448 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



October 



ified as "agricultural" of any area of 

 equal size which could have been se- 

 lected in these Indian Reservations. 



It has been stated that there are 

 other locations on these Reservations 

 which could as well have been select- 

 ed which would have served the pur- 

 pose of a Reserve just as well. The 

 facts on the ground justify no such 

 statement. Had it been possible to 

 select the territory further north and 

 east, which it was not, since the great- 

 er part of those lands were classified 

 as "agricultural," the result would 

 have been to protect the headwaters 

 of the Big Fork River, a tributary of 

 the Rainy River, which runs into a 

 foreign country. This would not 

 have served the purpose for which the 

 Reserve was created, which is to pro- 

 tect the headwaters of the Mississippi 

 River and grow timber tributary 

 thereto. 



A portion of the Reservation (de- 

 lineated on present maps by a black 

 line) was withdrawn April 23, 1903, 

 from sale or settlement. This was 

 done on the recommendation of the 

 forester, who agreed to confine his 

 selection for the Reserve within the 

 black line, the Secretary of the In- 

 terior agreeing that none of the with- 

 drawn area should be opened to sale 

 or settlement until the territory to 

 constitute the Reserve had been finally 

 selected. This step was taken to al- 

 low lumbering to begin, pending the 

 completion of the Indian allotments 

 and the delineation of the War De- 

 partment's flowage line, that Depart- 

 ment having purchased from the In- 

 dians the right to flow certain lands 

 inside these Reservations, prior to 

 the passage of the Morris Bill. 



The alloting of Indians inside the 

 black line has not yet been fully con- 

 cluded. Locations have been com- 

 pleted in the field, but these have not 

 yet been finally acted upon by the 

 Indian Department at Washington, 

 nor have maps yet been received from 

 the War Department showing the 

 flowage line. But from a list which 

 has been furnished by the War De- 



partment showing lands which will 

 be affected by the government dams 

 located at Leech Lake and Winnibi- 

 goshish, it appears that 75 per cent, 

 of the lands which were included with- 

 in the black line, classified as "agri- 

 cultural," are affected by the flowage 

 and liable to be submerged. 



The territory withdrawn includes 

 approximately 207,000 acres of land 

 classified as "Pine lands" and the 

 smallest amount of lands classified 

 as "agriculaural," which it was 

 possible to include, and, at the 

 same time, include the requisite num- 

 ber of acres of land classified as "Pine 

 lands." 



The 7,000 acres of "Pine lands" 

 within the black line in excess of the 

 200,000 acres stipulated in the Morris 

 Bill, was included because a careful 

 examination made it very apparent 

 that a part of the classified "Pine 

 lands" would be covered by the flow- 

 age and it was estimated that the sur- 

 plus of "Pine lands" would be needed 

 to replace the acreage which would be 

 flooded. The lists received from the 

 War Department show that the esti- 

 mate was conservative. 



It has been frequently asserted that 

 these "Pine lands" are not really 

 "Pine lands" but are good agricul- 

 tural lands. Again, I call attention 

 to the actual conditions existing on 

 the ground. Any one who is ac- 

 quainted with this region or any 

 similar region knows whether land 

 upon which Norway, white and jack 

 pine grow naturally can justly be con- 

 sidered as highly valuable for agricul- 

 tural purposes. It is of exactly such 

 lands that the area selected for this 

 Reserve is chiefly composed. 



The selection was not entirely the 

 work of one man. The area included 

 was looked over by the forester, the 

 Commissioner of the General Land 

 Office, Gov. W. A. Richards, the In- 

 dian agent, Major Scott, and the 

 writer, all of whom expressed them- 

 selves in favor of its location. Some 

 of those who are now the foremost op- 

 ponents of the Forest Reserve saw a 



