REPORT OF SPECIAL FORESTRY COMMITTEE 



best. It would be a mistake, however, to attempt to 

 carry on this work over too large an area with the 

 funds at hand. The next few years will demonstrate 

 its practicability. Then the people of Wisconsin will 

 willingly contribute more money toward the purchase 

 of lands and more towards the protection and plant- 

 ing of trees. 



The claim is oftentimes made that it is too late 

 to start forestry in Wisconsin; that this work should 

 have been done while the State still owned or could 

 have purchased some of the virgin and growing 

 timber. An investigation will prove that this is 

 not true, that wherever forestry is being carried on 

 it consists in the protection of the natural repro- 

 duction of timber and of artificial planting. An 

 exception to this, however, is in the work being 

 conducted by the National government where the 

 field of operation is confined to large holdings of 

 virgin timber. In all of our Eastern States and in 

 the foreign countries this is not the case. 



The State is the owner within the proposed 

 permanent forest reserve of approximately 50,000 

 acres of virgin timber. None of this timber should 

 be sold unless mature or there is real demand for 

 the land for agricultural purposes. The State has 

 some large bodies of timber in Forest County near 

 the railroad. If these, are offered for sale it should 

 only be in such a way as will secure the agricultural 

 development of the land itself. 



Twenty years ago lumbermen made a successful 

 plea to have the State Park lands in Iron and Vilas 

 Counties put on the market so that the lands could 

 be put on the tax roll and the country would de- 

 velop. The lands were offered for sale, the lumber- 

 men getting the timber, but the country did not 

 profit thereby in the way of development. 



In the light of history and experience we believe 

 these timberlands should be conserved. 



The more recent investigations tend to substan- 

 tiate the claim that in order to secure a uniform 

 stream flow and the best results from our vast 



