royal, and later, in all forests. They
became thus gradually a privileged class of immense power. Graft and
sale of offices became the order of the day. Sometimes the offices were
made hereditary, and again were limited to three or four years’ tenure,
in the endeavour to break up the shameful practices. For nearly three
centuries all efforts at reform were failures.
The method of prescribing the rules and regulations during the 12th to
17th century was by ordinances like those issued by the German princes;
the first ordinance on record being that issued by Louis VI in 1215.
These ordinances usually appeared under the name _Le fait des eaux et
forêts_ (the matters of waters and woods), curiously enough thus
suggesting the relation of the two. The latter term was used exactly
like that of the German _Forst_, designating the reserved territory
under the ban, while _bois_ is used to designate actual woodland
(silva).
In 1376, Charles V, in his endeavor to build up a navy against England,
made reservations for naval timber and also issued the ordinance of
Melun, a general forest code, the provisions of which lasted largely
until the reform of 1669. In 1402, the many ordinances, often
contradictory were codified under one text, and another codification was
made under Francis I in 1515.
By the middle of the 17th century the devastation of forests had
progressed so far, and the abuses in the management of the royal domain
had become so evident that Louis XIV’s great minister, _Colbert_, was
induced to make the historical remark “France will perish for lack of
woods.” Again the needs of the navy was the prime incentive of the
vigorous reform which he instituted after a most searching
investigation. The result was the celebrated forest ordinance of 1669.
For this purpose he appointed, in 1662, a commission which not only
investigated conditions but was clothed with power to reform the abuses
which it might discover. For this work he selected four trusted men
outside of the forest service, to whom later more were added, and gave
them the aid of technical advisers, among whom _Froudoir_ seems to have
been most prominent. Colbert himself gave close attention to this work
of reform. As the first act, the commission recommended the ceasing of
all cutting in the royal forests, and, after deliberation and
consultation with interested parties through eight years, the final law
was enacted, a masterpiece whose principles and prescriptions to an
extent have persisted into the 19th century. The commission from time to
time made reports, giving their findings in detail, and these form a
most interesting record of conditions prevailing at that time. As one of
the historians (Joubain) puts it, “the commissioners did not recoil
before long hours of inspection nor high influence, they neither
hesitated to declare against, nor prosecute, great and small alike, nor
to pronounce a most serious sentence.” A thorough cleaning up was done
and a complete reorganization secured.
By this ordinance, three special courts of adjudication in matters
pertaining to the forests were established, with special officers whose
duties were carefully defined, namely the courts of the _Gruries_, of
the _Maîtrises_ and the _Tables de Marbre_. The first named, lower grade
courts took cognizance of the lesser offences, abuses, wastes and
malversations, disputes in regard to fishing or chase, and murders
arising out of these; _gruries_ being the woods belonging to individuals
in which the jurisdiction and the profit from such jurisdiction belonged
to the king, or at least to the seigneurs. The courts of the maîtrise
referred to the forest territory placed under administration of the
_maîtres particuliers_ (Forstmeister), and were established near the
many royal forests as courts of appeal in forest matters. A final appeal
could be made to the _tables de marbre_ (courts of the marble table),
which also decided on the more weighty questions of proprietorship by
whatever term held, and especially civil and criminal cases relating to
the _eaux et forêts_; the wrong doings in the discharge of official
duties (_abus_), contraventions to the orders and regulations,
misdemeanors or depredations (_délit_); and all kinds of fraud not
included under those cited (_malversations_).
The whole country was divided into 18 arrondissements of
_grandes-maîtrises des eaux et forêts_ and these were divided into 134
_maîtrises_, each under a _maître particulier_, with a _lieutenant_, a
_garde-marteau_, a _garde général_, two _arpenteurs_ and a number of
_gardes_. A financial branch for the handling of moneys, and the
judicial branch represented by the three courts described above,
completed the organization, which lasted until the revolution, albeit
some details were changed soon after its enactment, and the offices
became again purchaseable and hereditary.
The sale of royal forests was again forbidden, penalties being provided
for the eventual purchaser. Theft and incendiarism were severely
punished, and specific rules of management were established.
Clearings could only be made by permission even on the part of private
owners. The methods of sale and harvest were determined. The
prescriptions of older ordinances were renewed to the effect that at
least 13 to 16 seed trees (_baliveaux_) per acre in the coppice, and 8
seed trees in timber forest, were to be reserved in all forests without
exception. Private owners were not to cut these seed trees before they
were 40 years old in the coppice, and 120 years in the timber forest,
while in the public and church forests these seed trees were treated
like reserves. Similarly, the prescription that no woods were to be cut
before 10 years of age was revived from former ordinances, the time
later (1787) being increased for public forests to 25 years. Also the
obligation to keep one-fourth of the forest in reserve, which Charles IX
had decreed in 1560, was renewed for the public forests (those belonging
to corporations and other public institutions). For the fir forests of
the mountains, which had become important as furnishers of ship masts,
special regulations were issued, and the mast timber reserved for the
crown.
There was lively opposition to the enforcement of these prescriptions,
especially where they interfered with property rights, nevertheless they
persisted until the changes brought about by the revolution of 1789.
Certain prescriptions, as for instance the exclusion of sheepherding
were never enforced, and this practice continues even to-day in certain
sections.
As a result of the reform, however, the revenues from the royal forests
trebled in 20 years.
During the 18th century, several famines occurred and led to the
encouragement of extending farm operations at the expense of the forest,
notably in the sixties, when among other similar efforts some 200
families returning from Canada after the English conquest were colonized
in the forests of Poitou. At that time, also the “declaration” of 1766
exempted those who cleared land for farm purposes for 15 years from all
taxes. As a result of this invitation some 750,000 acres were cleared,
and the practice of clearing for farm use continued until the middle of
the 19th century. In this way, by inconsiderately exposing soil which
would not everywhere be found adapted to farm use, wastes naturally
existing were greatly increased.
The revolution brought with it sudden and disastrous changes. The law of
1791 abolished not only the jurisdiction of the _maîtrises_, but removed
all restraint, and thereby inaugurated widespread destruction and
devastation of forest property against which legislative attempts of the
republican government were entirely powerless. Not only did the peasants
take advantage of the disorder, and the municipalities cut their
reserves without hindrance but extraordinary fellings in the state
forests were necessitated by the needs of the navy and the exchequer. In
1801, after various previous attempts at organization, Napoleon
reorganized the service, with five administrators, 30 conservators, 200
inspectors and 8,600 inferior officers. At that time, it appears that
the revenue from the public forest domain amounted to $6,000,000, a sum
justifying such elaborate organization. But otherwise the methods of
Colbert’s ordinance were revived. Devastation, however, continued.
Incompetence in the service, was again introduced when in 1811 half the
number of officials was recruited from superannuated army officers. In
1817, the whole forest service was abolished, and the properties placed
in the hands of the fiscal agents of the government without any
technical knowledge. The old order of things was, however,
re-established in 1820, and soon after the final organization which has
lasted to date was effected.