Causes Leading Up to the Amendment 



IN Minnesota, we have ignored this fundamental principle 

 of forests on poor land and farms on good land. We have 

 taken it for granted that all lands in Minnesota are ad- 

 mirably adapted for farming. This is not so. There are lands 

 in this state which are not fitted for farming. They consist 

 of bluffs, ravines, and sand ridges in the south, the eastern 

 and western part of the state, and in rocky cut-crops in the 

 northeastern portion. 



Some of the rockiest lands, as shown in the pictures, 

 have produced magnificent forests of white and Norway 

 pine. From an agricultural standpoint, these lands would 

 produce a crop with no more success than the middle of a 

 concrete pavement. They will produce an excellent crop of 

 timber. Large areas of these non-tillable forest lands have 

 been cut clear and as a result they are now a barren, unpro- 

 ductive waste. They bring no taxes and 1 pay no revenue. 

 They are a burden, a liability and a bad advertisement to the 

 state. 



The state of Minnesota originally owned 8 l / 2 million acres 

 of land, and according to our constitution, these lands must 

 be sold, regardless of their character. This provision was 

 made in 1858 with the view in mind that all lands in Minne- 

 sota are fit for farming. Experience, however, has taught us 

 differently. The state still owns 2% millions acres of land. 

 The cream is gone and of this residue large areas are entirely 

 unfit for tillage. Part of this remainder is coming up to young 

 growth and portions of it are densely timbered. The question 

 confronting us is this: Shall we go ahead and treat the small 

 remainder of our forests according to the old policy which we 

 know to be partly wrong, or shall we adopt a better method? 

 This better method is embodied in the Ninth Amendment on 

 the ballot providing that all those state lands which a soil 

 survey shows to be unfit for tillage shall not be sold but be 

 retained by the state to be managed according to forestry 

 principles. 



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