State Parks of Wisconsin 



elude the land on which we live and which yields our food; the liv- 

 ing waters which fertilize the soil, supply power and form great 

 avenues of commerce ; the forests which jaeld the materials for our 

 homes, prevent erosion of the soil, and conserve the navigation and 

 other uses of the streams; and the minerals which form the basis of 

 our industrial life and supply us with heat, light and power." On 

 the economic side Wisconsin is fully awake to the importance of 

 these questions. It is quite natural, therefore, that the State should 

 now show itself equally ready to consider natural resources on other 

 sides, — those related even more directly to the physical and moral 

 health and the happiness of the people. The White House Con- 

 ference appreciated this aspect of our natural resources as well as the 

 economic, and declared, "we agree that the land should be so used 

 that the beauty, healthfulness and habitability of our country should 

 be preserved and increased ; that sources of national wealth exist for 

 the benefit of the people and that monopoly thereof should not be 

 tolerated." 



The value of parks in general is being better and better understood 

 and as a result we have a steadily increasing acreage in National, 

 City and State Parks. The purposes of these parks under various 

 jurisdictions overlap somewhat, and yet in each case they are more 

 or less distinct and different. The greatest confusion perhaps is be- 

 tween forests and parks. Forest lands, it should be remembered, 

 are selected and afterwards maintained primarily with regard to the 



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