The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1921-10-21

c0ntr0l, preservation ana cOnSerVa-
ton of her natural resources. This
IS particularly true in regard to
forests and minerals, and the spe-
cial legislative tax commission
which recently completed tour
of the northern part of the state
saw plenty of evidence of the
states neglect and disregard for
is theritages during the past half
century.
If every member of the legisla-
5ure could take this trip, if they
could, see how their inattention to
the needs and desires of the north
country in past years had resulted
N an immense loss to the entire
commonwealth, if the political
leaders who have fought appropria-
lions for a district with scarcity
of votes could view the results of
their short sighted policies there
40 doubt would be a marked
change in public opinion.
To realize the many problems
of this forest and mining region
they first must be visualized, and
unfortunately many of those whose
iuty it is to solve these problems
have no personal knowledge of
hem.
In the early days of the state
complacent legislature permitted
the lumbermen to slash and cut
away the great white and Norway
pine forests, which covered an area
Of $4,000 square miles, create,
han that of all the New England
states except Maine, without con
;rol or regulation. This policy
never has been changed, and even
;oday the few remaining stands OF
pine are doomed to speedy de-
truction. Much of this waste
;ould easily have been prevented
~ the adoption of adequate for
,stry laws, the withholding from
ale of state land containing tim
Der and the encouragement of re-
'orestation and scientific cutting
)y tax relief measures. If the
natter had been properly handled
his section would still be covered
With pine forests from which suffi-
:ient timber to keep all of the
Mills of two decades ago in opera
ion perpetually.
But these apparently obvious
safeguards to protect and conserve
he rapidly dwindling supply OF
nerchantable trees were ignored
,hiefly because the legislatures
and politicians from the southern
and western sections of the state
:ould see no good in the wilder
less To them the trees were only
useful if cut and the land upon
which they grew of no use for any
purpose after the cutting.
The commission which toured
shis country saw the result. 1t
travelled through mile upon mile
of desolate, denuded, devastated
cut-over and burned-over country
which only a few years ago had
been the habitat of the lofty pine,
and which today should be grow
ing pine had the legislators of the
past done their full duty.
Much of this land now is unfit
for agriculture The cost of clear
ing away the second growth and
underbrush almost is prohibitive
and while there are a few scat
tered settlers they are making a
living under the greatest of diff
culties, and might much better be
employed in tilling some of the
hundreds of thousands of acres OF
fertile unused agricultural lands.
There is, however, still an excel
lent opportunity to carry on re-
forestation on an extended scale
if the proper inducements in the
way of tax relief during the grow
ing period and state aid in other
ways are offered. In many sec
tions natural reforestation is TAX
ing place, and all that is needed
here is proper fire protection, tax
exemption and watchfulness to
produce a good second crop within
a comparatively short period. In
deed, one of the Cloqaet lumber
companies has actually gone into
a district cut over 80 years ago
and is making satisfactory
second cut.
1t seems imperative that some
thing be done soon to restore
northern Minnesota. The strictly
agricultural land, of which there
is great plenty, easily can be
segregated in any reforestation
scheme through the medium of
scientific land classification, and
some method adopted to make the
remainder produce trees for the
future.
The great iron mines which have
been developed on the Mesabi,
Vermilion and Guyana ranges
through private initiative present
another and entirely independent
problem This industry has been
permitted to shift for itself and
the more it has prospered the more
onerous the restriction placed on
its future success by the state
These iron resources have indeed
for long time been considered
the legitimate prey of the in
habitants of the communities in
which they are located and the
state also has taken it's toll in the
shape of taxes so per cent higher
than those imposed on farm lands
and 25 per cent higher than those
imposed on urban lands. Recently