3i6 



Sierra Club Bulletin 



NATIONAL PARKS 



The matter of an exchange in which the Government is to give 

 park lands and timber and lands in the Sierra National Forest for 

 lands and timber in the park owned by the Yosemite Lumber Co., 

 exchange values in each case to be equal, is now under consideration. 



The Act of Congress approved May 13, 1914, (Pubhc, No. 99), for 

 the purpose of preserving scenic features and consolidating certain 

 forest lands belonging to the United States within the Sierra Na- 

 tional Forest and the Yosemite National Park, California, authorizes 

 the Secretary of the Interior, on the recommendation of the Secretary 

 of Agriculture, "and after obtaining and accepting for the Govern- 

 ment of the United States a vaHd title to the land to be acquired, 

 which title shall be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, to 

 exchange lands belonging to the United States within the Sierra 

 National Forest for privately owned timber lands of approximately 

 equal area lying within the boundaries of said national forest and the 

 Yosemite National Park." 



The act also provides that upon the completion of the transaction 

 the lands acquired by the Government within the Sierra National 

 Forest shall become a part of the park. Under this exchange, if con- 

 summated, there will be about 160 acres added to the park. 



Under the Act of June 6, 1900, the Secretary of War has, on re- 

 quest of this department, detailed troops, during the summer months, 

 to the Yosemite, Sequoia and General Grant National Parks for 

 protective purposes therein. The expense to the War Department 

 in maintaining these details was considerable, and the expenditures 

 from the park revenues resulting from their presence in the park 

 were large; furthermore, the conditions in and around these reser- 

 vations which led to the authorization of the use of the military 

 force in these parks having radically changed, the conclusion was 

 reached that their presence was no longer required in the Yosemite, 

 Sequoia and General Grant Nati' al Parks, and the Secretary of 

 War was so advised. During the past year, therefore, troops have 

 no longer been employed in these reservations and have been super- 

 seded by civilian rangers, bringing the latter in closer touch with 

 the actual work of the park management than was formerly prac- 

 ticable when troopb were only in the reservations for a few months. 



In the Yellowstone National Park the hotel at Mammoth Hot 

 Springs has been reconstructed, additions have been made to the 

 Old Faithful Hotel, the pavilions for housing and caring for people 

 at the permanent camps materially improved, and a 20-per-cent re- 

 duction in the transportation rates from the western entrance of 

 the park has been secured without any deterioration of the character 

 of the service rendered. In the Yosemite National Park a contract 



