VomSI E£S£RVE§ iSr IDAHO, 



§3 



SAWTOOTH. 



Senator Heybui'ri say^ of th^ proposed Sawtooth Reserve that it 

 " covers the Boise Basin mining country, which is now and has been 

 continuously mined since 1863," and he embraces all of it with a I'ed 

 line, signifying that it is mineral. The fact is, none of the Boise 

 Basin mining region is in the proposed reserve. It does, however, 

 include an entirely distinct and little developed mining district fur- 

 ther east, so that perhaps 20 per cent of it may be called land which 

 encourages prosj^ecting. This reserve is probably the most important 

 in Idaho from an irrigation standpoint, for the Reclamation Service 

 engineers in charge of the Boise project say that this project is not 

 warranted unless the reserve is created to insure against early run-off. 



The following table shows the acreage and character of all the rec- 

 ommended reserves except the Sawtooth, classification of which is not 

 complete : 



« Practically all railroad land. 



" The old official classification of mineral lands was larger, but much of the area 

 failed to develop any showing of mineral and is no longer prospected. 

 '■ Includes surveyed State land in this instance. 

 Total in Idaho, 7,793,015 acres. 



It is self-explanatory, excepting possibly the figures on arable 

 land, relinquished claims, and known mineral areas. Under arable 

 land are included all lands worth cultivating, whether now occupied 

 or not; therefore the area removed from possible future settlement 

 is still smaller than is indicated. By relinquishable claims is meant 

 all alienated lands, patented or entered, except mining claims and 

 State lands. Known mineral areas include all land in which there 

 is any mining or considerable prospecting, or, in other words, recog- 

 nized by residents of the region as having a possible mineral value. 

 No attempt has been made to follow the original classification made 

 for the purpose of settling the Xorthern Pacific grant, because it is 

 no longer considered of any accuracy. 



