232 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



For the purpose of bringing together the superintendents of the 

 various parks, and discussing the many difficult problems pre- 

 sented in the administration of the affairs of each, I presided at a 

 conference held under my direction in the Yellowstone National 

 Park in September, 191 1, at which there were in attendance the 

 Assistant Secretary, the chief clerk, and other representatives of 

 this Department, representatives of the Departments of Agri- 

 culture and War, the various transcontinental railroads, and of 

 concessionaires in the several reservations. Many phases of park 

 administration were discussed, including hotel accommodations, 

 public transportation, construction of roads, trails, and bridges, 

 fire protection, forestry, protection of game, and the enforcement 

 of the park regulations generally. This conference should result 

 in more effective administration than it has heretofore been 

 practicable to secure. The consensus of opinion, however, at the 

 conference was that development of the national reservations 

 should proceed along more liberal lines than has heretofore ob- 

 tained, and that the supervision of the activities of the various 

 parks should be centralized in a bureau especially charged with 

 such work. 



National Park Bureau Bill. 



In the Senate of the United States, December 7, 1911, Mr. 

 Smoot introduced the following bill, which was read twice and 

 referred to the Committee on Public Lands : 



"A bill to establish a Bureau of Na'tional Parks, and for other 

 purposes. 



"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

 the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there 

 is hereby established in the Department of the Interior a bureau 

 to be called the Bureau of National Parks, which shall be under 

 the charge of a director, who shall be appointed by the President, 

 by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall 

 receive a salary of six thousand dollars per annum; and there 

 shall also be in said bureau such experts, assistants, and other em- 

 ployees as may from time to time be authorized by Congress. 



"Section 2. That the director shall, under the direction of the 

 Secretary of the Interior, have the supervision, management, and 

 control of the several national parks, the national monuments, 

 the Hot Springs Reservation in the State of Arkansas, lands 

 reserved or acquired by the United States because of their 

 historical associations, and such other national parks, national 

 monuments, or reservations of like character as may hereafter 

 be created or authorized by Congress. 



