NATIONAL PARK IN MINNESOTA. 139 
sacrifice of these forests to go on for the benefit and satisfaction of private 
greed. A bill has been introduced in the Senate to this effect. 
A prompt protest from the people will check this action. Their positive 
demand will secure the salvation, for present and future generations, of this 
valuable area. 
No public project has ever concerned the state of Minnesota which has 
so cogent arguments in its support. The title to these lands and lakes still 
lies_practically in the United States government. No vested rights or es- 
tablished interests will be prejudiced by its permanent dedication to the 
people. : 
If the forest remains national property, the pine will not be removed from 
public use. It is proposed to make these forests an object lesson in practi- 
cal scientific forestry. By the building of roads and the cutting of timber, 
under suitable regulations, the danger from fire will be minimized. Under 
proper restrictions, the mature pine may be regularly sold and cut. Forestry 
experts estimate that the forests of this area will yield a continuing revenue 
of five per cent upon the investment which the government may make in the 
payment of Indian claims upon the land. 
It is not proposed to remove the Indians from the reservations. They 
remain but a handful, for whom room and occupation as guides, campers, 
lumbermen and park police can be readily found. 
The area is a paradise for sportsmen. It is unsurpassed in its native 
beauty. It is remarkable in its health-giving qualities. It combines a 
moderate elevation with a pure, dry air, a sandy, readily drained soil, an 
abundance of coniferous timber and an ample lake surface and forest area. 
It should be a Mecca for sufferers in the early stages of tuberculosis, for the 
victims of nervous exhaustion, for all who are in search of health and rest 
cand recreation. 
Twenty millions of people live within a day or two’s ride of this region. 
Their tourists will afford a revenue to the state, beside which the value 
of the land and its timber is a minor consideration. They will foster in 
permanent prosperity the towns and villages lying in or to be built within 
this tract, in place of the ephemeral existence of the town-sites which the 
lumber industry promotes today and leaves to a slow and premature death 
tomorrow. 
The permanent reservation of these forests is of moment to the entire 
valley of the Mississippi, since in their soil lies the great natural sponge 
which absorbs and regulates the outflow of the water-sources of the great 
river, lessens the liability to spring floods and filters the rainfall. 
The undersigned, representative of the several organizations subscribed, 
appeal, therefore, to the people of the state of Minnesota to speak promptly 
and emphatically, through their representatives and senators in Congress 
assembled, in favor of the dedication of the Minnesota National Park. 
Action, to be effective, must be prompt. The public voice should be 
heard with a very certain sound. 
SIGNED BYy— 
The Minnesota National Park and Forest Reserve Association, Cyrus Northrop, LL. D 
President. 
The American Public Health Association, Peter H. Brvce, M. A. M. D., President. 
The Minnesota State Medical Society, W. A. Hall, M. D., Chairman. : 
The Minnesota State Homecepathic Institute, William Leonard, M. D., President. 
The Minnesota State Federation of Women’s Clubs, Mrs. L. T. Williams, President. 
The Minnesota Academy of Medicine, C. Eugene Riggs, M. D., President. 
The Minnesota State Board of Health, Franklin Staples, M. D., President. — 
The Hennepin County (Minn.) Medical Society, H. B. Sweetser, M. D., President. 
