899. 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



ii 



forestry methods is urged by the com- 

 missioners, not on sentimental grounds, 

 but as a matter of dollars and cents. 



The report next calls attention to the 

 fact that there are in the State large 

 tracts of land which will return better 

 profits if used permanently for raising 

 wood crops, than if converted into 

 agricultural land. It should therefore 

 be the policy of the Government to pro- 

 mote this use rather than the clearing 

 of these lands for farming purposes. The 

 immense extent of the lumber and allied 

 industries in the State is referred to, 

 and it is urged that if the thousands of 

 men who now derive their support from 

 these industries were thrown out of em- 

 ployment on account of the permanent 

 disappearance of their raw material it 

 would be nothing short of an economic 

 revolution in the State. Finally, the 

 commissioners say, it should not be for- 

 gotten that "a wise legislation should 

 consider whether Wisconsin cannot in 

 the future derive such revenues from its 

 forests as will help to bear the expenses 

 of government which will otherwise have 

 to be met by taxing the people." 



After this introduction, the subject is 

 divided into three heads of discussion : 

 Fire protection ; the relative advantages 

 of public and privateownership of forests; 

 and the steps necessary and practicable 

 to attain the object of reform. 



"Without some effective system of 

 fire protection there is no hope of placing 

 the forest industries of the State upon a 

 stable basis. It is clearly as much a 

 duty of the public authorities to prevent 

 forest fires as to prevent and extinguish 

 fires in cities." The system of fire war- 

 dens inaugurated by the last legislature, 

 although it has done some good, is not 

 sufficient. Many local wardens either 

 do not understand their duties or neglect 

 them. There should be proper super- 

 vision. The commissioners recommend 

 that the State pay one-half of the expense 

 of the fire police. 



The report discusses the question 

 whether there is likelihood of private capi- 

 tal being invested in timber lands for per- 

 manent management, and arrives at a 

 negative conclusion. 



The opinion is expressed that Wis- 

 consin lumber concerns could not com- 

 pete with those of other States if they 

 were to conduct their business on any 

 different principle than that now pre- 

 vailing of cutting at once all the mer- 

 chantable timber on their holdings, 

 though there are reasons why this seems 

 questionable. 



The management of timber lots on 

 farms is considered and the report in- 

 sists that it is the duty of the State to 

 assist farmers, by proper instruction, to 

 prevent the constant deterioration which 

 these small forests now usually suffer. 



The conclusion is reached that the 

 State must either allow its lumber, wood, 

 and allied industries to decay, or take 

 the supply of the necessary raw material 

 into its own hands. 



This naturally leads to a consideration 

 of the public lands still existing in Wis- 

 consin. According to the report of the 

 land office the whole amount of the State 

 land remaining unsold on the 30th day 

 of September, 1898, was 367,000 acres. 

 This is nearly all forest-covered, and 

 not well fitted for agriculture, and is 

 widely scattered. The legal status of 

 these lands is discussed, and attention 

 called to the constant deterioration of 

 the growing timber on them by reason 

 of fires, windfalls and consequent insect 

 damage. The report urges that the sale 

 of these lands be stopped temporarity, 

 and the merchantable timber thereon be 

 cut and disposed of as soon as practica- 

 ble. A number of objections which 

 might be raised to the permanent reten- 

 tion of these lands by the State are dis- 

 cussed and shown to be ill taken. The 

 lands owned by the United States Gov- 

 ernment in Wisconsin, which are some- 

 what larger in extent that the State lands, 

 are of substantially the same character 

 as the latter. The commissioners recom- 

 mend that an effort be made by the State 

 authorities to have these lands ceded to 

 the State by the Federal Government. 



The most difficult part of the forest 

 problem is the disposition of the Pine 

 lands from which the merchantable tim- 

 ber has been removed. Of these there 

 are many hundred thousand acres in the 



