Reports. 



245 



Government and put under one management, thus insuring 

 great improvement in present conditions through increased 

 appropriations for roads, trails, and expert work on the valley 

 floor, etc., thus increasing and facilitating travel, to the advantage 

 of the entire country." — Sacramento Union, July 16, 1904- 



6. President Roosevelt favors the recession. In an article 

 entitled "Wilderness Reserves," written for the Forest and 

 Stream Publishing Company shortly after his Western trip in 

 1903, reprinted in Forestry and Irrigation for July, 1904, he 

 says : — 



"As to the Yosemite Valley, if the people of California desire 

 it, as many of them certainly do, it should also be taken by the 

 National Government to be kept as a national park." 



And in his recent message to Congress he makes the unquali- 

 fied statement that, "the national park system should include the 

 Yosemite and as many as possible of the groves of giant trees in 

 California." 



7. The Native Sons are strongly in favor of the recession. 

 Grand President McNoble made this recommendation the strong- 

 est feature of his annual report. 



8. A committee of the State Board of Trade reports that 



"... the board has been impressed by the arguments made 

 by the Native Sons of the Golden West in favor of recession 

 to the Federal Government and the incorporation of the valley 

 and Big Tree Grove with existing national park and forest 

 reservations; also, that such recession will put an end to the 

 inconvenience and risks of a divided jurisdiction now existing 

 by reason of the State control of the valley and the Big Tree 

 Grove, while each is surrounded by Federal reservations under 

 the jurisdiction of the United States." — San Francisco Call, Sept. 

 IJf, 1904. 



9. The Board of Directors of the Sierra Club, by a unani- 

 mous vote, authorized the appointment of this committee to urge 

 such action. 



10. The California Water and Forest Association adopted 

 the following resolution at its annual convention on December 2, 

 1904 :— 



" Resolved, That the proposition to cede the Yosemite Valley 

 back to the United States Government should receive the earnest 

 consideration of the Legislature, to the end that more commo- 

 dious accommodations may be provided for making such valley 

 accessible to the general public, and we recommend such 

 transfer." 



11. The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, that of Oak- 

 land and other cities, and many other influential bodies have also 

 favored the recession. 



