FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



February 



Toward the end of the meeting Mr. 

 Pinchot asked the following question : 

 "If local questions can be decided upon 

 local grounds, and if it is possible to 

 devise satisfactory rules, and regulations, 

 is this meeting in favor of government 

 control of the summer range ? ' By a 

 show of hands, all persons present, with 

 the exception of B. B. Brooks, of Wy- 

 oming, voted in the affirmative. Mr. 

 Brooks preferred state control. 



On the return trip from Portland to 

 Washington Mr. Pinchot and Mr. Newell 

 made stops at Sacramento, Reno, Salt 

 Lake City, Denver, and Cheyenne to 

 consult with the Governors, State Land 

 Boards, and representative citizens con- 

 cerning the operation of the public land 

 laws in their states, the proposed repeal 

 of certain of them, and the measures 

 required to promote settlement and the 

 building of homes. 



Resolutions by The following are the 

 Woolgrowers. resolutions, alluded to 

 in the foregoing note, 

 which were adopted by the National 

 Woolgrowers' Association at their con- 

 vention in Portland : 



Whereas a bill has been introduced 

 in the House of Representatives (H. R. 

 1987) providing for the transfer of the 

 National Forest Reserves from the De- 

 partment of the Interior to the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture ; and 



Whereas this transfer is strongly 

 recommended by the President, the 

 Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary 

 of Agriculture, and the Commissioner 

 of the General Land Office ; and 



Whereas the Department of Agricult- 

 ure, from its practical knowledge of 

 actual conditions on forest reserves, is 

 well fitted to protect and utilize their 

 various resources ; and 



Whereas the investigations of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture into questions 

 of grazing have been marked by intelli- 

 gence, fairness, and a thorough under- 

 standing of business requirements ; and 



Whereas the sum heretofore appro- 

 priated by Congress for the administra- 

 tion of the forest reserves has been in- 

 sufficient to afford a business-like man- 

 agement ; and 



Whereas the forest-reserve policy is 

 now beyond the experimental state, 

 and has become a fixed part of the pol- 

 icy of our government : Now, therefore, 



be it 



Resolved, That the transfer of the 

 forest reserves from the Department o f 

 the Interior to the Department of Agri- 

 culture is to the direct interest of the 

 National Woolgrowers' Association ; 

 and be it further 



Resolved, That this association, 

 through the representatives of its mem- 

 bers, urges the enactment of this bill by 

 Congress ; and be it further 



Resolved, That the appropriation for 

 the forest reserves be made ample to in- 

 sure a thorough, practical, and business- 

 like administration, in proportion to the 

 magnitude of the interests involved . Be 

 it further. 



Resolved, That these resolutions be 

 transmitted by wire by this association 

 to Honorable James Cannon, the Speaker 

 of the House of Representatives, and to 

 Senator Frye, President of the Senate. 



WOOLGROWERS TO PRESIDENT. 



Whereas The National Woolgrow- 

 ers' Association of the United States 

 realizes the great debt of gratitude which 

 the livestock interests of the United 

 States, especially in the inter-mountain 

 regions, owes to the Honorable Theo- 

 dore Roosevelt, President of the United 

 States ; the Honorable James Wilson, 

 Secretary of Agriculture ; the Honor- 

 able Gifford Pinchot, Chief of the Bureau 

 of Forestry, and the Honorable F. H. 

 Newell, of the Geological Survey, for 

 their interest in and study of the live- 

 stock conditions, and for their efforts to 

 better the same, both in the field and on 

 the range ; now, therefore, be it 



Resolved, That the National Wool- 

 growers' Association, in convention as- 

 sembled, at Portland, Oregon, hereby 

 extends its grateful acknowledgments 

 and thanks to our President, Honorable 

 Theodore Roosevelt, for sending to this 

 convention the Honorable Gifford Pin- 

 chot and the Honorable F. H. Newell ; 

 for the expressions of good will and in- 

 terest conveyed to us through these 

 representatives of two branches of the 

 government service in which we are 



