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58      WISCONSIN CONSERVATION COMMISSION
part of the state. Their numbers have become so great and they multiply
so rapidly that they will soon hold title to a large portion of some of the
counties by right of preemption of claim. Scarcely a day passes that our
commission does not get a complaint that a beaver colony has dammed a
stream and asking us to relieve the situation. We, immediately upon
getting a complaint, dispatch one of our wardens to blow out the dam and
  The state owns 360,000 acres of forest lands in Oneida, Vilas and Forest
counties, and we have trapped and shipped 30 beaver and liberated them
on these lands. We had several colonies located on these lands prior to
this shipment, which furnishes a sufficient number to guarantee the
perpetuation of the species on lands where they will he immune from
interference with any individuals' right and where they have sufficient
space to spread out and replenish the earth.
  Now that we have performed real conservation in this work, we recom-
mend that our laws be so amended that this commission will be authorized
to allow the farmers on whose lands a beaver colony is located and doing
damage, to allow the farmer, under licensed supervision to capture the
beaver and free the state from further annoyance. Further in this con-
nection, it is well to know that many of the beaver colonies are located
where they are doing no damage and no objections are raised to their
remaining undisturbed.