202 PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 



of the town. This is a matter of great consequence which is being 

 widely neglected. 



"The items most communities need to look after in this way are: A, 

 ponds and lakes, which ought either to be owned in toto or should 

 be accessible through the ownership of shore properties; b, river shores; 

 c, mountain tops or hills commanding especially good scenery; d, small 

 streams, brooks and water falls; e, rocky glens, caves, etc." 



In the way of figures we might state today we have for example, 9,773 

 square miles of national reservations known technically as national 

 parks; and 242,000 square miles of national forests. These two alone 

 give us very nearly a quarter of a million square miles of national 

 recreation grounds. The aggregate today of all publicly reserved lands 

 is very nearly 200,000,000 acres or about two acres per capita. With 

 these figures before us it is of timely interest to note that by far the 

 greater portion of this great park land is owned by the nation and mu- 

 nicipalities, leaving a very small percentage owned by the state. 



We must have more state parks if we are going to uphold that por- 

 tion of the great system of national parks for recreation and play that 

 has been allotted to the states. The state reservations are those destined 

 to best serve the greatest number of people intimately. The reservation 

 of state parks is an important matter and one which opens up to us the 

 next great field of progress and one which is upon us right now. Build 

 now for the future. 



ACTION NEEDED IN CONSERVATION. 

 By Fred J. Lazell, Author. 



During the fifteen years the Iowa Forestry and Conservation Associa- 

 tion has been in existence it has been pleading with the state officials 

 and the state legislature to save some of the beauty spots of Iowa 

 from destruction. Included in its membership have been leading scien- 

 ists, farmers and horticulturalists of the state; some poets and now and 

 then a man versed in the ways of politicians. With united voice, these 

 members have pointed out the need of conserving at least a part of 

 that natural beauty of which the state once was so proud. They have 

 urged that some of the state's most beautiful lakes be conserved and 

 their natural beauty enhanced rather than diminished. They have pleaded 

 for the protection of forest coverings on some of the noblest elevations 

 and in some of the charming valleys. They have asked for the conserva- 

 tion of the state's wild flowers; for greater protection to its birds. They 

 have pointed out how all this might be brought about by the purchase 

 of tracts of 50 to 100 acres of scenic beauty at each o>f, say a dozen dif- 

 ferent localities throughout the state. And they have shown that these 

 state and county parks would not only preserve the scenic splendor of 

 the state and afford protection to desirable forms of vegetable and animal 

 wild life, but would also afford natural parks to which the people of 

 the surrounding towns and townships might go for rest and recreation. 



Meanwhile the progressive cities of the state like Des Moines, Cedar 

 Rapids, Sioux City, Davenport, Dubuque, Council Bluffs, have spent mil- 



