Black Forest National Park: Planned expansion questions property tax!

Black Forest National Park: Planned expansion questions property tax!

Zwickgabel, Deutschland - The state government of Baden-Württemberg has taken a crucial step to expand the Black Forest National Park and combine the previously separate areas. As SWR on Tuesday approved the plan to expand the national park. This is intended to add an area of 1,500 hectares, which brings the total area of the national park to an impressive 11,500 hectares. However, an approval of the state parliament is still pending.

The new areas that belong to Murg shipping are part of a planned forest swap between the country and the cooperative. However, there are discussions about the amount of property tax that is charged for the thousands. Especially the focus is on property tax for property tax A in Enzklösterle, which, at 3,000 percent, is more than four times the 700 percent in Forbach. Murg shipping has requested compensation for the annual additional burden of the high property tax.

further negotiations

The forest exchange, which is also anchored in the coalition agreement between the Greens and the CDU, is still being negotiated. A decision about the exchange of the areas is expected by the end of July 2025. Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann has indicated that the new National Park Act may come into force on January 1, 2026.

The decision to expand is part of a comprehensive process that has started to roll since October 2024. On February 21, 2025, the national division voted with a vote against the gap in the national park, and the draft of the new borders is now clear how National Park Schwarzwald . The amendment of the National Park Act will be developed with the aim of deciding it by the end of 2025.

participation processes and environmental management

In order to include the residents in the process, comprehensive participation procedures are planned. Consultation hours in the Gitschenteichhütte in Zwickbabel offer the opportunity to discuss relevant topics such as path rights and flood protection. Around 300 residents took part in the opening event in the Kurhaus Schönmünzach, in which Minister Walker and national park manager Wolfgang Schlund were also present.

The administration of the national park will also revise and continue the national park plan, which is done every ten years. The topics of the plan include the path concept and the zoning of the park. The management of the buffer zones, especially with regard to bark beetle management, is taken over by ForstBW. These measures are crucial in order to achieve the important goals of the national park, which in accordance with laws on the Internet should ensure the undisturbed course of the natural processes and the protection of a largely uninfect state of the areas.