Conservation Commission. 71 



furthermore at a time when the quantity of material which was 

 tied up was but a small part of the whole, while at the present 

 time the standing timber on State land is a large part of oui; 

 forest resources. It is estimated that the amount of standing 

 timber in the forest preserve region in 1894 was approximately 

 forty billion feet board measure, and that this quantity has de- 

 creased until at present there is not over twenty-five billion feet. 

 At that time approximately four billion feet, or 10 per cent., were 

 under State ownership ; at the present time the material on State 

 land is about twelve billion feet, or nearly 50 per cent, of the 

 whole. The change in economic development of the State, and the 

 decrease in our forests resources, is also indicated by the fact that 

 the lumber cut in this portion of the State at that time was 

 approximately 1 per cent, of the total stand, while at the present 

 time it is as high as 10 per cent. 



It has been said that the framers of the constitutional prohibi- 

 tion desired to take radical action in order to insure the preserva- 

 tion of the State forests. There had been previously a period of 

 abundant trespass and the administration had not provided proper 

 protection. 



From this standpoint it is perhaps possible to conceive the pur- 

 pose of the framers of the constitutional prohibition, and that they 

 did what was, perhaps, then for the public good. The changes 

 which have taken place have operated to limit the State in its 

 work, and actually to prevent the proper care, preservation and 

 improvement of the resources which they were so anxious to 

 perpetuate. 



A large number of forestry schools have been established and 

 technical foresters are available. Private land owners are appre- 

 ciating the possibilities of better forest management and are apply- 

 ing these ideas in handling their lands, while the State is not 

 deriving any revenue, and is securing only indirect benefits from 

 this large area. 



MAINTENANCE. 



The extended area which has been acquired, known as the State 

 Forest Preserve, is practically a protective forest. The benefits 

 which the people and the State derive therefrom are indirect. 

 It is difficult to compute the initial cost of this property because 



