MICHIGAN EXPERIMENT STATION 



'PRESENT CONDITION OF MICHIGAN FORESTS AND STUMP LA.NDS 

 WITH SUGGESTIONS AS TO THEIR CARE. 



F. E. Skeels. 



The map upon the opposite page is intended to convey some idea of the 

 class, location and area of the lands of the lower peninsula of Michigan, 

 which might be available for forestry purposes. These are classed as Tax 

 Homestead, State Tax, Agricultural College and Primary School lands. 

 The Tax Homestead lands are those which have for the most part been 

 stripped of the original timber and forfeited back to the state for non- 

 payment of taxes by the lumber men who had no use for the land, and In 

 most instances would, under favorable conditions, produce another forest. 

 These lands have been deeded by the Auditor General to the State of 

 Michigan and are now under the control of the Comissioner of the State 

 Land Office and can be located by bona fide residents for ten cents per 

 acre. The State Tax lands have become the property of the state for the 

 non-payment of taxes, and if not redeemed by the original owners, or by 

 some speculator who sees enough timber upon certain tracts to warrant 

 the payment of back taxes, will in time become Tax Homestead lands. 

 The figures upon the map at the letter T denote the number of descrip- 

 tions in each county, held by the state, as tax lands and although the 

 descriptions, vary in areo from the village lot to entire sections of land it 

 is safe to estimate that in the northern counties each description will 

 mean at least 80 acres. The Agricultural College and Primary School 

 lands are lands from which no timber has been removed and are for the 

 most part too valuable for farming purposes to be used as forestry 

 reserves, especially as there is so much other available territory which 

 seemingly is not wanted for any other purpose. 



A glance at the map will sufflice to show that nearly all of our northern 

 river systems have their source or sources in an area which has an abun- 



• dance of Tax Homestead and State Tax lands. Thus the Muskegon river 

 rises in Roscommon and Missaukee counties. The Manistee and An Sable 

 rivers, although the former discharges its waters into Lake Michigan on 

 the west side of the state and the latter into Lake Huron on the east side, 

 rise in Crawford and Otsego counties and the source of the one is but a 

 mile or two from that of the other. The Sturgeon, Pigeon, Black and 

 Thunder Bay rivers rise in this same locality and in these counties and 

 those through which these streams flow we find the greater portion of 

 these available forestry lands. 



Thus in Missaukee we have 12,385 acres of Tax Homestead, and an esti- 

 mated area of 113,000 acres of State Tax land, or in round numbers 125,000 

 acres or over five entire townships. In Roscommon county we have an 



■ aggregate of about 250,000 acres or over ten townships in these two classes 



'ot abandoned lands. 



Crawford county has 185,000 acres, Otsego has 90,000 acres, Mont- 

 morency 240,000 acres, Oscoda, Ogemaw, Alcona and Iosco each over 250,- 

 000 acres; Alpena and Presque Isle nearly 300,000 acres each. This entire 

 territory is abundantly watered with beautiful lakes and streams abouqd- 



