6o 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



NATIONAL PARKS. 



Views of Chief Forester Graves. 



October 15, 1912. 



Mr. James G. Rogers, 



401-9 McPhee Building,, 

 Denver, Colorado. 

 Dear Mr. Rogers: 



. . . There has evidently been a complete misunderstanding of the . 

 attitude of the Forest Service toward the national park question in 

 general and of the Estes Park problem in particular. I can explain in 

 no other way the misrepresentations which have been made regarding 

 our pohcy. 



Let me say in the first place that the problem of national parks is most 

 intimately related to that of the national forests in the following ways : 



1. Many of the parks are surrounded by or adjacent to national forests. 

 They contain large areas of heavy timber, whose protection presents 

 the same problems as the neighboring forests and which should be 

 brought under a co-ordinate protective system. The forest and park 

 authorities have already inaugurated this system. 



2. There are many areas of national forests which will later be made 

 into national parks. The Forest Service has already been gathering in- 

 formation regarding such areas with a view to administering them from 

 the park standpoint pending the time of their formal establishment as 

 parks. 



3. There are many areas in the forests which present features of great 

 scenic value but are not large enough to justify separate organization 

 as national parks. These areas are being searched out by the Service 

 and will be handled with the viewpoint of their protection and develop- 

 ment along scenic lines. Thousands of lakes and areas of special beauty 

 and grandeur will be brought under this system. 



4. A multitude of problems of park administration in addition to fire 

 protection requires the forester's knowledge of the habits and develop- 

 ment of forest stands and forest trees. The whole experience of the 

 Service and results of our experimental work in reforestation and forest 

 growth will be available for use in the parks. 



I cannot help resenting the imputations that I am unsympathetic with 

 the park problem. For years I have been intimately connected with 

 the problem as it touches the handling of forests. I took occasion in 

 my studies in Europe nearly twenty years ago to investigate personally 

 the methods employed in such areas as the municipal forest parks of 

 Aix la Chapelle and Baden-Baden, the hunting parks of the Emperor 

 of Austria, and many others. The problem has been a constant one in 

 my advisory work in this country. Since entering upon my present work 

 I have not written upon the subject of national parks for two reasons: 



