Measuring the wealth of the forests: Joseph Despine's investigation of the "green gold" of the Duchy of Savoy as the basis for a historical analysis (1828-1919).

Summary In 1827, the Secretary of State for the Interior commissioned the mining engineer Joseph Despine to evaluate the capacity of the forests of the Duchy of Savoy to provide fuel for factories, as well as for those "that would be established thereafter". Within this framework, the engineer undertook to take note in the field, alongside the sub-inspectors of the forests, "all the details which could be used to compare the wood really existing in each commune with the annual needs of the individuals who live there. This survey resulted in a 580-page report that provided an important set of quantitative data for each commune: the surface area of the types of woods, the surface area of the logging regimes, the number of plants cut each year, the types and numbers of industrial establishments, etc. It also provides more qualitative information on the practices of local populations. Subjected to the critical eye of the historian, this report constitutes exceptional material in at least two respects. When formatted in a geographic information system, it constitutes, on the one hand, a highly detailed analytical tool for understanding localized forest management practices. On the other hand, it can serve as a basis for a diachronic analysis of forest uses. This paper proposes to address these two facets. We propose to analyze the data provided by Despine in 1828 for the provinces of Faucingy, Maurienne, Savoie Propre and Tarentaise. Then, by focusing our analysis on the case of the Maurienne, we wish to show that this survey can constitute a basis for questioning and studying the management of "green gold" over time by the various actors.