12 



Canadian Forestry Journal, January, 1915 



MINNESOTA'S CONSTITUTIONAL 

 AMENDMENT. 



Oil Nov. 3 at the Minnesota elections a 

 number of important amendments to the 

 State constitution were submitted to the 

 voters. These amendments numbered eleven, 

 and of them all only one was carried, No. 

 9. This amendment was one which changes 

 the method of management of State lands. 

 Up to this time all State lands were handled 

 on the assumption, so common in all parts of 

 this continent, that all lands would even- 

 tually be used for agriculture. In the con- 

 stitution it was provided that the lands still 

 in the possession of the State were to be 

 sold and the proceeds devoted to schools and 

 other worthy objects. In past years the 

 great bulk of the agricultural lands owned 

 l)y the State have been sold and settled 

 upon and the lands that remain are largely 

 forest lands. Yet the constitution made no 

 provision for this, and if something had not 

 ])een done these lands would have Vjeen auc- 

 tioned off, would have been stripped of such 

 timber as they carry to-day, attempts would 

 have been made at settlement ; and by fire 

 and axe and plow a large part of the State 

 would have been reduced to desert. By the 

 amendment carried on Nov. 3 such school 

 and other pnlilic lands of the State as are 

 better ailapted for the production of timber 

 than for agriculture may be set apart as 

 State forests, and the legislature may pro- 

 vide for the management of the same on for- 

 estry principles. The net revenue is to be 

 used for the purpose for which the lands 

 Avere granted to the State. 



This was a very great victory, and its 

 significance is heightened by the fact that 

 every other proposed amendment was de- 

 feated. This amendment stood ninth on the 

 ballot, and never in the history of the State 

 had an amendment passed which stood lower 

 on the list than fifth. In order i,o carry 

 the amendment it was necessary to secure a 

 majority of the total vote cast on all sub- 

 jects at the polls on election day. The total 

 vote cast was 356,906. Those votes which 

 were not cast on the amendment at all 

 counted against it. The total number of 

 votes cast for the amendment was 178,954, 

 while against it were cast 44,033. The 

 amendment thus had a majority of 501 

 votes. 



Great praise is due the Minnesota Fores- 

 try Association which since June last has 

 l)een campaigning to this end. In the fight 

 they enlisted the aid of the newspapers, the 

 women 's clubs, the churches, bankers, com- 

 mercial clubs, telephone companies, farmers ' 

 clubs, manufacturers, school teachers, forest 

 rangers, game wardens and county agricul- 

 tural representatives. The cam^^aign was 

 carried on by means of public meetings, 



motion picture shows, lantern lectures, ex- 

 hibits at fairs, demonstrations on State For- 

 ests Day, and by the distribution of 300,000 

 booklets and 47,000 posters. One of the ef- 

 fective means was the calling up by tele- 

 phone, by the members of women's clubs, 

 of voters on Nov. 2 and the reminding of 

 the voter not to forget Amendment No. 9. 



There are still left in the possession of 

 the State of Minnesota about two and a 

 half million acres of land, much of which 

 is forested, and which w'ill now be avail- 

 alile for management on forestry principles. 

 Minnesota is to be congratulated all around. 



REPORT ON IRRIGATION. 



I'p till the end of 1912 irrigation work 

 in western Canada was carried on under 

 the supervision of the Dominion Forestry 

 Branch. At that time, however, owing to 

 the great increase in the work, irrigation 

 was made the work of a se]>arate Branch, 

 with Mr. E. F. Drake as Superintendent. 

 The report for the year 1913, the first as a 

 separate Branch, has now been issued. It 

 is a volume of 180 pages with maps and 

 plates, and an inspection of it shows how 

 important this subject has grown. This ir- 

 rigation work is closely connected with for- 

 est conservation, because practically all the 

 rivers dealt with rise in the foothills of the 

 Rocky Mountains and are fed by the forest- 

 e<l lands of the eastern slope of that range. 



The report notes the increasing demand 

 for water because of the rapid settlement 

 of the prairies and because of the com- 

 pletion of some parts of the Canadian Paci- 

 fic Railway irrigation project which will 

 eventually irrigate three million acres. The 

 work, outside of the administration work at 

 Calgary and Ottawa, is diviiled into stream 

 measurements, special hydrographic surveys, 

 and drainage investigations. With these 

 goes the iuspcetion periodically of both 

 luiildiiig and completed irrigation projects. 

 Among the works under supervision are the 

 1,600 miles of canals and ditches on the 

 western section of the Canadian Pacific 

 work. This will be greatly increased when 

 the central and eastern sections of the same 

 project are completed. 



Southern Saskatchewan in the Moose Jaw- 

 Regina district has a large and growing 

 population, and, its water supplies from 

 streams and rivers are comparatively small. 

 The I'rovincial Government has made an 

 apjilication for a reservation of one hun- 

 dred million gallons of water per day from 

 the South Saskatchewan River to be divert- 

 ed for this purpose. Reconnaissance sur- 

 veys have shown the feasibility of this 

 diversion, but that its cost will be great- 

 Further surveys are now going on. 



