130 UNITED STATES FOREST POLICY 



true that many of these reserves were established upon the petition of 

 citizens residing in the respective states/* but there was much oppo- 

 sition to the reserves from the very first, and in almost every session 

 of Congress war was waged on the reservation policy. In 1892, Repre- 

 sentative Otis of Kansas introduced a bill to open the Yosemite and 

 and General Grant parks in California.^^ Bowers of California was 

 always hostile to the reserves in that state, and in 1896 he secured a 

 favorable committee report on one of his "settlers' relief" bills. ^^ In 

 the second session of the fifty-fourth Congress, several bills were intro- 

 duced to abolish the forest reserves. 



Two classes in the West were particularly hostile — the stockmen, 

 who found their privileges restricted by the reservation of these lands, 

 and the miners, who were at first entirely shut out of all forest 

 reserves.^^ 



The prohibition of mining was an unnecessary hardship, for mining, 

 properly conducted, would not have interfered seriously with the pur- 

 poses for which the reserves were created, and in 1896, certain reser- 

 vations in Colorado were opened to miners.^* In discussing the Colo- 

 rado bill, McRae pointed out the need of general rather than special 

 legislation on the subject, and the day after Cleveland created the 

 thirteen reserves. Secretary of the Interior David R. Francis re- 

 quested the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations to 

 insert into the Sundry Civil Bill a provision opening all forest reserves 

 to mining.^^ Such a provision was inserted in a later Sundry Civil Bill, 

 but, as will be seen, with one or two other provisions which Secretary 

 Francis had not called for. 



THE ATTACK OF 1897 



The western hostility previous to the year 1897 having been noted, 

 the effect of Cleveland's proclamations of February 22 can be better 

 understood. The reserves were necessarily proclaimed without a very 



24 Fernow, "History of Forestry," 417. 



25 H. R. 8445 ; 52 Cong. 1 sess. 



26 H. Report 1814; 54 Cong. 1 sess. 



27 Proceedings, Am. Forestry Assoc, 1894-95-96, 71. 



28 Stat. 29, 11. It is true that under the mineral land laws speculators later 

 acquired some timber lands within the reserves, and tried to acquire a great deal 

 more, (Forestry and Irrigation, Oct., 1906, 449; Apr., 1908, 189.) 



29 Cong. Bee, Jan. 30, 1896, 1126: S. Doc, 21; 55 Cong. 1 sess. 



