Wl 
Sec. 2. The said commission shall, after examination, locate and report to the 
governor, or to the legislature if it be in session, the following forestry reserva- 
tions: 
(1) One of not less than forty thousand acres upon waters which drain mainly 
into the Delaware River. 
(2) One of not less than forty thousand acres upon waters which drain mainly 
into the Susquehanna River. 
(3) One of not less than forty thousand acres upon waters which drain mainly 
into the Ohio River: 
Provided, That each of these reservations shall be in one continuous area so 
far as the same is practicable. 
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. 
Src. 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. 
Src. 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 Ac? 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 to 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 nay 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. 
