PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 3 



REPORT OF THE CONSERVATION COMMISSION 



Hon. W. L. Harding, Governor, and Members of the Executive 

 Council : 



Gentlemen : In compliance with your request for a report of 

 the investigation and researches of the Board of Conservation 

 of the State of Iowa, we have the honor to submit the following 

 report of our findings for your consideration. 



The Board met pursuant to your notice and call, at Des Moines, 

 Iowa, on December 27, 1918. The organization was perfected by 

 electing Dr. L. H. Pammel, of the Iowa State College of Agricul- 

 ture and Mechanic Arts, President, and Edgar R. Harlan, Cura- 

 tor of the Historical Department of Iowa, Secretary. The Board 

 immediately proceeded to make the investigation contemplated 

 in Section 9, Chapter 236, Laws of the Thirty-seventh General 

 Assembly. It would seem impossible that an investigation 

 within the time intervening between December 27, 1918, and the 

 present date, would be extensive or comprehensive enough to 

 be of any great value to the executive council. We, therefore, 

 do not wish to convey the impression that the report which is 

 submitted by the board covers only the information secured 

 from the personal visits and researches made during that period. 

 On the contrary, it represents the compilation of all the informa- 

 tion which the board was able to secure from a diligent search 

 and study of the many papers and reports previously made by 

 students of natural history, archaeology, geology and forest re- 

 serves, as well as the information obtained in a few of the many 

 places of scenic, historical, scientific and recreational interest in 

 which our state abounds. 



We have had access to the reports of such students of conser- 

 vation and natural history as Dr. T. H. Macbride and the hosts 

 he has inspired, as well as contributions from many other good 

 people of our state, who have rendered us valuable assistance in 

 our work, to all of whom we have given credit for their efforts 

 in making our report as complete as possible in the limited space 

 of time elapsed since the organization of the board. 



Our examination of the many proposed park sites and reserves 

 has impressed us with the belief that the time has arrived for 

 the great State of Iowa to take a decisive stand to protect and 

 conserve for future generations some of the many beauty spots 



