1905 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



393 



pecially true right now when commer- 

 cialism is so aggressive. If not care- 

 fully watched, power companies would 

 drain our waterfalls and lumber com- 

 panies fell every giant sequoia that has 

 managed to escape their ravages in the 

 past. As David Starr Jordan, a di- 

 rector of the club for many years, ex- 

 presses it : "The duty of the Sierra 

 Club, as I understand, is to stand be- 

 tween California scenery and Califor- 

 nia greed." 



Every since the establishment of 

 the Yosemite National Park, John 

 Muir has been working to have the 

 Yosemite Valley, which was a small 

 grant of a few square miles under 

 state control and in the very heart of 

 the national park, made a part of that 

 park. The logic of the proposed 

 change, which would mean merely a 

 relinquishment of the trust by the 

 state; which would terminate the di- 

 vided jurisdiction, and which would 

 place the Valley under Federal control, 

 where it would be far better cared for 

 and have greater appropriation for its 

 maintenance as well as the undivided 

 attention of expert engineers and offi- 

 cialswas evident to almost every one 

 who gave the matter a moment's 

 thought. But like all other matters of 

 public concern where there are no 

 private interests to be benefited by the 

 change, a great deal of inertia had to 

 be overcome. The club was pleased to 

 note in the July, 1904, number of 

 FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION, an article 

 by President Roosevelt where he 

 stated that "As to the Yosemite Valley, 

 if the people of California desire it, as 

 many of them certainly do, it also 

 should be taken by the national gov- 

 ernment to be kept as a national park, 

 just as the surrounding country, in- 

 cluding some of the groves of giant 

 trees, is now kept." And in his an- 

 nual message to Congress shortly 

 after, he repeated this sentiment. 



The Sierra Club had long been 

 gathering material for this campaign, 

 and, reassured by this expression of 

 : opinion by the President and by the 

 Secretary of the Interior and other 

 Federal 'officials, it printed and distri- 

 buted information on the subject and 



interested the leading men of the state 

 in the movement. The proposed trans- 

 fer was bitterly fought by a few on 

 the alleged ground of state pride, but 

 the better element in the Legislature 

 prevailed and passed an Act re-ceding 

 the Valley to the Federal government. 

 The sentiment of the people was over- 

 whelmingly in favor of recession, as 

 was evidenced by the fact that over 

 one hundred newspapers in the state 

 favored it, while three were opposed. 

 Congress, which was just about to ad- 

 journ, appropriated $20,000 for the 

 improvement of the Valley, but, owing 

 to certain technicalities, it is claimed 

 that further Congressional action is 

 necessary before the Valley can be 

 formally accepted. If this be true, it 

 is sincerely to be hoped that it may be 

 done without delay at the next session, 

 in order that this greatest of all our 

 scenic wonders may be properly cared 

 for and rendered easy of access. 



The club has recently erected a 

 beautiful memorial lodge in Yosemite 

 Valley in honor of the late Professor 

 Joseph Le Conte who was a charter 

 member and deeply interested in all 

 that pertains to the mountains, and 

 their forests and streams. A library 

 is kept there for the visiting public and 

 information as to the trails and points 

 of interest in the vicinity freely given 

 to any inquirer. 



The club, in its endeavor to educate 

 the people to a complete realization of 

 the necessity of preserving our forests 

 and scenic features, has, for several 

 years past, conducted annual outings 

 into the mountains. Even remote and 

 inaccessible points of interest in the 

 Sierra have been visited by these large 

 parties and many of our highest peaks 

 climbed. In 1903 during the Kern 

 River outing, 140 persons reached the 

 summit of Mt. Whitney, an elevation 

 of 14,522 feet. Not one-tenth of that 

 number would ever have been able to 

 make this climb without the aid the 

 club gives in making rough mountain 

 trips easy and pleasant. We are com- 

 mencing to appreciate the truth of 

 Stevenson's \\on1s, "Though \ve 

 should be grateful for good houses, 

 yet, after ail, what house is there like 

 God's out-of-doors?" 



