112 UNITED STATES FOREST POLICY 



CONGRESS AND THE QUESTION OF FOREST RESERVES 

 Congress was, during this period, not entirely silent on the question 

 of forest reserves. In the first place, some legislation was enacted with 

 regard to Indian lands, which, although it had no direct reference to 

 forest reserves, at least suggested the idea of a sale of timber with a 

 reservation of the land. In 1883, such a sale of timber was recognized 

 by Congress, and in 1889, the President was authorized to permit the 

 Indians on reservations to cut and sell dead timber on their lands. 

 The act of 1890 went still further, in authorizing the Secretary of the 

 Interior to permit the Menomonee Indians in Wisconsin to cut "all or 

 any portion" of the timber on lands reserved for them, and sell it at 

 public auction.^^^ 



Of congressional activity specifically relating to forest reserves, 

 the first example was probably Representative Fort's forest reserve 

 bill introduced on February 14, 1876. On the very next day, in the 

 consideration of the bill to open up the southern lands, Senator Bout- 

 well offered an amendment which, by providing for the sale of timber 

 without the land, would practically have meant the reservation of all 

 the southern timber lands, although it specifically reserved only live 

 oak and red cedar. Of course this amendment did not pass. Secretary 

 Schurz's forest reservation bill of 1878 likewise failed. In January, 

 1880, a bill, introduced by Representative Converse of Ohio, authoriz- 

 ing the President to reserve certain timber lands in California, passed 

 the House without any opposition, but received no attention in the 

 Senate. The following year Converse brought this bill up in the House 

 again, but it was not discussed. In 1882, Butterworth and Sherman, 

 both of Ohio, introduced bills into the House and Senate, but both 

 were lost in committee.^^^ 



In the forty-eighth Congress, forest reserve measures were intro- 

 duced by Senators Cameron of Wisconsin, Sherman of Ohio, Miller of 

 New York, and Edmunds of Vermont ; and by Representatives Deuster 

 of Wisconsin, and Hatch of Missouri. Senator Miller's proposal to 

 withdraw all timber land pending investigation by a committee, was 

 accorded a favorable committee report, while the bill pressed by 



^^sStat. 22, 590; 25, 673; 26, 146. 



180 Cross Reference, p. 45. Cong. Rec, Feb. 15, 1876, 1083; Jan. 27, 1880, 547: 

 H. R. 1272, H. R. 6315, S. 1826; 47 Cong. 1 sess. 



