Abstract
The example set by the evaluation committee for Iwate Prefecture’s forest renewal tax project, clarified the role fulfilled and issues raised by implementing forest environment. The committee evaluated all policies with an emphasis on the execution of improvement projects, and it performed an intensive investigation into policies scheduled to go into effect from 2016. At the committee’s meeting, new policy proposals, etc., were debated, and a variety of information was obtained through surveys of the tax enforcement area, interviews with prefecture residents, etc. The committee worked hard to improve policies through exhaustive deliberations, by being deeply involved in deciding the execution of improvement and promotion projects, as well as by revising existing policies and improving evaluation methods. In the planning process for the third period prefectural policy plan, a clear direction was given for making the prefecture’s policies, and so the committee played a vital role in the development of these policies. The committee’s intentions were reflected in its implementation of the forest environment tax system, and its efforts in getting understanding and approval from prefecture residents was evident. The issues of increasing the level of recognition about forest environment tax and of maintaining the committee’s functionality, were designated as future topics.
