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ANTI-CONSERVATION ACTIVITY 173 



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mterests, I will do so ; but I will not for one moment consent to sacri- 

 fice the interests of the people as a whole to the real or fancied inter- 

 sts of any individual or of any political faction. The government 

 olicy in the establishment of the national forest reserves has been in 

 ffect for some time; its good results are already evident; it is a 

 policy emphatically in the interest of the people as a whole, and espe- 

 cially to the people of the West ; I believe they cordially approve it, 

 and I do not intend to abandon it."^^ 



EFFORTS TO OPEN THE RESERVES TO GRAZING 



There had been, from the very first, considerable opposition to all 

 regulations of grazing. On February 13, 1899, Senator W^arren pre- 

 sented a petition in Congress praying that grazing be allowed without 

 any restriction. The next day. Smith of Arizona presented a similar 

 memorial from the legislature of his state. These petitions seemed to 

 bear little immediate fruit, but, two years later, a determined effort 

 was made in Congress to break down the secretary's regulations by 

 means of an amendment to the Sundry Civil Bill, an amendment 

 permitting grazing within the reserves. "Slippery Tom" Carter of 

 Montana proposed the amendment, but Teller was its main advocate 

 in Congress. Teller and Carter were aided in the debates by Warren 

 of Wyoming, Rawlins of Utah, and Shoup of Idaho, each of whom 

 wished his state to be included in the provisions of the amendment ; 

 while Heitfeld of Idaho suggested that the amendment be extended to 

 all public land states. ^^ 



Senator Piatt of Connecticut led the opposition to the proposal. 

 Pettigrew also opposed, basing his arguments against the amendment 

 mainly on the injury done by sheep to the trees in the reserves. "I 

 believe the forest reservation law was a good one," he said further, 

 "and that it has been of great advantage to the West, and that we 

 ought to preserve these forests, keep down the fires, and renew the 

 forests as trees are cut down."^* In spite of the opposition of Piatt 

 and Pettigrew, the amendment was agreed to in the Senate,^'' but the 



22 Forest Bui. 67, 77. 



^3 Cong. Bee, Feb. 13, 1899, 1781; Feb. 14, 1879; Feb, 7, 1901, 2075; Feb, 28, 

 1901, 3224.. 



2* Cong. Bee, Mar. 1, 1901, 3283. 

 25 Ibid., 3285, 3571. 



