The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-03-11
ro SAFE ruE FOR TESTS.

Ruin of the Cascade Range Reserve. | A special dispatch from Washington, D. C., to the New York Evening Post of last night says;
 The executive committee of the Amer ican Forestry association are naturally very much stirred up over the conclu, sion reached by the commissioner of the general land office, as mentioned Tn. these dispatches last week, in favor of cutting off about three quarters of the Cascade Range Forest Reserve in Ore gon. They have therefore addressed to the secretary of the interior a letter in which they say:
 | We hereby enter an emphatic protest against such reversal of the policy of reservation, so prudently inaugurated by your predecessors, and so wisely fol- lowed by the present administration, The Cascade Reserve was created by the present administration, upon your recommendation, not hastily, but after prolonged and careful Investigation as
 to It's desirability. It is known to the officers of your department and espe- cially those of the geological survey, who are familiar with the character of the lands embraced in this reserve, that only a small portion is fit for agricul- | tural use; that on the contrary the land | is suitable only for forest growth, and that by it's situation in the rough noun tain country of the high Sierras it is es- sential that it be kept under forest cover for the benefit of the agricultural lands in the plains. The large water masses falling on these mountain ram ges are bound to lead to destructive floods unless held back by the forest | floor It is also known that in some parts irrigable lands are or will be de- pendent on these waters.
 | With only 10 per cent. in reserve in Oregon, and 60 per cent. of the total area of the state still vacant public land, the crying need of opening any lands in this reservation is not appar- ent. The fact that after half century of settlement of the state this particu- lar area is still so sparsely occupied is conclusive evidence that the lands with 1 in it are not desirable for the building of homes The numbering interests are not in immediate need of the timber in the reserve, since the Coast Range fur nishes ample and superior supplies. The mining interests are not immedis ately concerned in this restitution, be-
 ing entirely confined to the western slope. The only interest which is prob
 ably prompting the movement to break down the conservative policy of the government is that of the sheep-herd CTS, who, largely not stable citizens of
 the state in which they ply their voca- | ton, are of the same class as those who | have laid waste large areas in Califor-
 nia. from whence they have been driv- en by the intelligent action of the citi-
 Zens of that state, and by the reserva- 1 tion policy of the federal government. We question whether the best and tru- | ly representative interests of the state are in sympathy with this movement, or whether they realize it's meaning and
 ultimate effects. There is, however, an
 interest had by the poorer class of set tiers living adjacentin the interior graz ! ing on the reservation, This interest, though small when compared with the
 important functions of the forest cov-
 CT, nevertheless should have favorable consideration; but this does not neces sitate the opening of the entire reserve and can be satisfied by simple adminis- trative regulation
 1 Resolutions passed by the committee are enclosed reciting the above facts, | asking that the reserve be not opened in whole or in part, but urging instead upon congress the necessity of legisla- ton which will enable the secretary of the interior to permit, under proper reg ulations and restrictions, the rational and discreet use of all the resources contained iii the reservation.