Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1927-08-25
FORESTRY COMMISSION
COMPLETES JOURNEY
Spent Nine Days in North Woods
of MinnesOta.-Raw Materials
and PayrOlls in Forestry In
dustry Total Nearly 10 Million
Dollars Annually.

! duStry Total Nearly ~ MIlilOn
Dollars Annually.
| Duluth, Mimi, Aug. 24.-Minnesota
must establish a definite policy on
reforestation and fire protection
| This is the conclusion reached by
the state interim forestry commission.
following a nine day tour of northern
Minnesota that took the members In
to the forests, state parks, lumber
| mills, wood conversion plants, iron
mines and recreational centers of the
Ten-Thousand-Lakes country.
Lieutenant-Governor William I. No.
Ian, chairman of the commission, who
headed the party of state senators and
representatives. forestry experts and
newspapermen on the tour. declared
that Minnesota's policy must be
changed with regard to the conser-
walton of its natural resources
1--WE have grown to better know the
conditions by going over the terri
tory" said Lieut.. Gov. Nolan, land
in some cases have received valuable
suggestions. Personally l have been
interested in reforestation for some
time principally, suppose, for SEN
timental reasons. 1t seems sad that
the forests have gone, reducing the
value of the state for recreational
purposes.
| 81 cannot speak for the commission
as whole, but / believe that we are
all of one mind that these lands
should be reforested. The, great ques-
ton is how to do it. We must work
out some policy to induce private
owners to take up reforestation, and
to have the state utilize it's own lands.
which comprise 100000 acres.
Should the state reforest it's own lands.
Minnesota would have park that
would not be equaled elsewhere in
the world.
"For years have heard much
about the ruthless lumberman who.
when he cut his timber, swept every
thing before him, leaving nothing.
But have learned with surprise that
the state does the same, so there
should be a change in that policy.
Something must be left for reseeding.
and nature will do the rest if the
growing timber is protected from fire.
The matter of fire protection, it seems
to me, is the most important of the
whole problem.
1--WE are going to try to get all the
information we can, not only here
| h,,f oh hot In
other states where the same problem
has been met We will hear all in
terests alike and no particular inter-
est will be shown favoritism.
81 would like to feel that the next
generation is not going to say the I'M
kind things about this one that we
have been saying about the last
that they took away the beauty and
left nothing; but that the next gener-
alton will say that we tried to re-
store it."
| The trip by bus, logging train and
automobile through Northern Mime
sofa was taken to give the commits
sion first-hand information with
which to prepare the reforestation
program to be presented to the 1929
Legislature. Lieut.. Gov. Nolan said
that the general study and investiga-
ton will continue in Minnesota, as
we'll as in other forestry states, be-
fore definite policy is recommended.
The commission went from st. Paul
to Sartell and Little Falls on Aug.
IL, the first day of the trip, the tour
including Brainerd. Itasca park, Park
Rapids, Cass Lake, Minnesota Nation
al forest, Hibbing, Virginia, the Can
adam border lakes, Superior National
forest, Grand Marais, Duluth and Clo-
quet
Fred D. Vibert, executive director
of the Minnesota Arrowhead associa-
ton, who arranged the details of the
trip for the commission, accompanied
the members on the tour and presided
at the dinner given by the association
in honor of the commission at the
Spaulding hotel here last Friday ev-
ening. The gathering was attended
by more than $50 leading business
and professional men of Duluth and
towns in the Arrowhead country.
| Figures given out by Mr.. Vibert at
the completion of the trip show that
the valuation of raw materials and
payrolls in the forestry industry in
Northern Minnesota, the territory Wis
tied by the commission last week, to-
tails s1S.ssS,0o0. In Duluth alone 1t
is S3,000,000, the other cities follow
ing: Cloquet $4.000,000; Brainerd, ST.
393, 0C0; Bemidji, $1.O2o,500; Virginia.
100000; Park Rapids. s745.009;
Grand Rapids $4,000, 900; Cass Lake,
$4,000 and Tower, $4,000.
Those who made the trip follow:
Senator Adolph S. Larson, Sandstone;
Louis mstrom, Malung; Gen. w. b.
| Continued on Page I0}