There are now 14 National Parks and 
Reservations, including the Hot Springs 
Reservations in Arkansas, in which the 
government inaugurated the National Park 
System in 1832. In 1872, Yosemite, the 
first of the National Parks, was set aside 
by a special enactment of Congress, as 
has been each of the National Parks. 
There are 29 National Monuments under 
the Department of the Interior, 10 under 
the Department of Agriculture, and 2 un- 
der the Department of War. These have 
been set aside by presidential proclamation 
in accordance with an act of 1906. 
In the report of the Secretary of the 
Interior for 1914 the superintendents of 
National Parks have made their reports in 
which attention is given chiefly to the 
details of road and building construction, 
even including such minor details as the 
subdivision between a National Park and 
an adjacent town that had worked together 
in the construction of a sewer, of a bill 
of tools that amounted to less than $100, 
and included one piece of 18-inch cast iron 
pipe that the superintendent stated could 
not be divided, and he therefore recom- 
mended that it be sold and the receipts 
divided. In other lists are items as small 
as 25 cents for crayons, such data taking 
up one-sixth of his report. It is to be pre- 
sumed that under a central administrative 
control such minor incidents would not be 
included in a report. 
From our professional point of view the 
treatment of landscape is of particular in- 
terest. From only two reports can one 
gain a very definite idea of the attitude of 
the superintendent toward landscape. In 
the report of the general superintendent 
and landscape engineer of Yosemite Park, 
who later under this title was placed in 
charge of all parks, he refers to the clear- 
ing of underbrush and dead timber in the 
Maraposa, Tuolumne and Merced big tree 
groves, to make the groves more sightly, 
and protect them against fire. The park 
supervisor of the Yosemite in his report 
states that 150 acres were cleared in 1914, 
and 830 cords of wood secured, and it was 
proposed to continue this work during the 
present season “to safeguard growing trees 
from fire and rapid dense growth.’’ Pre- 
sumably this is the same undergrowth that 
is described as follows by John Muir in his 
book, “Our National Parks,” in this same 
park : “In some places, where the ground 
is level or slopes gently, the trees are as- 
sembled in groves, and the flowers and 
underbrush in trim beds and thickets as 
in landscape gardens or the lovingly plant- 
ed grounds of homes; or they are drawn 
up in orderly rows around meadows and 
lakes and along the brows of canyons.” 
Again he refers to “the gardens and beds 
of underbrush, once devastated by sheep, 
are blooming again in all their wild glory, 
and the park is a paradise that makes even 
the loss of Eden seem insignificant.” 
You should understand that the parks 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
are now under the management of civilian 
employees, whereas several of them were, 
as stated again by John Muir, “efficiently 
managed and guarded by small troops of 
United States cavalry, directed by the Sec- 
retary of the Interior. Under this care the 
forests are flourishing, protected from both 
axe and fire ; and so, of course, are the 
shaggy beds of underbrush and herba- 
ceous vegetation.” 
The only other reference that would lead 
us to question the character of the im- 
provements is that made by the superin- 
tendent of the Hot Springs Reservation, 
who speaks of having secured the permis- 
sion of the department for the employment 
of an extra force of laborers who for two 
months had been engaged in clearing off 
the slopes of the mountain, which he states 
is parked about one-third of the distance 
from the summit. He also states that the 
mountain would be greatly improved by 
the employment of a competent landscape 
gardener and the placing of a number of 
plants and shrubs. He refers also to an 
ornamental fountain of tufa rock con- 
structed at the main entrance. This, of 
course, presents the question as to whether 
it would not have been better to preserve 
the natural growth at less cost than to 
have cleared it away at much cost for the 
purpose of planting beds of flowering 
shrubs. 
While there is no indication in his report 
that the public is not being well served at 
reasonable cost, or that the parks are not 
being as well protected as the small appro- 
priations and lack of central control would 
permit, the following figures naturally sug- 
gest inquiry. 
The appropriations for national parks 
made for the Department of the Interior 
are a little over $300,000 for the year. The 
returns from concessionaires and other 
sources, from all National Parks, are about 
$60,000, whereas the gross receipts from 
concessionaires is stated to be about 
$1,800,000. This question of concessions, 
and what they include, is brought to our 
attention by the proposed village for the 
Yosemite, the plans of which were pre- 
pared by Mr. Daniels, with the assistance 
of Architects L. C. Mullgardt and L. P. 
Hobart. This plan was referred to as be- 
ing preliminary and tentative, subject to 
the action of the Fine Arts Commission 
before delivery to the Secretary of the 
Interior for his adoption or rejection as 
the permanent plans for the Yellowstone 
National Park. 
Secretary Lane announced on November 
22, 1915, that Mr. Daniels’ plan for the 
Yosemite Village was to be inaugurated by 
the signing of contracts with a concession- 
aire who would build a $150,000 hotel at 
one point, at some distance from this a 
$35,000 hotel, and four chalets at interven- 
ing points to be run in connection with the 
hotels, with more to follow as the demand 
increased. 
13 
Mr. Child of our committee learned from 
Mr. Daniels, personally, that the village 
was to take the place of fifty or sixty old 
houses and shacks that were occupied by 
the dealers and employees, and that the 
new village was to have a similar occu- 
pancy, and that the houses were not to be 
sold or rented to campers. He also learned 
that the old buildings were to be moved to 
less conspicuous places. This brings up 
the question as to the general policy of 
establishing such permanent homes as the 
chalets appeared to be, and their use. It 
brings up the question as to the advisability 
of establishing a populous village within 
the park for concessionaires and em- 
ployees, or for visitors. It brings up the 
question as to whether this cannot be es- 
tablished outside the park, where of course 
it would not be under the direction of the 
government. 
One of the most important recommenda- 
tions of Secretary Lane, and his predeces- 
sors, is that private claims covering lands 
and toll roads that lie within the limits 
of the park should be secured by the gov- 
ernment. These claims cover about 1 acre 
in 100 acres of each of the National Parks, 
and upon them tents and villages are being 
established and the forests are being cut. 
We feel that if we were to urge a recom- 
mendation at this time beyond the recom- 
mendation of the Park Service Bill, that 
we urge that an appropriation be made to 
extinguish such claims at the earliest date, 
even though the improvement of the parks 
are considerably delayed thereby, these 
claims to be secured by purchase or ex- 
changed for other government land, as pro- 
vided for in some of the parks. 
It may be also desirable to support the 
recommendations of Secretary Lane, that 
the National Parks and Monuments all be 
placed wholly under the jurisdiction of the 
United States government, for it is found 
that where there is a divided control be- 
tween government and state, in such mat- 
ters as the preservation of the game and 
other life of the park, and the sale of 
liquors, that it is exceedingly difficult to 
correct abuses. 
There is an interesting report from the 
superintendent of Crater Lake, in which 
he refers to an appropriation for a road 
system, having an estimated cost of $700,- 
000, of which $65,000 was for sprinkling. 
This system was devised under the direc- 
tion of the Secretary of War and an ap- 
propriation of $210,000 has already been 
made. He refers to the use of macadam 
as being quite out-of-date, and to the im- 
portance of using other methods of con- 
struction, also to the estimate of $20,000 
per year that would be required to sprinkle 
macadam roads. He states: “1 hope to 
make Crater Lake National Park self- 
sustaining in a few years, but if this great 
burden is added, that happy condition will 
have to be delayed indefinitely.” 
