66 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



Extracts from 1912 Report of the Secretary of the Interior. 



By the act of Congress approved March i, 1872, establishing the Yel- 

 lowstone National Park, Congress inaugurated the policy of setting 

 aside land as recreation grounds for all the people. Since that time 

 additional lands in various sections of the country have been set aside 

 for such purposes, as well as for the preservation of the wonders of 

 nature therein from desecration and for the protection of the flora and 

 fauna. These national parks, now aggregating 12 in number, embrace 

 over 4,500,000 acres of land, and there should be speedily added thereto 

 the Grand Canon of the Colorado River with its wonderful scenic fea- 

 tures, for the creation of which as a national park recommendations 

 have been submitted to Congress. 



The constantly increasing number of persons, not only from this 

 country but from abroad, who visit these national parks as a means of 

 recreation and to view the wonders therein clearly indicate the great 

 interest taken by the public in these parks. The total number of visitors 

 to all the parks during the past year aggregated approximately 229,084, 

 as against 224,000 in 191 1 and 198,506 in 1910. Future travel to these 

 reservations will doubtless be greatly augmented, particularly during 

 the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915. 



The economic value of tourist traffic to these reservations is evidenced 

 by the financial reports of concessionaires in two of the largest parks, 

 to-wit: in Yellowstone, where the gross receipts in 191 1 aggregated 

 $1,050,039, and in Yosemite, for the same year, where it aggregated 

 approximately $295,500. In my last annual report I called attention to 

 the fact that the superintendents of the various parks were brought 

 together at a conference held under my direction in the Yellowstone 

 National Park in September, 191 1, for the purpose of discussing the 

 many difficult problems presented in the administration of affairs of 

 each reservation, with very satisfactory results. In October of the 

 present year a second conference of the various park superintendents 

 was held under my direction in Yosemite National Park, at which there 

 were in attendance the chief clerk and other representatives of this 

 department, representatives of the Department of Agriculture and War, 

 of various transcontinental railroads, and of many concessionaires in 

 the parks, as well as a large number of persons interested in national 

 park matters. Various phases of park administration were discussed, 

 including camp and hotel accommodations, sanitation, transportation, 

 construction of roads, trails and bridges, forestry, fire protection,, pro- 

 tection of game, and the use of motor-driven vehicles on the roads, etc. 

 The information acquired as a result of the consideration of the various 

 matters presented will doubtless result in more effective administration 

 in many respects. The consensus of opinion, however, at this confer- 

 ence, as well as of that of 191 1, was that the development of the national 

 parks should proceed along more liberal lines than heretofore, and that 

 the supervision of activities therein be centralized in a bureau especially 



