National Park Notes 



217 



were acceptable to this department but not favored by the Department of 

 Agriculture. The committee report was filed on March 25, but the bill has 

 not yet received the final consideration of the House. 



Sentiment in California and in Congress is generally favorable to the 

 Roosevelt National Park plan as covered by the pending legislation. The For- 

 est Service, however, continues to contend that areas more valuable for graz- 

 ing, lumbering, etc., than for park purposes are affected by the proposed en- 

 largement of Sequoia Park, and for that reason seeks a revision of the sug- 

 gested new boundaries. The eliminations of territory suggested by the oppos- 

 ing bureau include the Evolution Basin on the north, part of the rim of the 

 great cafion of the Middle Fork of the Kings River (Tehipite Valley), the 

 Horse Corral Meadow, and the J. O. Pass region, Hockett Meadow, Mineral 

 King, and Franklin Pass sections of the present and proposed parks, and, 

 finally, the Whitney Meadow territory, with its golden-trout streams. Nego- 

 tiations looking toward an adjustment of the differences between the two sides 

 are still in progress. 



The proposed new road to the Giant Forest from the Middle Fork of the 

 Kaweah River is our most essential improvement project for several reasons. 

 First, the state has promised to expend $300,000 paving the road to the Middle 

 Fork gateway if our new road is built, and, second, the old road up the Mar- 

 ble Fork is in a bad state of disrepair and is no longer safe for two-way 

 traffic. To begin work on this highway next spring, funds will be asked im- 

 mediately, and I can not too strongly urge the necessity for favorable action 

 on the estimate as submitted. 



The Kings River Parks Company, many stockholders of which are inter- 

 ested financially in the Yosemite National Park, has taken over several busi- 

 ness establishments in Sequoia and General Grant parks under a two-year 

 permit from the Interior Department. Among its purchases were Camp Sierra 

 in the Giant Forest, and pack- and saddle-horse service at that point, the hotel 

 camp in General Grant Park, the trail transportation facilities there, and like- 

 wise the store. This company plans extensive developments as soon as the en- 

 largement bill is finally acted upon by the Congress. 



The Kings River Parks Company, under permit from the department, in 

 June took over the camp and store properties in the park, having purchased 

 them from the General Grant Park Hotel Company. The Kings River Com- 

 pany also acquired the saddle-horse business in the park. Automobile transpor- 

 tation from Fresno continued to be operated by the Kings River Stage & Trans- 

 portation Company, while a new automobile stage line to the park from 

 Visalia was established by W. M. Collins under a yearly permit from this 

 service. The Kings River Parks Company contemplates several important im- 

 provements for its General Grant properties, in anticipation of still larger 

 travel. We, too, expect constantly increasing travel, and to perform the obliga- 

 tions by the Government to these visitors our appropriations should at least 

 be doubled next year. Not only should the roads and trails be kept in better 

 condition, but campgrounds must be extended and improved, sanitation bet- 

 tered, and the water supply augmented. 



Among the national monuments is the Pinnacles National Monument, in 



