ASPECTS OF THE PRESENT FORESTRY AGITATION. 135 



House Bill, 7026. Introduced b}' Hon. Mark H. Dunnell, of 

 Minnesota, February 17, 1890. 



A bill for the reservation and protection of forest lands on the 

 public domain, and to establish a commission to examine into the 

 condition of the said lands and to report a plan for their perma- 

 nent management. 



Whereas, the permanent preservation and proper administration 

 of a sufficient forest area, especially upon mountain slopes and 

 about the head-waters of streams, are absolutely necessary to 

 preserve and regulate the water supply, and to protect the 

 agricultural interests of a large and rapidl}' increasing part of the 

 population, as well as to provide an adequate timber supply for 

 the same for all future time, and to prevent destructive recur- 

 rences of drought and flood ; and 



Wliereas, the forests upon the public lands of the United 

 States are being rapidly destroyed by the ravages of fire, and by 

 reckless cutting of timber both with and without authority, 



Therefore, be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represen- 

 tatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

 That the unsurveyed public lands of the United States embracing 

 natural forests, or which are less valuable for agriculture than for 

 forest purposes, and all public lands returned by the public 

 surveyors as timber lands, shall be and the same hereby are 

 withdrawn from survey, sale, entry, or disposal under existing 

 laws, except as hereinafter provided, nor shall any timber be cut 

 or removed fiom the said lands except for the actual needs of 

 persons upon the said lands, engaged in carrying out the purposes 

 of this act. 



Sect. 2. That during such period as this act shall remain in 

 force, the President of the United States shall, on request of the 

 Secretary of the Interior and the Commission to be appointed 

 under this act, designate a portion or portions of the military 

 forces of the United States to guard all or any part of the lands 

 reserved as aforesaid, and the timber growing thereon, from fire, 

 theft, and use b}' unauthorized persons. 



Sect. 8. That the President shall within a reasonable time 

 after the passage of this act, appoint, by and with the advice and 

 consent of the Senate, three persons possessed of a knowledge of 

 the needs and uses of forests, who shall constitute the United 

 States Forest Commission, and shall hold office until this act is 



