Jul 
SEc. 3. That the lands selected shall be of a character better suited to the 
growth of trees than to mining or agriculture, and that at least fifty per centum 
of the area of each reservation shall | have an average altitude of not less than six 
hundred feet above the level of the sea. 
Sec. 4. That the said commission shall have full power to take by right of 
eminent domain and condemn the lands it has selected for the purposes aforesaid. 
as State reservations for the use and behoof of the Commonwealth, and wherever 
it shall be necessary to have a recourse to a jury to assess the damages for any 
property to be taken as aforesaid, the said jury shall consist of such number and 
shall proceed, and their award shall be reviewed and enforced, in the same man- 
ner as now provided by law for the taking of land for the opening of roads in 
the respective counties in which said property is situated. And all the lands 
acquired by the State for public reservations by the action of said commission 
shall be paid for by the State treasurer, upon a warrant drawn by the auditor- 
general of the Commonwealth, after approval by the governor. 
Sec. 5. The commissioners appointed under this act shall serve without com- 
pensation, except so far as the officials designated hereby are compensated by the 
continuance of their salaries as such officials while serving as commissioners, 
but the necessary expenses of travel and all other necessary expenses incurred 
under the provisions of this act shall be paid by the State treasurer, on the war- 
rant of the auditor-general, after due certification. 
Sec. 6. Provided, That nothing herein contained shall authorize the taking, 
_for the purpose of this act, of any land held by any corporation created for the 
purpose of the preservation of forests. 
Approved the 25th day of May, A. D. 1897. 
WISCONSIN. 
The following law, under which a temporary commission has been 
appointed by the governor of Wisconsin, was passed by the legisla- 
ture of 1897: 
AN ACT to provide for a committee to draw up a plan to protect and utilize the forest resources 
of the State of Wisconsin. 
The people of the State of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do 
enact as follows: 
SECTION. 1. The governor is hereby authorized to appoint a commission consist- 
ing of three members who shall devise and draw up a plan for the organization 
of a forestry department, which shall have the management of such State lands 
as may be suitable for timber culture and forestry. The said commissioners 
shall embody in their plan provisions for the classification of the lands now 
owned by the State and the reservation of the State of all lands which are better 
fitted for the growing of timber than for agricultural purposes; the purchase of 
similar lands which may have been abandoned by their owners, or may have been 
struck off to counties for unpaid taxes; the management of the forests existing 
on such lands according to the principles of scientific forestry; the replanting of 
forests on such lands, as far as they have been denuded of their timber; and such 
other provisions as may be deemed advisable. They shall aim at devising the 
best means by which the forest resources of the State can be utilized for the 
people and preserve for future generations without retarding the development of 
the agricultural, manufacturing, and mining industries; shall have regard to 
the influence which the maintaining of forests has upon the climate and water 
supply of the State; and shall draw up a plan by which the forestry department 
may be from the first self-supporting and in time become a source of revenue to 
the State. The report of said commissioners shall be submitted to the legisla- 
ture of the State at its next regular session, within the first ten days after the 
beginning thereof, in the form of a bill or bills. 
SEC. 2. Said bill or bills may be accompanied by a report explaining the pro- 
visions of such bill or bills, and giving the reasons for any of the provisions con- 
tained therein. The said bill or bills, together with such report, shall be printed 
by the State printer at the expense of the State in not more than five hundred 
copies, and shall be distributed to such persons as the governor may direct. 
SEC. 3. The said commissioners shall receive no compensation for their services, 
but shall be entitled to their actual and necessary expenses, including clerk hire, 
which expenses and clerk hire shall not, in the aggregate, exceed two hundred 
and fifty dollars, to be paid by the State treasurer upon warrants drawn by the 
secretary of State, upon verified statements made by the chairman of such com- 
mission. The superintendent of public property shall furnish such commission 
with the suitable and necessary stationery for the performance of such work. 
