244 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



The State Commissioners have done as well as could be 

 expected. They receive no salary. All the time they give to the 

 affairs of Yosemite Valley must be sacrificed from the time 

 devoted to their regular vocations. Very few have had any 

 previous experience which would specially fit them for the 

 discharge of their peculiar and onerous duties. The paltry ten 

 or fifteen thousand dollars annually at their disposal is entirely 

 inadequate for the needs of the park. It is with difficulty that 

 even this amount is "squeezed out" of the State treasury. The 

 State Commissioners are entitled to praise for what they have 

 accomplished in the face of such adverse conditions. 



3. In marked contrast to all this is the management of the 

 Yellowstone National Park by the Federal Government. 



The Yellowstone is in charge of Federal engineers and army 

 officers, who have received a life training to qualify them to 

 perform their duties. They all receive salaries, and devote their 

 entire time to the care and management of the park. During 

 the three years 1901-1903 Congress appropriated nearly seven 

 hundred thousand dollars for the care and maintenance of the 

 Yellowstone. The best of skilled engineers are employed in the 

 construction of the roads and trails of the Yellowstone, and they 

 are kept in perfect repair. The roads are broad highways, with 

 steel and concrete bridges. 



The hotels of the Yellowstone are large, commodious estab- 

 lishments, first-class in every respect, and with ample accommo- 

 dation for its visitors. 



4. State pride and sentiment is the strongest argument that 

 has been advanced against this proposed change. But when 

 analyzed it is found to be an entire misconception. If anything, 

 sentiment should be all the other way. The Yosemite Valley is 

 the property of the United States, and it has all along been the 

 owner of the paramount title. It has, by Congressional act, 

 allowed the State to take possession under a trust merely. To 

 recede the valley only means to terminate the trust. The United 

 States will not take the valley away nor close it up; but, on the 

 contrary, will render it in every way more accessible and more 

 enjoyable to visit, by reason of better accommodation for visitors. 

 This sentimental argument savors too much of the "dog in the 

 manger" policy to be considered seriously. 



5. Our honored President, John Muir, who has devoted his 

 life of activity to the best interests of our forests and natural 

 scenery, has strongly advocated this proposed change for years. 

 In a letter to the Acting Governor written last July he says: — 



" The Yosemite Valley, in the heart of the park, and essen- 

 tially a part of it, should, I think, be ceded to the Federal 



