The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-10-02
$588,915

The tax on foreSted areas of the
character now in Federal ownership
and being acquired under the Clark
McNary Act averages SC to Csc per
acre in Minnesota. On June 30, $780,
the net area of Federal Forest Ser
vice land in Minnesota was Lots, 213
acres, in two National Forests, the
Chippewa and the Superior. Elimin-
ating from the above expenditures the
amount paid for the purchase of lands
and the amount paid directly to the
State for fire protection on State and
privately owned lands, the sum of
$685., 683 was spent in the State for
administration, protection and de-
velopment of the National Forests.
This expenditure is equal in taxes,
providing the entire amount could
have been collected, to the surprising
amount of 1922 per acre on every
acre of land under the Jurisdiction of
the Forest Service, whether completely
devastated by fire, cut over land, or
land covered to some degree by forest
trees. It can therefore readily be
seen that it has been profitable in
vestment for Minnesota to have had
these two National Forest areas with
in her boundaries.
There are many other very valuable
advantages which cannot be measured
in dollars and cents, such as fish and
game distribution and protection, but
which form very important asset to
the state. The National Forests are
developed to their highest use for the
benefit of the whole people without
discrimination, whether that use be
a public camp ground, summer home
site or the sale of matured timber for
which there is a market. The pre-
vention of fire is one of the most i'm
portant and most difficult jobs of the
Forest Service, in which the whole
hearted cooperation of the people is
necessary.
Planting Has Begun.
The big job of planting over 100000
trees on nearly $4,000 acres of Federal
National Forest land in the Lake
States Region, has just started, ac-
cording to H. Basil Wales, Assistant
Regional Forester, in charge of Forest
Management work at the Regional
Office of the United States Forest
Service in Milwaukee.
Over 5000 acres will be planted on
the Huron Forest in the lower PENN
sula of Michigan, 1000 acres on the
Marquette and Hiawatha Forests in
the upper peninsula, HOO acres in
Wisconsin, and 40 in Minnesota.
Since the first of July battery of
tractors has been busily engaged
in blowing burrows in which the little
trees will be planted. Burrows are
plowed an average distance of 8 feet
apart in preparation for the real job
of setting out the 100000 trees in the
burrows. The trees are spaced 8 feet
apart each way, and TOO are planted
on each acre reforested. In prepara-
ton for the planting work the tractors
have travelled distance of over $4,000
miles, or the burrows, if placed end to
end, would extend half way around the
earth.
The planting stock used in the re-
fOrestation work was grown in Fed
eral tree nurseries located at East
Tawas, Michigan, and Cass Lake,
Minnesota. The trees are two years
old before they are ready to be planted
in the forest.
The task of lifting these trees care
fully so as not to break the many
small rootlets, packing them in crates
in moss to protect them against drying
out, and transporting the crates to the
Forests where the trees will be finally
set out, is a rather large job in itself,
continued Mr.. Wales The crates
must be delivered to the field in suffl-
Gent quantity to keep the planters
working continuously throughout the
day, and yet must not be excessive, for
it is desirable to keep the trees out
of the ground only minimum of time.
About $50 men win be employed for