50-year contract to the Minnesota Department of 

 Conservation, and 58,098 acres in central Wisconsin 

 to the Wisconsin Department of Conservation. 



The Nationai Park Service controls Isle Royale, a 

 134,000-acre forested tract of outstanding scenic 

 beauty and scientific interest. 



The War Department held in 1945 nearly 400,000 

 acres of land in the Lake States, includins; lands 

 along the Mississippi needed for navigation and 

 flood-control purposes, sites for camps and airports, 

 and areas acquired for munition plants. Since then 

 it has disposed of some areas. These military lands 

 include some bottom-land hardwoods and rather 

 extensive areas of sparse jack pine and scrub oak. 

 Only a small part can be considered commercial 

 timberland in their present condition and manner 

 of use. 



The Bureau of Land Management retains approx- 

 imately 115,000 acres of unaj^propriated public do- 

 main, very little of Avhich now supports or is capable 

 of producing timber of commercial quality. 



The Farmers' Home Administration and Soil 

 Conservation Service also retain a few thousand 

 acres of forest land in this region. 



STATE FOREST LANDS 



The States have about 8.9 million acres of forest 

 land, including 7.6 million acres classified as com- 

 mercial forest. 



In Minnesota, the Department of Conservation, 

 according to its biennial reports, has responsibility 

 for managing approximately 5.5 million acres, of 

 which 4.1 million are more or less forested. The 

 Department provides fire protection for all State, 

 county, and privately owned lands outside Federal 

 projects. It permits regulated timber cutting on all 

 State lands, but is primarily concerned with timber 

 management on the 2.0 million acres of State forests. 

 It is making a careful inventory of its property, with 

 the aim of adding new management units and con- 

 solidating its holdings by means of exchanges with 

 other landowners. 



In Wisconsin, two agencies have jurisdiction over 

 nearly one-half million acres of State land, including 

 some of nonforest character. The State Land Com- 

 mission controls the "trust fimd" lands, amounting 

 I in 1949 to 151,500 acres. The Department of Con- 

 [ servation manages the State forests (260.000 acres), 

 j State parks (15,500 acres), and deer yards and public 

 hunting grounds (32,000 acres). 



Forest Resources of the Lake States Region 



In Michigan, the Department of Conservation, 

 according to its biennial reports, controls about 4.3 

 million acres of land, mostly forest. It has dedi- 

 cated 2.0 million as State forests, more than 1.5 

 million acres as game projects, and 0.1 million 

 acres as State parks. The remainder it considers 

 too scattered and poorly located for organized man- 

 agement or, in some cases, suitable for sale to 

 private owners for agriculture, recreation, or other 

 use. The Department provides over-all protection 

 from fire, and supervises timber sales, planting, and 

 various special uses (75). Also, it has a very active 

 program of game management and may alter its 

 cutting and planting programs in the interest of 

 game propagation. It has tried controlled burning 

 to maintain certain areas for sharp-tailed grouse 

 (29). 



COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL FORESTS 



In Minnesota, counties have primary responsibil- 

 ity for managing about 4.3 million acres of tax- 

 forfeited forest land (although legal title rests with 

 the State and the Commissioner of Conservation has 

 some control over local action). Until recently, the 

 coimty boards have done little in forest management 

 other than to sell timber and land as opportunities 

 arose. Now a niniiber of them are taking stock of 

 their holdings, setting aside concentrated blocks as 

 memorial forests, and making plans for permanent 

 management. 



In Wisconsin, counties hold title to about 2.5 

 million acres of tax-forfeited forest land, mostly 

 cut-over (-/■/). Twenty-eight coimties have estab- 

 lished county forests totaling nearly 2 million acres. 

 They have entered these under the Wisconsin 

 Forest Crop Law, which entitles them to receive 

 limited financial aid froin the State for comity 

 forest management. They also receive technical 

 assistance from the district foresters of the C^onserva- 

 tion Department. With this help, they have been 

 making timber sales with appropriate cutting limita- 

 tions, and have been planting and carrying out 

 other improvement programs on a moderate scale. 



In Michigan, tax-forfeited land reverts directly 

 to the State and thus there has been less occasion 

 for development of county forests than in the other 

 Lake States. Only one county, Gogebic, has at- 

 tempted to develop a forest program of any si/e. 

 It has title to approximately 25,000 acres, 18,000 of 

 which were deeded it by the State. Other coimties 

 have roadside strips and forest parks of smaller size. 



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