54 Forestry Quarterly 



State's title was in dispute; in some cases, parties were attempt- 

 ing to destroy the State's title and the people either went upon 

 the land in dispute or in some cases, it is alleged they went 

 there at the request of parties who were attempting to destroy the 

 State's title for the purpose of protecting the property for them, 

 and these people or their successors have made improvements 

 and for years lived thereon. In some cases, farms have been 

 acquired and people have remained thereon or new tenants 

 moved in. Large numbers of small hunting camps have been 

 built; cheap shacks have been built upon lake shores as sum- 

 mer homes; farmers living adjacent to State land have moved 

 their fences back to increase their pastured area and about 780 

 occupancies of various kinds and of long and short duration have 

 grown up on state land. 



There has been agitation in the press and in the public mind 

 for several years as to the desirability of leasing camp sites and, 

 therefore, the matter of occupancies have been permitted to 

 remain pending a decision of the question by the constitutional 

 convention. 



During the twenty years that have elapsed since 1894, the 

 Forest Preserve has increased in size from 720,744 acres to 

 more than 1,800,000 acres. In a similar manner, the proportion 

 of timber under State ownership increased. It is estimated that 

 in 1895 approximately 10 per cent of the timber in the forest 

 preserve section was owned by the State, while it is estimated that 

 over 30 per cent of the total stumpage in the same area is today 

 owned by the State. The population of this section has increased. 

 The timber on private lands has decreased, and today we find 

 localities that are in great need of wood for fuel, the price in 

 many instances being as high as $3.00 per cord for 16 inch wood. 

 Within these localities are thousands of cords of wood lying upon 

 state land going to decay each year, while the citizens of the 

 State are required to pay excessive prices for wood or coal. 



An examination shows that there are approximately one thou- 

 sand miles of water frontage in the Forest Preserve exclusive 

 of the Lake George Islands, and that 584 miles of this frontage 

 is suitable for camp sites. An inventory made by the forest 

 rangers shows that there are approximately 8,066.000,000 feet of 

 lumber of all sizes and pulp in the Forest Preserve, although 

 this is believed to be a very low estimate. 



