ck to the town in which the land is located. Even with such endorsements, the proposed federal reserve met with initial resistance, primarily in the region of Forest County. The November 27th 1928 issue, of The Rhinelander Daily News, once again cited by Moore, elaborates upon the reason why. Apparently, Forest County had “withheld action on the proposed forest reserve on the advice of C. L. Harrington, Superintendent of Forestry of the State Conservation Commission. Harrington advised the board that approval of the federal proposal would remove lands from the tax base forever because the federal government had no funds to implement management on the acquired lands.” Eventually, however, the Forest County Board did agree to bring the proposed plan for the federal purchase to the attention of the public. For during a board meeting in February of 1928, the Forest County Board decided upon two actions; “First, that the question of a federal forest would be put to a county wide referendum at the spring elections scheduled for April 3, 1928; and second that the county board would sponsor a public information meeting on the issue prior to the election.” Thus the future of the Nicolet National Forest, in its proposed form, rested in the hands of the voters of Forest County. And on April 3, 1928, the voters in every precinct except for one approved the organization of the forest. Their approval was quickly mirrored in the adjacent counties of Vilas and Onieda. Finally, with the exception of a few minor changes, the National Forest Reservation Commission approved the establishment of the Oneida Purchase Unit on December 12, 1928. Reasons given for the approval were stated as “(a) Timber production; (b) determination and demonstration of best principles of forest management in the region; (c) stabilization of waterflow.” Next, on March 10, 1932, an additional 68,000 acres were adde...
