1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



281 



of feet, and with the estimate given for 

 the hardwood, cedar, etc., amounts to a 

 total forest production for Michigan of 

 211,475 millions of feet. The average 

 sale value at the point of manufacture, 

 taken as $13 per thousand, gives for 

 the pine $2,099,175,000, and the hard- 

 wood, cedar, etc., $550,000,000 3 total 

 forest production for Michigan of $2,- 

 649,175,000. 



The pine estimate, feet . . 161,475,000,000 

 The estimate destroyed, feet . 53,825,000,000 



Total pine, feet . 



Hardwood, cedar, etc., feet . 

 Estimate destroyed, feet . 



Total 



Probable total of original for- 

 est, feet .... 



The amount of pine estimated 

 as destroyed . 



The amount of hardwood esti- 

 mated as destroyed 



Total estimate 



215,300,000,000 



50,000,600,000 

 16,666,000,000 



66,666,600,000 



281,966,600,000 



1699,725,000 

 160,000,000 



|859,7 2 5,ooo 



Totaling the statistics of these thirty- 

 eight counties, we have this result : 

 Total acreage, 18,950,000 (about 25 per 

 cent of the area of the entire state) ; 

 area in farms, 2,460,000 acres, which is 

 13 per cent of the thirty-eight counties. 

 The acreage of improved land is 953,000, 

 or 5 T L per cent, and the percentage of 

 unsettled land is 87 per cent, and the 

 percentage of land unimproved is 95 

 per cent. 



Of these thirty-eight counties, with 

 18,950,000 acres, 16,486,500 acres are 

 unsettled, and 18,002,500 acres are un- 

 improved. 



Why are these lands unsettled and 

 unimproved ? Simply because they are, 

 in the main, unsuited to the uses of 

 settlement and improvement for agri- 

 cultural purposes ; but they have the 

 finest soil in the world, with climatic 

 and other conditions most favorable, for 

 growing, not for once, but for all time, 

 the one crop that is most needed, and 

 it is the most valuable that these lands 

 can grow the white pine. 



What should the state of Michigan 

 do about it ? 



I. Repeal all existing land laws. 



II. Acquire all pine stump lands by 

 making absolute all titles through sales 

 for delinquent taxes, by purchase at 

 their actual present value, or by con- 

 demnation under the power of eminent 

 domain all lands necessary for protec- 

 tion or improvement of the state's hold- 

 ings. 



III. The enactment of a new land 

 law permitting no sale of public land 

 except for actual homesteads at a fair 

 valuation ; the sale of no land until a 

 thorough examination showed it was 

 not needed for the state forest land ; the 

 survey and setting apart for state forest 

 land all lands suitable by character and 

 location, and the reclamation of the state 

 lands by replanting and thoroughly pro- 

 tecting the growing forest. 



IV. A policy of taxation to encourage 

 private owners in the improvement of 

 their holdings, and one perfectly tair to 

 the inhabitants of the counties where 

 the state lands are located. 



In other words, the adoption by the 

 state of a comprehensive, enlightened, 

 and business-like public policy respect- 

 ing forestry and its enactment into law 



NATIONAL IRRIGATION IN WYOMING. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE SHOSHONE PROJECT, 

 WHICH IS LIKELY TO BE ONE OF THE FIRST 

 TO BE TAKEN UP IN THE ARID NORTHWEST. 



THE Shoshone project in Wyo mately be extended to over 200 feet* 



ming, for which the Secretary and which will flood about 3,500 acres, 



of the Interior has just set aside $2,- A conduit is proposed through the can- 



500,000, contemplates the erection of a yon of the Shoshone with a capacity of 



dam 170 feet high, which may ulti- 1,000 second feet, to be partly in open 



