FUTURE FORESTRY IN IOWA 13 



of operating permanently, which naturally necessitates at least 

 a crude system of management for these woodlands. An excel- 

 sioii mill at Guttenberg on the Mississippi River, is utilizing 

 cott'onwood, aspen, basswood, willow and butternut for excel- 

 sior production. A crating mill on the River near the northeast 

 corner of the State is utilizing absolutely every species available 

 and is sawing every stick of timber, including branch wood down 

 to a limit of three inches in diameter. Fifteen hundred acres 

 of island lands are providing a permanent supply of timber 

 for this mill. A large basket manufacturing company in eastern 

 Iowa has been using, exclusively, timber from lands subject to 

 inundation, and has made provision for a permanent supply. 



In the development of commercial timber holdings there is a 

 need for scientific management which means better management 

 and consequently better returns. The next few years should see 

 progress in this direction. The State should take the lead in 

 giving assistance either directly to the companies concerned by 

 demonstrations, technical advice, or possibly by example or 

 experiments conducted on State lands. 



STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL FORESTS 



The principal forest activities of many of the states are in 

 connection with the administration of the state and national 

 forest lands. In Iowa, lands which might be set aside for these 

 purposes would be difficult to administer, since the areas must 

 necessarily be more or less widely separated. In adidtion, prac- 

 tically all the land within the State boundaries is privately 

 owned and forest land could only be set aside after purchase or 

 donation. From the standpoint of timber production only 

 there is little excuse for either national or state forests in Iowa. 

 Other considerations, however, may be given emphasis which 

 would make state forests not only possible but desirable. The 

 value of the forest as a regulator of stream^flow and as a means 

 of preventing erosion in localities with a rough topography, is 

 quite generally admitted. Sinve the mis-treatment of certain 

 forest areas in the State might jeopardize the rights of others 

 by increasing erosion, filling stream channels and in other ways, 

 it might be desirable to have state control over the management 

 of certain of these lands, or at least to have state supervision 

 over the cutting of the timber. 



