Sturgeon Lake in St. Louis and Itasca counties may be 

 made part of a state preserve if the legislature can be in- 

 duced to become interested in the preservation of one of the 

 state's most attractive bodies of water. The lake has 44 

 miles of shore line and includes about one-half of a town- 

 ship. A movement is on foot to have it set aside and re- 

 tained as one of the rustic beauty spots of Minnesota. 



There are few settlers around Sturgeon Lake. The state 

 owns part of the shore line, but the greater portion is in the 

 hands of lumber companies. The soil about it is sandy and 

 not particularly adapted to agricultural purposes. The divid- 

 ing line between the adjacent farming land and the poor land 

 about the lake is very distinct. The cost of making the lake 

 a state preserve would not be great. 



J. J. Johnsrud of Bear River, has taken the matter up with 

 the state forester, and obtained his indorsement. A bill pro- 

 viding for the purchase of the shore line about the lake not 

 now owned by the state, will be introduced at the 1913 ses- 

 sion of the legislature and members from St. Louis and Itasca 

 will press its enactment. 



An amendment to the agricultural appropriation bill now 

 before congress in which is believed to be a joker which 

 jeopardizes the safety of our great national forests has been 

 discovered by Chief Forester H. S. Graves, according to Prof. 

 Herman H. Chapman of the forestry department at Yale uni- 

 versity. 



The amendment, which was presented to the senate by 

 Senator Nelson and passed that body, reads as follows: 



"The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby directed and re- 

 quired to select,' classify, and segregate as soon as practica- 

 ble all lands within the boundaries of the national forests that 

 are suitable and fit for agricultural purposes and as soon as 

 such lands have been thus selected, classified and segregated, 

 the same shall be open to settlement and entry under the home- 

 stead laws and the sum of $50',000 is hereby appropriated for 

 the purposes aforesaid." 



Mr. Chapman points out that its result will be that many 

 will file on such timber lands "suitable and fit" for agricul- 



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