The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1928-11-09
WORKING OUT
FOREST POLICY

The National Forest Service is dis
cuSSing with the Minnesota Interim
Commission, plans of cooperation for
setting up state and national forest
areas where they interlock.
A. @. Hamel, supervisor OF the Su-
perior National Forest and Allen S.
Peck, who has charge of national for
eStS in this district, with headquarters
at Denver, have responded to requests
by Lieutenant-Go Nolan for
statements of the approach to mutual
problems from the angle of the Ma
tional Forest Service.
Within the Superior National For
est boundary are 100000 acres and
then some There is a wide boundary
under fire protection and somewhat
narrower field in which the forest is
being blocked up, called a purchase
unit.
The federal government owns
around $4,000 acres, of which $4,000 is
newly purchased, the state owns $780,
600 acres in and adjacent TO the bound
aries, and about half million acres
belongs to private owners
incidentally the purchases bring in
a bit OF money TO the counties. The
lands purchased are mostly delinquent.
The usual practice is that the owner
goes to the county board with a pro-
position to redeem the land Tor frac-
ton OF the accumulated taxes and
penalties, If his proposition is accepted
the government can then acquire clear
title, the county gets part OF its dues
and the former owner also gets little
something. And the land comes back
into production and by and by will
be contributing to local revenues at
the rate OF one-fourth of its earnings.
There is some land within the
boundaries that is completely derellct,
buried IN taxes, owner gone away.
There may be quite lot OF such land
where the states title is undlSputed.
The former owner has disappeared or
his equity is too faint to make it worth
his while to bother with redemption.
OF small value in itself, that land
may be worth good deal to the state
in blocking up the state forest or to
the federal government in blocking up
the national forest. And a good deal
OF attention has been given both by
the State Land Department under
Auditor Chase and by the National
Forest Service to the problem of sort
ing out those lands from the general
tangle.
The general idea is that these dere-
ict lands shall be turned into public
forest, either state or national If the
state keeps them, it is only necessary
to designate them as state forest
lands If they are taken over by the
national forest, the federal govern
ment will pay the state for them by
Ticin hot aoY oil 40
worked out.
But here is new idea. The Sug-
gestion is made by E. w. Tinker, tax
expert under District Forester Peck,
that when the state sells these tax bur-
dened lands to the federal government,
the proceeds should be put in a trust
fund-a special trust fund. And the
income of that trust fund should be
paid to the county in which the land
lies, in lieu of tax settlement. Sup
pose the land is sold for $1.50 an acre,
which is below the average price for
such wild land, the interest at per
cent would be six cents per acre per
year.
In that case, whatever derelict land
the federal government bought from
the state under tax title, the county
"Ou1O SC1 ola CCIIS d yCdl IlSllG dlOllS.
And eventually the land would be con-
tributing to the county one-fourth of
its earnings in addition.
Now six cents an acre may not look
very big, but it is $40 per year for
forty, or $3.50 per year for a quarter
section, or $38.40 per year for section.
And if there were many of these sec
tons that the state turned over to
the federal government under tax title,
the plan would furnish perceptible
lift to the revenues of Lake and Cook
counties where every dollar helps.
1t is a suggestion that has not yet