Establishment of legal principles of forest protection in the Second Polish Republic (1918-1920s)

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the process of building the legal basis for forestry management in interwar Poland. After World War I, the problem arose with the unification of all administrative units of the newly-created Polish Republic. One of the significant stages of a reformation of the administrative apparatus in the Polish Republic was that the forestry management apparatus was made into a common denominator. There were difficulties with the state of forests that required immediate actions of conservation; as well as with the very multi-vector process of restoration of the state, which demanded significant state-building efforts. Therefore first legal acts aimed at the establishment of the forest protection apparatus were mainly formative and basic. The work analyzes the Decree on the organization of forest protection management of January 1919. In particular, it addresses the main structural components of the newly-created administrative apparatus in the forest protection area. It also highlights the topmost functions of the relevant authorities. The article states that the Decree, besides the administrative-organizational matters, paid attention to the scope of activities of forest protection authorities, legal issues regarding forest conservation planting, creation and approval of forest-based development plans.
 The article notes that, before the second half of the 1920s, different legislative acts on forest protection could exist in different regions of the Second Polish Republic. It was caused by the previous historical division of Polish land and inconsistent government actions in the forestry field. Another characteristic of legislative acts of 1918-1920s was the indivisibility of state and private forests. The final acts of this division were adopted in 1924-1928 - the Administration of state forests was created, and the basis of forestry management was defined regarding state and public property.