190 



I . 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



49 



" In view of the fact that there is now 

 a petition before Congress from the people 

 of the State of Minnesota asking the set- 

 ting aside of certain tracts of timber land 

 included in the Leech Lake Indian reser- 

 vation in Minnesota, except such lands as 

 have been allotted to the Indians in sever- 

 alty, as a National Park and Forest Re- 

 serve, for the purpose of preserving the 

 timber and conserving the water supply of 

 the Mississippi river, and in view of the 

 fact that other tracts of timber lands in the 

 northern part of Minnesota, Wisconsin and 

 other States and Territories in the Union 

 from which the timber has been removed, 

 which have reverted back to the govern- 

 ment, should be set aside for forestry pur- 

 poses that they may again be covered with 

 forest growth to supply coming genera- 

 tions, therefore, 



''Resolved, That the Iowa Academy of 

 Sciences in session hereby petition Con- 

 gress, first, To segregate for park and for- 

 estry purposes, the said tract of land at the 

 headwaters of the Mississippi and such 

 other lands as Congress may have control 

 over in the States of Minnesota and Wis- 

 consin and in other States, especially the 

 Rocky Mountain and Sierra regions, to 

 the end that not only the timber supply of 

 said States may be partially saved but for 

 holding the moisture in said regions, and 

 also for the preservation of our wild game. 

 Second, we also favor the purchase of the 

 land for a proposed Southern Appalachian 

 National Park. 



' ' Resolved third, That the government 

 withhold from the market public lands 

 covered with timber, that the mature tim- 

 ber on the same be sold under the super- 

 vision of a technically trained forester. 

 Fourth, That we urge upon our delegates in 

 Congress the feasibility of concentrating 

 the forestry work ; and urge that the gov- 

 ernment establish a rational system of for- 

 estry, especially with reference to our forest 

 reserves, and fifth, That the supervision 

 of these forest reserves be placed in charge 

 of trained foresters, all under one respons- 

 ible head, preferably the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, to the end that a 

 more rational system of forestry may be 

 introduced in this country. 



" [Signed.] L. II. Pammel, T. H. Mac- 

 Bride, H. A. Mueller, Committee" 



Professor Samuel B. Green, of the Uni- 

 versity of Minnesota, concludes a recent 

 bulletin of the State Agricultural Depart- 

 ment, on the expense of the proposed Na- 

 tional Park for Minnesota, as follows: 



"If the above figures are correct tin- 

 proposed park, merely as a financial ven- 

 ture, will take care of itself, and as an 

 example in good forestry and a place 

 for recreation for our people it ought t.. 

 be above almost any price. Besides, from 

 the purely economical standpoint, the es- 

 tablishment of this park would have the 

 effect on the surrounding country that the 

 establishment of any great, permanent 

 manufacturing concern has, and would un- 

 doubtedly result in much improvement 

 over the ordinary way of cutting timber 

 in this State which so often has left a trail 

 of stagnation behind it. Why not tr\ 

 such a plan as this? Surely the govern- 

 ment can well afford to do so, and it can- 

 not possibly be any worse than the plan of 

 selling all the timber to the highest bidder 

 without any regard to the interests of pos- 

 terity." ^ 



In the Last spring when Con- 



Legislatures, gress adjourned it left, 

 with other unfinished 

 business, two bills relating to proposed 

 national parks. This winter bills looking 

 toward the establishment of these parks 

 and the purchase of land for a new reserve 

 have been brought up in the present ses- 

 sion, but at the time of going to press, 

 are still undisposed of. The third, the 

 Appalachian Park project, is the one with 

 which matters have gone most favorably 

 thus far. The bill which has been intro- 

 duced both in the Senate and in the House 

 provides five millions for the purchase of 

 not more than two million acres in the 

 Southern Appalachians. One of the best 

 features of this bill, which will be a surprise 

 to many who have been speaking ol a pro- 

 posed Appalachian " Park," is that it pro- 

 vides for a " Southern Appalachian F01 - 

 est Reserve" of which the purchase and 

 care are to be intrusted to the Secretar) of 

 Agriculture. This means that the resen e, 



