To increase the attractiveness of this beautiful public 

 play ground a further appropriation of $5,000 was made for 

 the introduction of some elk. Since the forest is to be pre- 

 served it is only right that some of the elk which at one time 

 made their home in the western part of the state should be 

 brought back. 



Twenty-five thousand dollars was provided for the building 

 of roads and fire lines in Koochiching county in co-operation 

 with the state highway commission. This was a most com- 

 mendable measure. The badly over taxed county cannot 

 afford to build the roads which are necessary for its proper 

 development and the fate of the settlers around Baudette has 

 made the people timid about settling in the large, unbroken 

 and unprotected forests. Such a policy will do much to en- 

 courage the agricultural development of the better types of 

 land. It could wisely be extended to other counties. 



Let us here register one criticism. As is so often the case 

 in a large deliberative body the legislature allowed the promi- 

 nence given to certain details to befog the main issue and 

 failed to increase the appropriation for the maintenance of 

 the state forest service. Originally when the service was 

 created in 1911 an annual appropriation of $150,000 was asked 

 for. These figures were based on actual needs and not padded 

 in expectation of a cut, but in spite of that fact they were cut 

 in half. Partly on account of favorable weather conditions 

 and partly due to the faithfulness of the state forest rangers 

 the fires have been greatly reduced since the passage of the 

 bill two years ago. Probably this was the reason that the 

 legislature refused the request for the increase this year. 

 Owing to the development work done in the past two years 

 the Service is in much better shape to handle the fire situation 

 then they were before, but even so the force of men is entirely 

 inadequate and the policy of economy in this regard will prove 

 short sighted and expensive in the end. 



Aside from the bills carrying appropriations there were 

 several very important laws made. Among them the law per- 

 mitting towns, cities, and towns to establish municipal for- 

 ests and empowering them to acquire lands for that purpose 

 either through gift or purchase. There are -great possibilities 



