The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1892-01-01
"a THREATENING CALAMITY

States: Whereas, the American Forestry asso-
citation and others have presented petitions to
your excellency praying for the setting apart Of
two tracts of land in Northern Minnesota as
National parks and forest reserves, under the
authority granted by the act approved March
3, 1891,
Now therefore, the undersigned do hereby re-
spectfully but most earnestly protest against
the establishment of the proposed park and for
est reserve, because the boundaries include
twelve thousand square miles, more than one
seventh of the territory of the state of Mime
sofa; because there are lands included therein
which, in the ordinary course of development.
will belong to the state for school purposes and
will increase the school fund by from 81 900 900
to $40 900 ,OOO al of which will be lost if these
lands are set apart for park purposes; because
the boundaries inclnde forest, prairie and min
eral lands Unfortunately, and the necessary
and the inevitable result will be to hinder the
further settlement and development of the
Northwest, to prevent demonstration of direct
lines OF railroad from Northern Minnesota and
North Dakota to Lake Superior and to work
hardship to the honest settler, both by prevent
ing reductions in the transportation charges on
his products and by increasing the cost OF the
The above is the substance of a
petition that has been extensively
circulated, and ought to be signed by
every person to whom presented. AS
will be noted it is a protest against
the setting aside large section of
the northern portion of our state,
said to equal one-seventh of the en-
tire state.
The American Forestry Association,
which meets in Washington to-day
and tomorrow, will bring all possible
pressure to bear on President Harri-
son to have him set aside these two
tracts of land by executive proclama-
tion. There is no question but that
if this is done it will work a great in
jury to the State of Minnesota. The
FREE PRESS believes that everything
possible should be done to extend our
forestry interests, but such work
should not proceed to the detriment
of the general public. It is very clear
that the setting aside of the tracts ia
question would interfere with public
rights. Within these proposed re-
serves are some of the richest miner
al deposits in the United States. Al.
so, large portion of the forest wealth
of the state lies within the bounda-
ries of the reserves mentioned. While
they should be carefully guarded, the
people should not be cut off from
them entirely.
Those who are we'll acquainted with |
the lands in question, say that what !
will prove to be some Of the finest ag-
lands in the state. are stu
ated upon these tracts. These facts
ought to be enough to prevent the
carrying out of the proposed scheme.
But there are still others that in |
themselves ought to prevent it. The
first is the cutting off from the school |
fund of some 100000 to 100000, |
that would be lost because of the |
locking up of the sections that have
been set aside the proceeds of which |
are to go to that fund Then it would |
cut off railway lines from the great |
Northwest to the head of the great |
lakes, which will be greatly needed |
as the country developes.
As one looks over the map OF the
state and notes the extent of this |
project, he will fully realize the Wild
ness of the scheme. There is no
doubt but that within the tracts men
toned there are sections that could |
just as we'll be used for forestry pur-
poses as not. The sources of our
streams ought to be protected by for
ests. There are also many tracts of
land unfit for agricultural purposes
that might and ought to be utilized
for forestry purposes, but they ought
not to be shut off from the public in a
way to interfere with direct lines of
railroads, or lock up rich mineral de-
posits. To do this would be to in
fringe upon the rights of the people,
and would be sort Of despotic move
ment upon the part of the govern
ment. The proposed project is not in
the line that forestry movement
should take, and ought to be defeated
by those who have the authority to
act.