64 Third Annual Report of the 



tain claims of adverse possession. A survey of the township and 

 the occupancies has been made and all the facts submitted to the 

 court. As a result, title to nearly the entire township has been 

 perfected and, by judicial determination, vested in the State. 

 There are other cases where similar procedure should be taken. 



Utilization 



The Forest Preserve to-day contains over 1,825,000 acres 

 of land, an area twice the size of the State of Rhode Island, 

 larger than the State of Delaware, and about half the size of the 

 State of Connecticut. It embraces nearly 7,000 parcels situated 

 in sixteen counties, intermixed with approximately five times as 

 large an area of private property, and is bounded by over 9,000 

 miles of lines. The topography, character and forest growth is as 

 diversified as is its distribution. The best statistics which we 

 have as to its classification are as follows: 



Virgin forest 70,000 acres 



Lumbered lands 1,434,000 acres 



Denuded lands 120,000 acres 



Water 201,000 acres 



This area includes some of the most valuable forests in the 

 entire State. The value of the entire holdings from a commercial 

 standpoint has been variously estimated, but $30,000,000 would 

 be a low appraisal. 



The use of this great area is a matter of vital importance. The 

 constitutional provision practically prevents any direct use, ex- 

 cept for camping, hunting and fishing ; and the indirect benefit is 

 protection to the watersheds. The entire wood production on this 

 enormous area is at present a total loss because, on the average, 

 decay equals the growth, ft is fair to say that 1,250,000 acres 

 are covered with heavy forest growth. A portion of this area 

 has never been lumbered, and large areas have not been cut over 

 in a quarter of a century. If we assume that the average annual 

 growth per acre is 200 feet, this, in the aggregate, means an 

 annual wood crop of 250,000,000 feet of lumber. Under proper 

 forest management the annual growth could be taken each year 

 and still the necessary forest would be maintained. Proper forest 



