320 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



" 3. That a bureau of public forests shall be established in the Department of 

 the Interior, composed of officers specially selected with reference to their char- 

 acter and attainments, holding office during effciency and good behavior and liber- 

 ally paid and pensioned. (See bill No. 2, sees. 5-11.) 



" 4. That a board of forest lands shall be appointed by the President to 

 determine from actual topographical surveys to be made by the Director of the 

 Geological Survey what portions of the public domain should be reserved per- 

 manently as forest lands and what portions, being more valuable for agriculture 

 or mining, should be open to sale and settlement. (See bill No. 2, sec. 15, and 

 bill No. 3, sec. 6.) 



"5. That all public lands of the United States more valuable for the pro- 

 duction of timber than for agriculture or mining shall be withdrawn from sale, 

 settlement, and other disposition and held for the growth and sale of timber. 



(See bill No. 3.) 

 " 6. That certain portions of the Rainier Forest Reserve in Washington and 



of the Grand Canyon Forest Reserve in Arizona shall be set aside and governed 



as national parks. (See bills, Nos. 4 and 5.) 



" Yours, respectfully, 



" CHARLES S. SARGENT, 

 " HENRY L. ABBOT, 

 " A. AGASSIZ, 

 " WM. H. BREWER, 

 " ARNOLD HAGUE, 



" GlFFORD PlNCHOT, 



" WOLCOTT GIBBS. 

 " To the President of the National Academy of Sciences." 



To aid Congress in enacting laws in accordance with its recom- 

 mendations, the committee drafted five bills, which are given in 

 full in the appendix to its report. 



The work of the committee has had far-reaching conse- 

 quences, although the Government did not adopt the system of 

 forest administration proposed. The proclamation of new forest 

 reserves, in accordance with the recommendations contained in 

 the preliminary report of the committee, led to an animated 

 discussion in Congress, in the course of which the views and 

 action of President Cleveland and of the committee of the 

 Academy were vigorously attacked. It resulted therefrom that 

 the reservations were ordered suspended for a year. They were 

 subsequently reaffirmed and made effective, however, by Presi- 

 dent McKinley. 



