11—Changes in road laws were urged which would make possible the building of permanent, durable, desirable highways in place of the gullies and precipitous paths which in many parts have been tolerated as roads from the earliest settlement of the region down to the present.
12—The purchase of land by the State in each of the congressional districts was recommended for farms to serve as models and object lessons for the surrounding farmers; their management to be in the hands of trained agriculturists.
The Legislature which convened in January, 1909, considered one or two of the recommendations of the Commission. A forest and game law was enacted, though it was not the measure which the Commission recommended. The law, however, is a good one so far as it goes, and if its provisions shall be carried out, much good may be expected.
No steps were taken by the Legislature to lessen the waste of natural gas or to save the by-products in coke making. A new highway law was enacted, and a State commission was appointed to study the road problem.
REPORT FROM WISCONSIN
E. M. Griffith
State Forester
Governor James O. Davison appointed the Wisconsin State Conservation Commission July 24, 1908. The seven members appointed were men whose positions gave them a considerable knowledge as to the natural resources of the State, and the Governor gave the Commission full authority to call upon any State department for detailed information.
During the summer of 1908 the Commission held several meetings in the Capitol, and reports were prepared on the three most important and pressing Conservation problems in Wisconsin, viz: water-powers, forests, and soils. A full report covering these three subjects was then made to the Governor, and this the Governor transmitted to the Legislature in February, 1909. The Commission made the following recommendations:
Water-powers. 1—That franchises for water-powers be granted under a general statute.