FOREST RESERVES IN IDAHO. 11 



Senator Heyburn to the President. 



Washixgtox, March 15, 190 A. 

 The President : 



Further referring to your letter of March 2, relative to withdrawal 

 for forest -reserve purposes, wherein you correct a misapprehension 

 on my part, I would suggest that any information which the Depart- 

 ment should give to a Senator in confidence would be safely deposited, 

 and members of Congress could safely be intrusted with any detail 

 as to the plans of the Department affecting lands in the States repre- 

 sented by them. Their interest in the welfare of their State is coex- 

 tensive AA'ith that of the General Government. The proposed prelimi- 

 nary withdrawal of lands is one upon which they could generally giA^e 

 valuable information. Their residence in the State, coupled with an 

 intelligent study of the interests to be affected by the withdrawal, 

 Avould render them useful counselors, and I can not think it possible 

 that they would disregard their public duty in such way as would 

 enable anyone to take an improper advantage of the contemplated 

 action of the Government. 



The withdrawal of land from settlement is as effectual to prevent 

 settlement as the creation of forest reserves, and in more than one 

 instance such withdrawals have been in force for a year or more when 

 the action of the Department in making the withdrawal has been 

 reconsidered and the lands restored to settlement, but at the expense 

 of the prosperity of the State. 



The question is one of paramount interest to our States. The 

 Government holds the lands therein in trust for the present and 

 future inhabitants of the State only. Neither the timber or any other 

 resources should, in my judgment, be considered a fund upon which 

 the East or any outlying section of the country may draw to increase 

 its prosperity. If other sections of the United States have squan- 

 dered their natural resources in the past, they should only be allowed 

 to draw upon those of the new States subject to the present and future 

 necessities and to the general welfare of the citizens of the States. 



I am not antagonistic to the system of forest reserves, but I am. 

 opposed to the creation of such reserves at the expense of the home 

 maker, and I believe in the right of individual selection by the settler 

 within as wide a field as possible, and I sincerely hope that I may, 

 together with the other representatives from my State, be advised of 

 contemplated action on the part of the Government in any respect 

 where the matters above referred to may be affected. 

 Sincerely, yours, 



W. B. Heyburn. 



The matters referred to in Senator Heyburn's letter of February 

 29, 190-i, were then talked over in a conference between the President, 

 Senator Heyburn, and Mr. Pinchot. 



