State Parks of Wisconsin 



State Parks are likely to be more or less visited at all seasons, as Na- 

 ture offers a reward in every month to her visitors. But the empha- 

 sis for the present must fall on the mid-summer season with some con- 

 sideration of spring and autumn. (4) The property for State 

 Parks should be reasonable in cost. Cities average about a thou- 

 sand dollars an acre for park land, but hope for a comprehensive sys- 

 tem of State Parks must be founded on a much lower cost, and ex- 

 cept in the case of densely populated States, States that have waited 

 too long before taking action, there is every prospect of securing the 

 most suitable and fit land at almost nominal rates. The parks ac- 

 quired by States so far have not averaged in cost much more than 

 twenty-five dollars an acre, I believe. Seldom would a State be 

 justified in paying an average of over a hundred dollars an acre for a 

 tract of any considerable size. Not only should the first cost be low 

 but the property should be of such a character as to require relatively 

 small expenditures for construction and maintenance. It should be 

 a "natural" park, one of such intrinsic beauty as to require little out- 

 lay for improvements (except for roads, paths and other features 

 necessary to its use) and up-keep. (5) Finally, the site for a 

 State Park should, above all, have a decidedly uncommon charm 

 and beauty, a distinction among landscapes, an irresistible appeal to 

 the Nature lover. Here there should be no room for doubt, for fail- 

 ure in this point means complete failure ; and on no other point, nor 

 on all other points together, can justification rest. State Parks must 



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