658 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



idate the areas, and to dispose of agri- 

 cultural portions to settlers. Although 

 the State pays taxes on these lands to 

 the road and school funds, increasing 

 opposition arose in the counties where 

 the reserves were located, based on the 

 argument that agricultural lands were 

 being locked up and development 

 thwarted. A Committee of the Legisla- 

 ture of 1914-15, after a thorough 

 investigation which extended to Eastern 

 States, reported: 



"First. That the general policy or 

 idea of forestry is sound and a success 



commercially '. 



"Second. It is not good policy to 

 permit attempts to be made to induce 

 settlers with a view to home-making to 

 go on lands not suited to agriculture ; 



"Third. There are thousands of 

 acres of land in northern Wisconsin 

 which, on account of poor character of 

 the soil and its rough nature will not 

 be used for farming either in this 

 generation or several to come. This 

 can be said without detracting from the 

 agricultural possibilities of the section 

 in which they are located. Agricultural 

 writers say that 25 per cent of all lands 

 in the northern half of the State are 

 unsuitable for the growing of crops. 

 This would give V/i million acres of 

 possible forest lands." 



The report presents many other 

 striking facts which abundantly prove 

 the economic wisdom and conservatism 

 of the State's policy of land reservation, 

 and recommends the continuation of the 

 system. Meanwhile, a suit brought 

 against the State to test the constitu- 

 tionality of the law of 1905 which 

 empowered the State to sell and ex- 

 change State school lands, has been 

 decided adversely and the adjustment 

 of this matter will greatly hamper and 

 retard the entire State policy. Previous 

 to this agitation, Wisconsin had appro- 

 priated $50,000 per year for five years 

 to purchase additional lands for State 

 Forest reserves. These purchases are 

 now suspended. The determination of 

 the entire future policy of Wisconsin is 

 dependent on recognizing the funda- 

 mental necessity for scientific land 

 classification, and a willingness on the 

 part of the people of the State to support 

 and abide by such classification. 



In Minnesota, in spite of the progress 

 made in State fire protection, following 

 the Hinckley and Baudette fires, the 

 interests hostile to land classification 

 successfully thwarted all tentative efforts 

 to secure State Forest reserves, although 

 the State owns several million acres of 

 land which should be examined and 

 classified. Much of this land, in north- 

 eastern Minnesota is solid granite 

 ledges, or is filled with boulders and 

 never by the greatest stretch of the 

 imagination could be called agricultural. 

 Yet such is the fear of land speculators, 

 lumbermen owning cut-over lands, and 

 real estate men, of the principle of 

 honest classification, that even the 

 existence of these great bodies of granite 

 rock is strenuously denied. The Min- 

 nesota Forestry Association succeeded 

 in the last general election in arousing 

 the public conscience to such an extent 

 that a constitutional amendment was 

 adopted, giving the Legislature permis- 

 sion to classify and reserve non-agri- 

 cultural State lands. At once the 

 opposing interests took alarm. The 

 usual misrepresentations were repeated 

 to the effect that the classification sought 

 to tie up agricultural lands. In an effort 

 to cripple the State Forest Service, 

 inspired apparently by the idea that 

 if this Service were crippled the move- 

 ment for land classification would be 

 nipped in the bud, the Senate Finance 

 Committee cut the State appropriation 

 for forest fire protection in two, thus 

 seeking to revert to the conditions 

 existing previous to the Baudette fire. 



A bill appropriating $25,000 for land 

 classification was summarily rejected by 

 the legislature, thus nullifying the ex- 

 pressed wishes of the people of the State. 



American civilization has much to 

 learn, and one of the most fundamental 

 of these lessons is a recognition of 

 existing economic conditions and the 

 protection of her citizens against un- 

 bridled exploitation. If land is unfit 

 for agriculture, no amount of mis- 

 representation will change its character, 

 or aid the unfortunate settler who 

 acquires it to make a decent living. 

 But once such lands are devoted to the 

 legitimate purpose of timber production, 

 all true agricultural lands in the vicinity 

 are benefited by the general uplift of 



