474 Forestry Quarterly. 



of virgin timber in the State of Wisconsin. White Pine of the 

 quality found on this reservation is now exceptionally rare and 

 the Norway Pine, basswood, birch and oak are equal to any timber 

 in the State. There is also a very heavy stand of good quality 

 hemlock. The total amount of all species is over 1,500,000,000 

 board feet. In addition to the thoroughly modern sawmill, plan- 

 ing mill and all ordinary accessories, the lumbering equipment in- 

 cludes about seven miles of railroad track, two locomotives, forty 

 Russell cars, and two log loaders. Although the operation is 

 conducted under the supervision and control of the Department 

 of the Interior, the mill and all equipment is the property of the 

 Menominee tribe of Indians, and the business is conducted under 

 the name "Menominee Indian Mills." 



Prior to 1910 the Indian Service had devoted comparatively 

 little attention to the forests in the Rocky Mountain and Coast 

 States. The Indian reservations in those States were rather in- 

 accessible and the economic development had not reached the 

 point where there was any strong demand for the exploitation of 

 the timber resources of the Indians. It has been often and openly 

 said that fires were very frequent in Indian reservations, were 

 allowed to burn unmolested, and yearly did immense damage. It 

 is undoubtedly true that altogether too many fires have been per- 

 mitted to bum themselves out on Indian reservations. On the 

 Crow, Blackfeet, Warm Springs, and Klamath reservations the 

 writer has observed the destructive work of fires that could 

 doubtless have been controlled in their incipient stages. How- 

 ever, observation of the evidences of former fires on Indian reser- 

 vations as compared with those on public lands and National 

 Forests, a careful consideration of the records of the Indian 

 Office, and a knowledge of the character and habits of Indians, 

 leads the writer to the conclusion that the white man has in this 

 matter as in many other matters, heaped upon the Indian a reck- 

 less and unjustified criticism. I have no hesitation in saying that, 

 considering his limitations as to intelligence and education, the 

 Indian is far less addicted to the evil of forest burning than the 

 white man. 



On January 22, 1908, the Secretary of Agriculture and the 

 Secretary of the Interior entered into a co-operative agreement 

 under which the Forest Service was to undertake the adminis- 



