HISTORY AND OBJECTS OF RESERVES. 15 



was provided with neither system nor trained men fo.r 

 conservative forest management. 



In the meantime, with the increasing realization that 



the nation's timber supply must be protected, and with 

 the immense growth of irrigation interests in the 

 West, the necessity for retaining permanent Federal 



s control over selected forest areas was recognized by a 

 brief section inserted in the act of March 3, 1891, 

 which authorized the President to establish forest 

 reserves. (Appendix, p. 157.) The first exercise of 

 this power was in the creation of the Yellowstone Park 

 Timber Land Reserve, proclaimed by President Harri- 

 son March 30, 1891. 



The mere creation of forest reserves, however, with- 

 out provision for their administration, was both inef- 

 fectual and anno}dng to local interests dependent upon 

 their resources. Consequently the Secretary of the 

 Interior, in 1896, requested the National Academy of 

 Sciences to recommend a National forest policy. This 

 resulted in the passage of the act of June 4, 1897 

 (Appendix, p. 157), under which, with several subse- 

 quent amendments, forest reserves are now adminis- 

 tered. 



On the theory that the management of land, not of 

 forests, was chiefly involved, this law gave the Secre- 

 tary of the Interior authority over the reserves and 

 provided that their surveying, mapping, and general 

 classification should be done by the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey and the execution of administrative 

 work by the General Land Office. 



I But the technical and complex problems arising from 



' the necessary use of forest and range soon demanded 



