The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1923-12-07
TO EN[ARG[ THE
SUPERIOR FOREST.
FRS AND INFORMATION
GIVEN BY PAUL B. RllS
FOR THE MINER.

''That the present holdings Of the
Superior National Forest may be
preserved and protected for all time
to come, the Superior National For
est Recreation Association has asked
Senator Medill Mccormick to intro
duce a bill in the Senate, and one
by Congressman Charles E. Fuller
in the House, the first Monday IN
December, authorizing the Secretary
of Agriculture to examine ano
locate for requirement any lands III
private ownership within or adJoin-
ing the Superior National Forest
which, in his judgment, are chiefly
valuable for the production Of tim.
Der or for protection Of stream fow.
The area to be included covers up
ward of two million acres. TIC
make possible this purchase, Con-
sress is asked to appropriate up tc
thirty million dollars.
"Last April, on the floor Of the
Duluth Conference, in protest a
sainst auto roads through tn
Superior National Forest. the newly
organized Superior National Forest
Recreation Association pledged it
self to assist the United States For
est Service in program to pur
chase by timber exchange, lands pr
yately owned within the Forest ant
TO extend the boundaries of the For
est by including much adjacent ter
ritory typical of the region. Thi
bill is in redemption of that pledge
''It must be remember d that tn
auto roads were the outcome of com
bined desires on the part Of the For
est Service, the Forest Communities
and the State of Minnesota to serve
individual purposes that would have
DESTROYED the best recreational val
mes of the Forest. The fractiona
ownership Of the Forest by tn,
people today is still in jeopardy sc
long as the State of Minnesota ant
the individual owners insist on thei,
legal rights. Thus we find this ares
in its present outline nationally own
ed by one numbered ten millior
people but hopelessly at the mercy
of perhaps no more than ten thous
and speculative owners.
1.-THE proposed extension includes
that part of Minnesota from point
approximately twenty miles north o.
Duluth, north to the Canadian
boundary, and all the territory cas-
of this, lying between Lake Superior
and Canada.
"The isolation of its four compon
ent parts, surrounded by State AID
ministration lands, subjects the For
ests to all the hazards of State lant
fires. Although the State Fores
Service maintains its ranger station
and lookouts, lack of funds ant
equipment impair the efficiency o
it's splendid personnel in putting on
fires In their early stages. The U
S. Forest Service is handicapped
in taking a hand unless wired in
structions and expense guarantee
from the State Capitol at st. Pau
are forthcoming, and much yaluabl
time is lost and fires gain Roadway
Private ownership invites settler
into sections where the deposits o
stream beds and flood plains temp
modest farming. There is little o
no agricultural land to be found il
the region encompassed by the pres
emit Forest boundaries. Small com
munities on the threshold, who, b!
reason of meagre agricultural pos
sibilities, have invited settlers, are
very serious fire menace at all times
The region is so exclusively timbe
land type that agricultural attempt
should not be forced upon it beyon,
that of taking care of existing an,
future community needs, or wher;
the lands are more suitable for agri
cultural purposes than silviculture
A trip through the territory vii
impress the merest tyro that tn
faads are being put to their highes
possible use as forest lands. Topog
saphy, ever present lodges, vast wat
or surfaces, thin soils, with pre-
dominant admixture of glaciall
crushed rock and difficulty of acces
are. the elements arrayed agains
agricultural exploitation and ar
ideal factors in assuring a perpetus
supply Of much needed timber.
Considerable impetus was give
the movement Of forest extension a
meeting in Cloquet, Mimi, Ma
IL, 1928, where such OUTSTANDING
figures as Gov. Preus, of Minnesota
the Chief Forester of the Unite
States Forest Service w. B. Gree
ley, State Forester Cox, Fred T
vibert, Forestry Expert, Charles J.
Cecil, Cornell Forest Product Co
and a number of distinguished Ser
ators and Forestry Experts serious
~ discussed the enlargement of tn
present forest as national need i
building up our vanished forest
and to save what few rem n, plac
them under State and National cor
&~~l Co.. A. x,rx.nocao - l,,r,h or;,