FORESTRY COMMISSION. 33 



ready jf <;iveii lialf a chauce to j;row into valuable material, dis^irove all 

 jie.ssijnistic criticism. The present covci- is of great vahie, its fulure is not 

 iu anj' wise problematic or doubtful, provided only that a reasonable 

 elfort is made to protect it against fire, and that such effort is properly 

 supported and emphasized by suitable legislation, and, what is far more 

 important, by jiroper public opinion, especially in the immediale \iciuity 

 of the district. 



FOR J[ EU TREATMENT. 



With the exception of a few pieces of swamp woods, practically every 

 "forty" of the "Reserve has been logged over and every acre of upland 

 and much of the swamp lands have been run over by lire, and most tracts 

 have been burned over repeatedly. 



Logging seems to have been begun about the end of the GO's. It was 

 done largely in the old way of logging to the river and even when pole 

 roads and some regular railways were built, they carried the logs to the 

 lake or river to be floated to the mill towns below. Only a small portion 

 of the timber was carried to mill per railway and this timber did not 

 follow the stream but was carried east instead of west, mostly to Bay 

 City. The logging itself, like the methods of transpoi-tation, changed 

 with the years, the older cuttings being conspicuous by high stumps 

 and signs of general wastefulness. Of late logging has been carried 

 on in the cedar swamps, some of the lands having been, purchased, others 

 obtained under the State tax homestead act which appears specially con- 

 venient for this encouragement of further forest destruction and denuda- 

 tion. Some of this logging is still going on within the limits of the 

 Reserve. 



ROADS AND SETTLEMENT. 



There are not to exceed half a dozen of actual resident farm settlers 

 within the confines of the Reserve. Nevertheless the district is quite 

 accessible, and many of the old "tote" roads have remained in a passable 

 condition by the travel of berry pickers, hunters and timber men. The 

 sandy impoverished soil, has effectively hindered the growing up to brush 

 of these roads and was, of course, materially aided by the many surface 

 fires which are most common along the highwavs. 



USES OF THE RESERVE LANDS. 



The principal uses, which are made of these lands are made by people 

 Avho do not own these lands and consist in berry picking, grazing and 

 hunting. Of these the gathering of huckleberries is far the most im- 

 portant. On some of the newly burned over lands the crop of the low- 

 bush huckleberry is so abundant that but little effort is needed to make 

 the work very remunerative and cases are on record where |3 per day 

 was earned by industrious persons. While precarious in many ways, 

 this source of income is considerable and of great impor-tance to many 

 beginners. 



But little of the lands iu District No. 2 are grazed at present, the 

 5 



