Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1899-02-22
About Forest Reserves

The following, in reference to forest reserves, has been furnished the JOURNAL MINER by a gentleman
 who has made s udy of the prOp0- sition. and hence conversant with the subject. and will be found of special interest at the present time, Inasmuch as 1t corrects some erTo- neously conceived opinions on the subject:
 There seems to be a general dis
 position upon the part of those in- terested n sheep grazing and other pursuits Tn the vicinity of forest reservations, to confuse thsm with
 Indian aud military reservations, upon which none are allowed to trespass and which are set aside for specific uses of the government. The forest reservations are of en- tirely different nature, and are set aside by the government for what IS considered the public good of the territory. Scientific men, men Of wide experience, who have beeu in terested in this subject, have made thorough reports uPoa the arid con ditiOn of the southwest and the ne- cessIty for the conservation of its meager water supply. They came to their conclusions by years of care fIl observations, and ID an unbiased manner, without interest. except the general welfare and prosperity of the country.
 Aside from this great question of water supply, there are other qaes- tiOns of equal importance to the people Oi Arizona, in whatever busi- ness they may be interested.
 Remove the great pine forests, stuPs the territory of its magnifi- cent belt of timber and what have you leftf A few rich men who cut and sold the timber. upon one hand. and upon the other a vast territory denuded of its three-fold value; the timber gone that should be used iu the development of the territory's great mineral wealth; the means for lmpounding water shipped to other states and thousands of acres of worthless, barren, nou-taxable, un- tillable land reverted to the terri tory.
 Just where the reasoning man can ind objection tn the forest reserva- tiOns, under the existing conditions, IS difficult to say. The gener sl rule governing forest reserves, allows grazing privileges 10 all stock ex- eept sheep. In the San Francisco ! reservation even sheep are allowed 1 to graze and 1t Is very probable that 1 this ruling will be permitted so ar as thIs reservation IS concerned; the {. reservation does not prevent the ! sale Of timber to people of the ter rltOry for all uses and purposes when 1 there IS need of same; 1t does not 4 prevent bona fde entrymen from taking up land that Is more valuable for agricultural purposes than for timber or mineral.
 A reservation does prevent fraud ulent entries as homesteads on timber land; 1t does prevent an in- discriminate slaughter oi timber; II prevents the vast waste of timber or forest fires; 1t prevents a few people from deriving all the benefits from our forests to the detriment Of the people in general.
 It is not the intention of the h. terior department or any Of its rep reseutatives to put hardships upon the people of Arizona, but to pre- serve for her citizens those things which will, some time in the future, make her a proud sister among the sisterhood of states; it is their de sire to people the territory with men who come to make Arizona their home and to protect them against those who come to gleaD, gather and go.