Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1911-01-11
Department az state Lands.

laws and methods OF handling state lands
separate state land department., is now gen
.rally admitted. II the State OF Mtnnesots
buy the same. in my opinion the law should
oe so amended as to permit OF sales being
made every day in the year BY the respec-
while fair not only to the state and the set
tlor. will also be In the nature Of inducement
20 the latter. and a separate land department
organized.
Before reforms in our land laws can be
carried into legislative effect: however. II
sary to submit the proposition to the people
in the form Of constitutional amendment.
LIN In .. order Ter. that hat the state lands may be
that sales should be made at all times on
a basis similar to the handling Of private
lands but this involves a legal question and
also one Of public policy.
It Is not necessary that the policy OF
public SALE az required by our constitution
pnps be nsD .n
the commissioner should be authorized to
make sales to bona tide settlers at all times
sales at more frequent intervals. say. every
thirty or sixty days, when in his judgment
the public interests can best be subserved
Neighboring states. owning only a small
traction OF public domain as compared with
in Minnesota the land Commissioner TO.
fifty years has been his own auditor, with
no direct and systematic daily check upon
such as the auditor himself gives all other
departments and business, except the one
IN recent years which cover only limited
phase of our land business. No one realizes
the public wisdom and necessity OF amend
ing the old system improvised in pioneer
days, more keenly than the state auditor
himself. as shown by his report.
Department Of Forestry.
The original forest area Of Minnesota is
estimated at over one-half Of the total land
approximately s.
100000 acres. The present forest area may
be estimated as covering less than one-fourth
acres.
OF our total wooded area 1.2o4,4ss acres
and nearly 100000 acres more represent
unsurveyed government forest lands largely
in the Indian reservations, making tota
OF over 5000 600 acres of national govern
ment holdings in Minnesota. The state for
est reserves aggregate about 10000 acres
The tot standing timber in twenty
about twenty billion feet. nearly one-hali
present average lumber cut Of billion feet
year. it would take about twenty years
the denudation of a state which once had
areas
1t would seem as though the necessity OF
placing the public forest under scientific
and business like administration were sc
plain to the general public and to the mem.
Ders or this legislature, that argument should
be unnecessary. The state has just expert
enced another chapter Of horrors in con.
fires. which should be sufficient to demon.
strate the necessity Of improved forest ad.
ministration But the Hinckley, Chisholm
and Beaudette fires. with their losses aggre.
eating millions Of dollars worth of propert,
and many human lives, tell only part of tho
trespass and depreciation, and loss by neg.
lect OF growing forests as we'll loss Of
opportunities for reforestation. 1t is estimat.
raSnn ~
Minnesota are worth o,oo0,o 900, which i:
the strongest possible argument for ade.
and administration
The state also has a large area Of cut.
over lands that are valuable chiefly for re.
siderable area of our swamp lands. Wher
we read the reports Of European state for.
ests and note what earnings are derived
from forest lands, begin to appreciate
that timber is one Of the most valuable crop.
d In soil o may produce and that land of little
or no value for farming may be made q
estry.
In scientific forestry administration swed.
en- for example has made wonderful progress
increased from 100000 in 1885, to 5000. oot
Sweden by purchase and rerorestation has
increased its state forest area As per cent
S 10000 acres thereof being acquired by
sofa has received nearly ten times tina,
amount in government grants, without g
~ eApehSe Aof INVESTMENT. Mime
sofa today consumes about double the
a a OF lumber which it produces, while
Sweden. next to Russia. is the greatest ex-
porter OF lumber in the world.
Ihe forest problems of our state have been
sadly neglected. For protection against for
est fires Minnesota spends less than one
Iourth OF what IS required for effective
results. and in the way OF practical forest
administration conducts only IA few scattered
experiments with nothing like a compre-
hensive, scientific and businesslike system Of
forestry, The cost Of forest fire protection
should be borne. by the benefited forest
property on the basis Of insurance risk
snare OF the cost. On this basis. the cost of
nre protection need not be materially in
creased against the general taxpayer. and
then only as he gets liberal returns for in
surance against loss.
AS showing that our timber lands Justify
on business grounds reasonable expenditure
Tor administration, I present herewith the
audltors statement of pine lumber cut from
Mlnhesota state lands for the past six years: