472 Forestry Quarterly. 



under special acts, timberlands have been allotted. There can be 

 no question but that because of the cupidity of the Indians and 

 mistaken ideas on the part of allotting agents, timbered allotments 

 have in many instances been assigned where lands better adapted 

 to agriculture were available. 



There are no satisfactory statistics in regard to the extent and 

 value of Indian timberlands. From such information as the 

 writer has been able to acquire, the conclusion is reached that the 

 amount of allotted timberlands is about 1,500,000 acres, and the 

 amount of unallotted approximately 6,500,000 acres. The amount 

 of timber on allotted lands may be given at 5,000,000,000 board 

 feet, with a value of $12,000,000, and that upon unallotted lands 

 as 36,000,000,000 board feet with a value of $72,000,000, 



Comparatively small amounts of timber have been cut from 

 reservations in the Rocky ^Mountain and Pacific States, but lum- 

 bering on reservations in the Lake States has been in progress for 

 thirty years. From the Bad River Reservation in northern Wis- 

 consin alone nearly 1,000,000,000 board feet have been cut since 



1893. 



The question which will naturally arise in the mind of the 

 reader will be "Is the lumbering on Indian lands conservative or 

 destructive?" The question should be fairly met. The greater 

 part of the lumbering which has been done on Indian reservations 

 in the Lake States has not been conservative in the sense in which 

 this term is generally used in forestry literature. However, 

 during the last eight or ten years it has been conservative in the 

 sense that very little has been wasted. Everything merchantable 

 has been cut and paid for. This method has, of course, not been 

 conducive to a reproduction of forest crops. The criticism 

 which has been passed upon this system has arisen, undoubtedly, 

 from an entire misunderstanding of conditions. 



Practically all of the land within Indian reservations in Wis- 

 consin and Minnesota, except on the Menominee and the Red 

 Lake reservations, has been allotted. The majority of these 

 allotments are still held under trust patents or patents with re- 

 strictions on alienation. Nevertheless, these allotments are in- 

 dividual property. The area of these allotments varies from 40 

 to 160 acres. An individual Indian cannot be expected to practice 

 forestry upon its allotment. To any one having the slightest ac- 



