Northern Wisconsin's cherished public forests—the national, state, and county forests—resulted from government action. That was the first Golden Age of Public Lands in Wisconsin. Like many Golden Ages (the Golden Age of the Roman Empire, the Golden Age of the  European empires) greed and  suffering formed the foundation of the age. I think the legacy of Wisconsin's public lands is much more positive than the effects of some of those other epochs.

Photo by Arlene Koziol