The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-04-22

troll exercised IN cases OF privately
owned lands CLASSIFIED as auxiliary
state forests. Methods of raising
funds for the acquiring and manage
ment of state forests received con-
siderable attention, as for instance
New York, in addition to its bond
issue plan adopted in 1916, has now
created a capital revolving fund for
g. ton and development OF lands
TO extend state forests, by devotlng
t. that purpose all moneys received
f,om the sale of unapproprlated
lands to cities and counties Tor re-
fl estation purposes.
pennsylvania has initiated legls-
l>tion proposing an amendment 10
state constitution which will per-
NIT the state to issue bonds for the
purpose of purchasing lands for state
forests in the amount OF $25,ooo,-
600. In 1924 Wisconsin voted TO
amend its constitution in such way
as to permit the state to acquire
lands for state purposes.
Il believe from this you can see
in a general way what the trend OF
opinion is in regard to reforestati"n.
and what our neighbors and others
are doing. But what of Minnesota
ard what of Lake county? AT our
last general election we voted on the
o,estion of entering into some sort
of a reforestation program, and II
carried; and now the only thing that
is need ed is some sort of action on
the part of the legislature to set the
wheels in motion. But what do we
want in the way of legislation and
how extensively can we safely and
iudiciously go into this new ousl-
Ipess? Would it be good for Mime
scta to spend millions of dollars on
artificial reforestation, and would 1t
hc wise in order to stimulate tree
growing, to exempt large areas Oh
privately owned lands from taxation
and take a chance of getting 1t back
on a yield tax? And how about
Lake county,
Before / go deeper into this
question as it relates to Lake county
| want to endeavor to draw a mental
LECTURE in your minds of Lake coun-
ty as we find it today, and in doing
so | want to burden you with just
little history. Less than SO years
ago, easily, possibly, within the mem
ory of many of you men here To-
rlght, there existed in Lake county
one of the finest forests that the
Almighty Provider ever gave to
ration. Hundreds of thousands OF
acres, millions upon millions OF feet'
of virgin pine glorifed this county,
standing as they did in m Agnlhcent
srlendor, waving their branches
proudly to the Skies and l imagine,
10 those who understood the sooth-
ing sounds of nature it would seem
that they were whispering mourn
fully of the fate that would presently
consume them, the fate-that would
remove forever these kings of for
est growth and leave in their stea"
large areas of barren desolate waste
land-a fate that gave to US large
extent of the Lake county we have
t, day. Naturally, do not condem
the taking of these matured forests.
We cannot permit sentiment or
LGssion for 4,avure's lovliness to re-
tard the wheels of progress or to
deny a growing Nation the things
Il needs and are essential to its eco
ncmic welfare and progress. But l
do condem most bitterly the savage
ID waseful manner by which these
forests were removed and our Gov
eminent, both Federal and State,
are not free from the accusing fling
els of rising generations. Without
regard to the needs of the future
the young and growing trees were
slashed and Observation-Disclosures
upon thousands of them, which some
day would have become merchant
able timber, were used in the con-
struction of railroad fills to be left
and rot when the rails were pulled
and NOW, after the cloud of saw
dust and lumberjack have passed,
leaving in their wake a mass of char
red stumps-nothing more-we be-
gin to talk of conservation and re-
forestation-two virtues which were
entirely lost sight of for So many
years. However, we cannot undo
the things already done therefore
we must face the issue however
brought about. l mention these
things merely to- show that Lake
county, itself, is not entirely respon-
y. l. HnI ! in
today. Lake county could not pre-
vent the wanton waste which charac-
terized the taking of its forests; it
could not pass laws, or enforce them,
that would save the small trees from
the axe or the subsequent fires there
fore, when we ask for state aid of
some kind in connection with refor-
estation, are we not justified in so
doing and can we be expected to
make further sacrifices in order to
stimulate tree growing on private
property?
eve cannot consistently argue
that large areas of Lake county is
good for anything other than tree
growing, aside from its recreational
possibilities and therefore if the state
contemplates going into the reforest-
ing business much of it should be
carried on in this county We some
times consider the possibility of de-
veloping Lake county agriculturally
but in my opinion we might just as
yell now as later dissipate the idea
of any extensive development along
this line except, possibly for dairy
ipu and pon1trv RAISING and should