404 ECONOMICS OF FORESTRY. 



Representative McRae, chairman of Public Lands 

 Committee, failed to be enacted, although in the 

 Fifty-third Congress it was passed by both Houses, 

 but failed in conference. Forest reservation with- 

 out forest administration threatened to make the 

 whole policy unpopular. 



Urged by the committee of the Forestry Associa- 

 tion, which hoped to secure thereby potent influence 

 for the proposed legislation, Secretary Hoke Smith, 

 of the Department of the Interior, impressed with 

 the importance of devising some adequate system 

 of protection and management of the forests, both 

 within the reserves and in the public domain, under 

 date of February 15, 1896, requested the National 

 Academy of Sciences, the legally constituted 

 adviser of the government in scientific matters, to 

 investigate and report "upon the inauguration of 

 a rational forest policy for the forested lands of 

 the United States." 



Under date of February i, 1897, the academy 

 submitted to Secretary Francis a preliminary 

 report recommending the creation of thirteen 

 additional forest reserves with a total area of 

 21,379,840 acres. These reserves were proclaimed 

 as recommended, without examination, by President 

 Cleveland, February 22, 1897. On May i, 1897, 

 the president of the academy submitted his com- 

 plete report (Senate Doc. No. 105), recommending 

 substantially the legislation so long urged by the 

 Forestry Association. 



