62 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



Extracts from 1912 Report of Superintendent of Yosemite National 



Park. 



The urgent recommendations of previous years that the Government 

 extinguish the title to all patented lands in the park is renewed. 



There are approximately 20,000 acres of these lands, consisting of tim- 

 ber claims and a few claims that were taken up under the homestead 

 act and were never occupied as homesteads, but simply used as a pretext 

 for bringing in stock or cattle to stray upon the park lands. There are 

 no persons now residing on patented lands within the park, except Mr. 

 Kibby, at Lake Eleanor. 



The timber claims are valuable and are increasing in value very rapid- 

 ly. Perhaps the finest sugar-pine timber in California lies within the 

 park along the road from Wawona to Chinquapin, and most of it is on 

 patented lands. 



The Yosemite Lumber Co. has built a logging railroad from El Portal 

 to near the park boundary in the vicinity of Chinquapin, and is now 

 cutting timber there and shipping the logs to Merced Falls, where it 

 has built a large sawmill. This company has also surveyed a route for 

 continuing the logging railroad through the park to Alder Creek, where 

 it claims the ownership of 6,000 acres of timber lands. The work of 

 denudation in the vicinity of Chinquapin has already begun, and it is 

 what will happen to the timber on all the patented lands in the park in 

 the near future unless they are purchased by the Government. 



This matter demands urgent attention. The necessity of preserving 

 the forest in this portion of the park and of reducing the number of 

 private claims to such an extent as would justify the Federal Govern- 

 ment in purchasing the remaining claims was one of the main reasons 

 that caused the Yosemite Commission of 1904 to recommend the reduc- 

 tion of the area of the park. 



That commission, as has every other person who has been charged 

 with the welfare of the park or with making any recommendations 

 in regard to it, recommended that the Government immediately pur- 

 chase and extinguish all private rights. 



A new trail branching off from the Mirror Lake-Tenaya Lake trail 

 at Snow Creek was built to the North Dome, and thence to Yosemite 

 Point, and also a new trail from Tenaya Lake to Clouds Rest, passing 

 between Clouds Rest and Sunrise Mountain. All the old trails about 

 Yosemite Valley were repaired and maintained in good condition during 

 the season, and the following trails exterior to Yosemite Valley were 

 repaired and improved : 



[Note. — This trail work includes the repair of 150 miles of trails in 

 the vicinity of Tuolumne Meadows and Hetch Hetchy Valley.] 



The total number of visitors to the park during the season of 1912 

 was 10,884. Wm. W. Forsyth, 



Major, First Cavalry, U. S. Army, 

 Acting Superintendent Yosemite National Park. 



