I40 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



Proposed Tamalpais and Tahoe National Parks. 



Berkeley, Cal., Dec. 20, 1910. 



Mr. William E. Colby, 

 Secretary, Sierra Club. 



Dear Sir: — I beg to call the attention of the Directors of the 

 Sierra Club to two projects which many members deem in accord 

 with the altruistic purposes of this organization; namely, the 

 proposed John Muir and Fremont National Parks. 



Probably all Sierrans who have enjoyed our week-end walks 

 among the Httle wildernesses of Marin County will agree that the 

 Tamalpais region should be preserved in all its natural beauty 

 before it is too late. Recent developments confirm our belief 

 that the time is now ripe for the Sierra Club to take some con- 

 certed action whereby these nearby wildwood retreats may be 

 acquired by the Nation as a public playground for the millions 

 who may learn to love our Tamal-land just as we cherish our 

 Sierran places of delight. 



It is our idea that the present National Park of 295 acres, 

 known as Muir Woods, given to the Government by the generous 

 William Kent, Congressman-elect from that district, should be 

 extended up through the heavily timbered fork of Sequoia Canon, 

 crossing the western half of the sky-line of Mt. Tamalpais, and 

 continuing in a generally northerly direction over the water- 

 shed of Lagunitas Creek and its tributaries, Cataract Gulch and 

 the Big and Little Carson canons. It should also appear advis- 

 able to include the crest of the Bolinas Ridge, southward from 

 the vicinity of Camp Taylor and including Steep Ravine. The 

 Bolinas Ridge is of rare scenic charm and commands a panorama 

 of thousands of square miles of the blue Pacific, 2,000 feet below. 

 It also merits reservation for military purposes, as well as for 

 pleasure-seekers, for the reason that it commands the anchorage 

 of Bolinas Bay, where at present a hostile force might land with 

 ease, and, under the cover of the guns of its fleet, move with but 

 trifling resistance upon the defenses guarding the Golden Gate. 

 Those who are conversant with military and foreign affairs will 

 realize the possibility of such a rear attack upon San Francisco 

 in the future. 



Apart from what may be called "sentimental" reasons for the 

 reservation of the Tamalpais region, this last consideration would 

 justify the expenditure which this park project would involve. 

 Were this untenanted wilderness acquired for these joint pur- 

 poses, military roads might be constructed to such strategic 

 points as the vicinity of Rock Spring and along the panoramic 

 Bolinas Ridge. In an emergency guns could be readily trans- 



