En this end of 2024, the addition of the terrible fire which ravaged the La Teste-de-Buch User Forest falls: the sale of burned wood to forestry companies reveals a revenue of 9 million euros, which will be shared between users and owners of this forest with such a special status.
After the fire, it was necessary to clean the forest, cut down all the burned trees and cut down all those which had been dried out and killed by the bark beetle, this insect which sucks weakened wood from the inside until it destroys them. Today, only 10% of the trees that covered and shaded this area remain standing. The fire destroyed two thirds of the Forest and the bark beetle condemned another 30%. The site was gigantic and so complex in the middle of sand paths and parabolic dunes.
To the east of the Pilat dune, nothing happens as elsewhere, because the massif is regulated by texts, the oldest of which date back to the Middle Ages, texts which qualify property rights. So the owner cannot do what he wants. This extraordinary project lasting more than 24 months was carried out by those who manage the User Forest, that is to say the owners' trustees and the users' trustees.
Half and half
They who had been at war for decades had to, faced with the catastrophe, first talk to each other, then agree and finally work together while respecting the texts of the User Forest, and in particular the Transaction of 1917, the one which provides management methods after a fire. This claims that the burned woods are sold by auction and that the proceeds of this sale are distributed as follows: three sixths for the owners, two sixths for the users (the towns of La Teste-de-Buch and Gujan-Mestras ), and a sixth for the union fund, which is used to operate the management of the Forest.
“The entire college of General Trustees has taken its responsibilities to work hand in hand. »
“The Trustees worked in the collective interest to raise the User Forest from its ashes, explained the Trustees in a press release published this Tuesday, and thus prepare the rebirth of this heritage massif. The entire college of General Trustees has taken its responsibilities to work hand in hand and thus demonstrate that local stakeholders are capable of writing their future. » Which, after the fire, was not obvious to everyone, especially the State.
Let's start again: the owners will share, according to their burned areas, 4.5 million euros, and the users, represented by the two towns of La Teste and Gujan-Mestras and the union fund also 4.5 million, a sixth each .
This sale took place in December 2022. 23 lots (3,763 hectares) were put up for sale. The buyers had to, under cover, give a price per ton of wood, the trustees selling to the highest bidder. The first lot then offered, 234 hectares in the south-west of the Forest, was purchased at 22.11 euros per tonne. Other lots went for 35.69 euros per tonne, others for less than 10 euros. Some did not find a buyer and were then acquired over the counter.
Property titles
The accounts are only being settled now, after the cutting and cleaning of the Forest, after all the logs removed by the companies have been weighed at the exit from the Forest, giving a final price. Everything is now in order, the figures are in tables and payment can begin.
“It is now up to each owner to contact this notary office to prove their title deeds and thus claim payment of the sums due to them”
“The BA Notary Office (directed by Maître Jean and Maître Blanchard Moga in Arcachon, Editor's note) is ready to make payments for the timber according to the terms of the 1917 Transaction. It is now up to each owner to contact this notary office to prove their property titles and thus claim payment of the sums due to them. The notary office is also at their disposal for any useful clarification. »
In total, a little over 598,000 tonnes of wood were taken out of the Forest on around 350 private plots. Which does not mean 350 owners. Some people own hectares and hectares. And many plots are in joint ownership, through deaths and inheritances. Thus, for the first time in decades, the User Forest, where the commercial sector, barring disasters, is banned, will bring in money for its owners, but also for users through the municipalities in particular.
And far from the hustle and bustle of humans, under the gray and cold December sky, over the entire surface of what was the User Forest, stems pierce the earth and grow.
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