French forestry ordinance of 1669

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Noting that "the disorder which had crept into the Waters and Forests of our kingdom was so universal and so inveterate that the remedy seemed almost impossible",^[1] Louis XIV promulgated an ordinance that was to become a landmark in the history of forestry. However, the Ordinance of 1669 was part of a broader campaign of forestry reform under Louis XIV that lasted from 1661 to 1680. Colbert provided the knowledge and the impetus for this reform effort, but Louis XIV provided his wholehearted support.

French forests were beset by numerous problems in the first half of the 17th century. These problems had been a long time in the making. From the 13th century onwards, political powers had attempted to put some order in the rampant exploitation of forest resources for fuel and building materials.^[2]:11-12 However, these efforts had shown over the centuries that they were not up to the task of dealing with the tragedy of the forest commons.^[3]

By the mid-17th century, the urgent need for reform was clear from the extreme disorder of the administration of royal property after the long period of the Wars of Religion and the Huguenot Rebellions. Colbert, as Minister of Louis XIV, exclaimed: "France will perish for lack of wood!"^[2]:13

Indeed, war and civil strife had taken their toll on the forests themselves and on the administrative structure that was supposed to manage them. As in other areas of service to the King,^[2]:22 many of the commissioners and other forestry officials engaged in self-dealing and embezzlement.^[4]:15-26 Often they were not well qualified or not motivated to do their jobs. Indeed, the "ignorance of forest officers, the constant need for money from the Treasury, and embezzlement had led to enormous waste and inconsiderate sales of wood. "^[5]:291 As a result, little of the forestry revenues that should have accrued to the Treasury actually ended up there and often the forests were a drain on royal coffers.^[4]:30-37

In addition, the system of rights enjoyed by the various users of forest resources (nobles, ecclesiastics, commoners and towns) was not well documented – nobles or ecclesiastics would usurp royal rights by encroaching on the King’s land or exploiting his resources;^[2]:16-20 users of the forest would buy exploitation rights from people who did not in fact own them; and many users – particularly the noble and ecclesiastical elites^[6] –would simply exploit the forest in ways that were detrimental to it (e.g. excessive grazing of animals, building kilns for firing bricks using the forest's wood as an energy source). As a result, France was being rapidly deforested. Of particular concern to Colbert and Louis XIV was that, for ship building, France was forced to rely on masts imported from the Netherlands or from nordic countries, leaving it vulnerable to blockades.^[4]:79

Colbert was the main instigator and drafter of the Ordinance, with the approval and encouragement of Louis XIV.^[4]:87 While overseeing the forestry holdings of Cardinal Mazarin as his Intendant, Colbert had obtained insights into the problems of forestry management. Thus, he was well positioned to deal with these issues before being named Intendant of Finance in 1661.^[7] Forestry reform was one of many other projects that Colbert would launch as first steps in the transition to the modern French state. Indeed, Colbert and the King XIV were well aware that the self-dealing of officers of the Crown and the usurping of royal rights by the nobility were broader problems that extended well beyond forestry and they sought to address these problems.^[2]:22

In late 1661, Colbert's first step in forestry reform was to take stock of the situation – he initially ordered the grands maîtres (the top officials in charge of forestry management) to report on the size of the forests for which they were responsible, the distribution and composition of species of trees and the type of forest exploitation that was taking place. He also asked for a list of harvests^[2]:23 and sales of forest products from 1635 to 1661.^[4]:87 Also inventoried were local residents' rights as well as abuses, usurpations and crimes committed in France’s forests. All of this reporting was to be finished in only a few months (by January 1662). The initial reports were disappointing. Some of the Grands Maîtres failed to submit reports and others proved to be of little use.^[4] Often, the officials faced hostility from the local elites.^[6]

After several attempts, Colbert managed to compile reliable information about the state of many forests, principally by constituting a team of trusted commissioners. On the 10th of March 1663, Colbert issued detailed instructions on how the commissioners or 'maîtres de requetes" were to carry out their investigative mission. He begins by itemising a detailed list of the corruption and shortcomings of earlier commissioners. He then warns his commissioners to be on their guard against all previous officials, given the long tradition of abuses in the sector.^[2]:25

The Reformation was implemented by stewards, as well as a small number of forestry Commissioners like Louis de Froidour who initially made himself known in the reformation of the forests of Île-de-France and was then made responsible for that of the department of Languedoc, to which all the Pyrenees, Quercy and Angoumois were later to be added.^[4]:137 These officials collected information from archives of legal documents, interviews of local people and from forest visits where measurements were taken and assessments of abuses made.^[6] Their reports provided both information and proposals that would be used later during the drafting of the Ordinance of 1669.^[5] One analysis asserts that these reports by Commissioners may also have exaggerated the misdeeds of earlier forest gardiens so as to justify their existence and mission and in order to justify the State's interference in this key area of local life.^[8]

Colbert's information gathering efforts also resulted in the imposition of disciplines and punishments on the corp of royal officials charged with implementing forestry policy. Indeed, "never before had royal forest policy been implemented with such exactitude and serverity."^[3] In November 1662, he instructed the Commissioner of Ile-de-France to "execute justice, spare no one, fear nothing .. it is necessary to bring the greatest severity to those who have committed depredations in the forests."^[2]:27 Some of the delinquent forest officials were dismissed and others were punished. In one case, a sergeant in the forest of Alençon had been condemned to the galleys (forced labour). Colbert wrote: "His punishment will serve as an example; and it will be well that you give, if you please, the order for his being taken to La Toulon with the first chain."^[2]:27

Officials and others were also fined and required to disgorge ill-gotten gains.^[2]:31 By the end of this reform, the Crown had recovered more than 70,000 acres of wood and the amount of fines exceeded 2 million pounds.^[3]