Forty years later, the Wisconsin State Legislature began to investigate the destruction of the forests of that state in order to protect them and prolong their life.

Michigan and Maine, in turn, followed suit.

These were some of the first steps taken to study our forests and protect them against possible extinction.
The purpose of the Timber Culture Act passed by Congress in 1873 was to increase national interest in reforestation.

It provided that every settler who would plant and maintain 40 acres of timber in the treeless sections should be entitled to secure patent for 160 acres of the public domain--that vast territory consisting of all the states and territories west of the Mississippi, except Texas, as well as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.

This act, as well as several State laws, failed because the settlers did not know enough about tree planting.