Comments on: New York: Economics of having a state land logging ban written into the Constitution! http://forestpolicyresearch.org/2009/01/17/new-york-economics-of-having-a-state-land-logging-ban-written-into-the-constitution/ Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:53:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: John Warren http://forestpolicyresearch.org/2009/01/17/new-york-economics-of-having-a-state-land-logging-ban-written-into-the-constitution/comment-page-1/#comment-8481 John Warren Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:35:58 +0000 http://forestpolicyresearch.org/2009/01/17/new-york-economics-of-having-a-state-land-logging-ban-written-into-the-constitution/#comment-8481 I'm afraid you've got this all wrong. You wrote "State tax payments are intended as compensation for the prohibition against commercial use of the Forest Preserve, and in recognition of the services provided by local taxpayers (police, fire, courts, etc.)" That may suit your political agenda, but that's not the history. The tax payments are in lieu of private taxes that would have been paid on the land had it not been owned by the state. Don't get your panties in a bunch over that either - the loggers took all the marketable timber and then once the land was no longer of value to them (or anyone else for that matter) they didn't bother to pay their taxes so the land reverted to the state - that's how the whole thing started, by a criminal, non-tax paying, logging industry. And another thing - the zoning codes are not only designed to "conserve forests and wetlands, preserve wildlife and protect water quality." They are also designed (in the 1970s) to protect the local tourism industry and foster economic development. I’m afraid you’ve got this all wrong.

You wrote “State tax payments are intended as compensation for the prohibition against commercial use of the Forest Preserve, and in recognition of the services provided by local
taxpayers (police, fire, courts, etc.)” That may suit your political agenda, but that’s not the history. The tax payments are in lieu of private taxes that would have been paid on the land had it not been owned by the state.

Don’t get your panties in a bunch over that either – the loggers took all the marketable timber and then once the land was no longer of value to them (or anyone else for that matter) they didn’t bother to pay their taxes so the land reverted to the state – that’s how the whole thing started, by a criminal, non-tax paying, logging industry.

And another thing – the zoning codes are not only designed to “conserve forests and wetlands, preserve wildlife and protect water quality.” They are also designed (in the 1970s) to protect the local tourism industry and foster economic development.

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