4i 6 Presidential Addresses 



Nevada from efficiently acting in their own inter- 

 est, made, in my judgment, and, as it proved, in the 

 judgment of the Congress, Federal interference ab- 

 solutely imperative. It is a matter for the strongest 

 congratulation, not only for the West, but for the 

 whole Nation, that the policy went into effect. It is 

 a matter of special congratulation to Nevada that the 

 Secretary of the Interior, guided in his choice wholly 

 by actual conditions on the ground, has been led to 

 undertake one of the five sets of works which have 

 been first undertaken, here in Nevada, particularly 

 near Reno on the Truckee River, as one of the na- 

 tional projects for the starting and working of the 

 methods of the 'law. Extensive surveys have already 

 been made, and the projects for water storage and 

 water distribution are at a point which warrants our 

 belief that immediate action is in sight. There are 

 vast tracts of excellent land still in the ownership of 

 the general government here in Nevada and else- 

 where to which the reclamation act will bring the 

 flood waters that now annually go to waste. For 

 Nevada most of these waters originate in the high 

 mountains lying in sight of Reno, largely just across 

 the State line in California. Some of these moun- 

 tains have been included in the forest reserves, and 

 your interests and the interests of the irrigators in 

 California imperatively demand the extension of the 

 forest reserve system so that the source of supply for 

 the great reservoirs and irrigation works may be 

 safe from fire, from over-grazing, and from destruc- 

 tive lumbering. I ask you to pay attention to what 



