Greedy or Needy? Forest Administration and Landowners' Attitudes in South-Western France during the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

On paper the forestry service of Old Regime France looked impressive. Backed by wide-ranging legislation, officers of the Eaux et Forêts enjoyed extensive powers; like other public officials of the time, they exercised both judicial and administrative functions. Their rich records of offences and disputes have attracted the attention of forest historians, although we know much less about their other role, as overseers of a national plan for woodland management. This article seeks to remedy that neglect by focusing on the effectiveness of the forest administration in south-western France, where most of the woodlands were private property. Evidence is drawn from the forms used by landowners to notify the Eaux et Forêts of an intention to cut mature timber. Various details suggest that the forestry officials' information was far from complete, especially given the problems of distance and a lack of standardised units for measurement. Examination of marginal comments provides a closer insight into landowners' attitudes. Overall, increasing numbers of woodland proprietors may have complied with the foresters' reporting regime, but many relied on misinformation to prevent the central state and its agents from interfering in the exploitation of their timber.