548 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



December 



Captain Hamilton reports that the 

 present system of guarding the parks 

 by a military force is unsatisfactory 

 and expensive. He recommends that 

 the park be placed under the control 

 of a permanent superintendent and 

 six rangers. The soldiers are changed 

 every year and have no interest in the 

 park, with which they cannot become 



Owens 

 Valley 

 California 



Citizens of Owens 

 Valley owning ap- 

 proximately 10,000 

 acres of land, have joined in a peti- 

 tion to the Secretary of the Interior, 

 asking that the investigations and sur- 

 veys now under way in the valley be 

 continued and prosecuted by the Re- 

 clamation Service with all possible dis- 



Mr. George H. Maxwell, Executive Chairman of the National Irrigation Association, 

 and a stanch advocate of forest preservation. 



* acquainted in the short time they are 

 stationed there. It is recommended 

 that three townships east of Sequoia 

 Park be transferred from the forest 

 reserve to the park, as the country is 

 the breeding grounds for game. Tele- 

 phones should, in Captain Hamilton's 

 opinion, be installed at convenient 

 points for fire-fighting purposes. 



patch consistent with economy, until 

 decision can be made as to the feasi- 

 bility of a project in that region. The 

 citizens agree to heartily co-operate 

 with the Reclamation Service and to 

 make a proper and just adjustment of 

 existing rights, conceding all that is 

 consistent with equity and fairness in 

 order to make the project a success. 



