THE QUETICO-SUPERIOR CONTROVERSY 
 
 
1,215,833 acres to the former area of 1,655,162 
acres, or 74 percent (making a total area of 
2,870,995 acres since increased to 2,873,273 acres 
by minor adjustments), but not encroaching ma- 
terially upon the Kabetogama or Grand Por- 
tage State Forests. At that conference no pro- 
posal was made for further extensions over the 
state forests. 
   5. This tentative agreement with the Forest 
Service was almost immediately repudiated by 
U. S. Regional Forester Earl W. Tinker, who 
declared that the federal purchase program would 
include these two state forest areas. In spite of 
protests by the state authorities represented at 
the conference, this position was adhered to by 
the U. S. Forest Service. 
   6. Governor Olson signed the bill reestablish. 
ing the two state forests in 1933, and was ap- 
parently in accord with the stand of the Con- 
servation Commission for retaining them under 
state control until some time in the spring of 
1935, when he yielded to pressure by the Quetico- 
Superior group and reversed his former position. 
By appointing two new members on the Con- 
servation Commission, the governor also suc- 
ceeded in obtaining a reversal of policy by the 
commission. As before stated, these expressions 
by the governor and the Conservation Commis- 
sion had no legal validity. Nevertheless Governor 
Olson proceeded to make direct overtures to the 
Washington office of the Forest Service, to se- 
cure from the National Forest Reservation Com- 
mission the establishment of these conflicting 
purchase areas in the two state forests. The 
influence of the Quetico-Superior Council and 
supporters was also exerted to this end. The 
Secretary of the Interior favored federal rather 
than state ownership of the disputed areas. For- 
ester Silcox recognized the rights and position 
of the state, as established by legislative acts, 
but nevertheless, on the strength of the extra- 
legal declarations by the governor and the Con- 
servation Commission, and the opportunist at- 
titude of the regional office of the U. S. Forest 
Service, the National Forest Reservation Com- 
mission concluded that the state was behind this 
plan and created the purchase areas in the two 
state forests. Here 163,762 acres were acquired 
by purchase, which, with existing federal lands, 
brought the total to 188,980 acres. 
   7. The state legislature had never expressly 
 authorized nor approved this program of. acqui- 
 
 
sition by the federal government of land within 
the state forests, and after the expulsion of the 
farmer-labor regime of Olson and his successor, 
Benson, by the election of Harold E. Stassen in 
1938, measures were passed in 1941 and 1943 to 
clarify and reassert the state policy of mainte- 
nance of the two state forests for the reasons 
set forth. 
           LAWS OF 1941 AND 1943 
  These laws are the most recent focus of attack. 
Chapter 343, Laws of 1943, provides that consent 
to acquisition by the United States of land in 
Minnesota may be given by concurrence of a 
majority of the members of the Land Exchange 
Commission, which consists of the governor, state 
auditor, and, attorney general. This clause, ap- 
proved by Governor Stassen, deprived him of the 
sole power formerly in the executive under the 
Act of 1941. The part of Section 5 which has 
been quoted as a deliberate attempt to hamstring 
the entire national forest program reads that 
"consent of the state is given to the acquisition 
by the United States of lands lying within the 
original boundaries of the Superior National 
Forest." Actually, this clause is permissive and 
in no way affects the power given in the same 
law to the Land Exchange Commission to permit 
purchases elsewhere. But critics of the law also 
overlook the final "repeal" clause which reads, 
"Such repeal shall not affect any case in which 
consent of the state to the acquisition of property 
was given by, or under, qny of said provisions... 
nor any case in which the consent of the state 
was given under laws of 1941, Chapter 66 before 
the taking effect of this act." Since Governor 
Stassen had under this 1941 act already giuen 
the state's consent to federal acquisition of lands 
throughout the proclaimed, i.e., the present, 
boundaries of the Superior National Forest, full 
legal consent has been continuously operative for 
the entire purchase program, without restrictions, 
except as to lands without the proclaimed boun. 
daries, lying within the two state forests. 
   In addition to this unrestricted consent, Gov- 
 ernor Stassen formally consented under authority 
 of the law of 1941 to further acquisition of land 
 by the federal government within the Kabeto- 
 gama and Grand Portage State Forests, but on 
 condition that such lands be acquired only for 
 purposes of exchange and consolidation with the 
 state. The Forest Service at that time was un- 
 willing to accept this condition and is solely re- 
 
 
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