402 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



October, 



for the prompt extinguishment of all 

 fires; burned areas should be reforested, 

 and the national government should, 

 wherever practicable, utilize its troops 

 as a forest patrol, and, with the cooper- 

 ation of the states, rigidly guard against 

 forest destruction. 



" We call attention to the recommen- 

 dation of President Roosevelt in his 

 message to Congress, in which he points 

 out the overshadowing importance of 

 a wise administration of the forest re- 

 serves for the perpetuation of the for- 

 ests and their protection as sources of 

 water supph\ 



' ' In this message the President made 

 the following recommendations: 



" 'At present the protection to the 

 forests reserves rests with the General 

 Land Office, the mapping and descrip- 

 tion of their timber with the United 

 States Geological Survey', and the prep- 

 aration of plans for their conservative 

 use with the Bureau of Forestry, which 

 is also charged with the general ad- 

 vancement of practical forestr}^ in the 

 United States. These various functions 

 should be united in the Bureau of For- 

 estry, to which they properly belong. 

 The present diffusion of responsibility 

 is bad from every standpoint It pre- 

 vents that effective cooperation between 

 the government and the men who util- 

 ize the resources of the reserves, with- 

 out which the interests of both must 

 suffer. The scientific bureaus generally 

 should be put under the Department of 

 Agriculture. The President should 

 have by law the power of transferring 

 lands for use as forest reserves to the 

 Department of Agriculture. He already 

 has such power in the case of laiids 

 ueeded by the Departments of War and 

 of the Navy.' 



" We earnestl}^ urge upon Congress 

 the enactment at its next session of a 

 law which will carry into effect this 

 recommendation of the President in his 

 message. 



' ' We believe that the principles of 

 irrigation and forestrj^ and their relation 

 to our social and economic problems 

 should be taught in all the higher insti- 

 tutions of learning of the country. 



' ' We urge the legislatures of the sev- 

 eral states to provide for a full repre- 



sentation of their irrigation and forestry 

 interests at the exposition to be held in 

 St. Louis, Mo., in 1904, and pledge 

 them our support, believing that such 

 action will not onlj^ prove to be of incal- 

 culable educational advantage to the 

 people directly interested, but will dem- 

 onstrate to our own countrymen and to 

 the world that the estimate which we 

 place upon the importance of forestry 

 and irrigation to mankind is not exces- 

 sive. 



"The Tenth National Irrigation Con- 

 gress has learned with sorrow of the 

 death of Maj. John Wesley Powell and 

 mourns the loss as that of one of the 

 pioneers in explorations and studies of 

 the arid region. In particular we wish 

 to express our profound appreciation of 

 his unremitting efforts for national irri- 

 gation during the early days of the 

 movement. 



' ' We express our appreciation of the 

 successful labors of the president and 

 other officers of this congress, who have 

 worked earnestly and faithfully, and 

 the results speak for the value of their 

 efforts. 



" Georgk H. Maxwell, 



'' Chair mail. 



"D. W. Working, 



''Secretary.'''' 



The National Irrigation Congress 

 adopted a special resolution of thanks 

 tendered to C. E. Wantland, of Denver, 

 chairman of the national executive com- 

 mittee, and to Gilbert McClurg, of Col- 

 orado Springs, chairman of the local 

 committee on arrangements, and to the 

 Chamber of Commerce for their efficient 

 and untiring efforts in making the con- 

 gress a success and in looking after the 

 comfort of the delegates. 



It was decided to hold the eleventh 

 National Irrigation Congress at Ogden, 

 Utah. 



The election of officers resulted as fol- 

 lows: President, Col. Edwin F. Holmes, 

 Salt Lake, Utah; First Vice-President, 

 Governor E. Bradford Prince, Santa Fe, 

 N. Mex.; Second Vice-President, Anson 

 J. McCune, Denver, Colo.; Third Vice- 

 President, E. H. Libby, Clarkston, 

 Wash.; Secretary, Col. H. B. Maxson, 

 Reno, Nev. 



