EDITORIAL 



119 



ing attention to the prior acts of Presi- 

 dent Harrison's administration. In the 

 reference to Mr. Johnson's letter made 

 in the November number, we hardly did 

 full justice to President Harrison and 

 Secretary Noble for what they did. Now 

 that this work has attained such large 

 proportions under their successors, we 

 must not forget the achievements of 

 the farsighted men who saw the needs 

 and made the beginnings when there 

 was no great popular demand for for- 

 estry and conservation. By recalling 

 this we do not in the least minimize 

 the splendid work of to-day. The case 

 is fully covered in an article from 

 Forest and Stream of March 9, 1893, 

 which seems like an original source of 

 ancient history, so rapidly are we mov- 

 ing in this twentieth century, and yet it 

 is so recent that the facts should not 

 be forgotten. The article was pub- 

 lished under the title "Secretary Noble's 

 Monument," and reads as follows : 



We have more than once called attention 

 to the broad and farseeing policy inaug- 

 urated by Secretary Noble in the matter of 

 forest preservation in the less-inhabited por- 

 tions of the country, and it is satisfactory 

 to see that the daily press is now giving 

 him credit for the great work he has done. 



It will be remembered that, beginning with 

 the Yellowstone National Park, w-hich was 

 brought to the notice of Mr. Noble early in 

 his administration, he has given much atten- 

 tion to the question of our parks and timber 

 reservations. To say nothing of the Grant, 

 Sequoia, and Tule River parks, the preserva- 

 tion of which we owe almost entirely to Mr. 

 Noble, there were set aside soon after tlv 

 act of Congress of March 3, 1891, six timber 

 reservations, embracing an estimated area of 

 three and a quarter million of acres. Of 

 these, three lie in Colorado, one in New 

 Mexico, one in Oregon, and one in Wvoming, 

 adjoining the Yellowstone National Park. 

 Besides these forest preserves, Mr. Noble ha.- 

 considered as well the question of preserving 

 our marine mammalian fauna of the North- 

 west coast, which is so rapidly disappearing 

 under the constant persecution of white men 

 and Indians, and has set aside an Alaskan 

 island as a reservation. 



In December last there was established 

 in southern California a timber reservation 

 near Los Angeles, including nearly 1,000,- 

 ooo ncres. This will be known as the San 

 Gabriel Timber Land Reservation, and in- 

 cludes ?11 the mountains from Salidad Cin- 

 yon, where the Southern Pacific Railroad 

 passes through the mountains, eastward to 



the Cajon Pass. A little later another res- 

 ervation of about 800,000 acres was an- 

 nounced, to be called the San Bernardino 

 Mountain Forest Reservation. This adjoins 

 the San Gabriel reserve and runs eastward 

 from the Cajon Pass to San Gorgonio. 

 Finally, the the i/rth of February, the Sierra 

 Reservation was set aside. This comprises 

 over 4,000,000 acres and takes in the high 

 Sierra, extending southward from the line of 

 the Yosemite National Park to the seventh 

 standard parallel south. It includes the ex- 

 isting Grant, Sequoia, Tule River, and Mount 

 Whitney reservations, and also the wonderful 

 Kings River Canyon, which has been de- 

 scribed by Mr. John Muir in the Century 

 Magazine. 



This country is one of surpassingly beauti- 

 ful scenery and contains some of the highest 

 peaks to be found within the limits of the. 

 United States. It is of especial interest for 

 its giant forests, many of which are yet un- 

 touched, and which contain the great sequoias, 

 together with many other species of Pacific 

 forest trees of remarkable interest and beauty. 

 Besides this, the region is interesting as con- 

 taining a considerable amount of game, and, 

 on the high mountains, species of birds and 

 mammals which are not found elsewhere in 

 California. 



Far more important, however, to the coun- 

 try, from an economic point if view, is the 

 preservation of the water supply, which will 

 be insured by the setting aside of these res- 

 ervations. Throughout most of the western 

 country the question of water for irrigating 

 purposes is the most vital one met by the 

 settler, but it is only within a very few years 

 that the slightest regard has been had to 

 the farmer's needs. 



It is proposed before long, we understand, 

 to set aside a tract of about 1,000,000 acres 

 in the state of Washington, which will be 

 known as the Pacific Reservation, and will 

 include Mount Rainier; and in southern 

 Utah, about the Grand Canyon of the Col- 

 orado, President Harrison has made another 

 forest reserve of i.goo.ooo. 1 



Much credit is due to Mr. R. L T . Johnson, 

 of the Century, who has been untiring in 

 the efforts to secure proper legislation for the 

 protection of the Yosemite National Park, 

 and to Messrs. Hague, Phillips, and Roose- 

 velt, who have taken special interest in the 

 Yellowstone Park. All this, however, would 

 have availed little had it not been for the 

 wisdom and farsightedness of Secretary 

 Noble. His broad mind was able to appre- 

 ciate the needs of this country, and he had 

 the courage to lead public opinion where 

 others would have been content to wait for 

 the popular cry and then obey it. He has 

 set on foot a work that will live long after 

 he has passed away, and if in his admin- 

 istration he had accomplished nothing besides 

 ibis work of forest preservation, he would 

 have deserved well of his country. 



2 These were completed under President Harrison. 



