Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1902-08-13

protest against the Lincoln forest re-
serve:
Albuquerque, N. NJ, Aug. IL.
The Honorable Commissioner of the
General Land Office, Washington,
d. c.:
Sir-I am in receipt of yours of Au-
gust 8, transmitting to me the presi-
dents proclamation of July 26, 1902,
establishing the Lincoln forest reserve
in New Mexico.
am very thankful to you for send
ing me the proclamation. but l desire
to make a statement here which | will
ask you to put in your files for refer
ence.
On behalf of the people of New Mex
leo, | desire to protest against the crea-
ton of large forst reserves in the ter
ritory, without notice to the people, as
has heretofore been the case. The ella
river forest reserve of 1927, 600 acres,
was created almost in a night without
notice to the people, and now this
great Lincoln reserve of about 376, 1000
acres, is also created without notice to
the people. II the people could know
that these things were about to come
to pass, they would ask, and probably
obtain, a hearing on the question of
the proper size and shape of the in
tended reserve. | do not think that any
sensible person now objects to proper
forest reserves, but they are not al
ways proper as we look at it. Land
that was bringing revenues in the way
of taxes into the different counties is
suddenly put beyond reach. Land that
is fit for nothing on earth but pastur-
age is included in a reserve so as to
square it up to meet the approval of
the officials in Washington, and the
people, with their live stock, are sud
denly excluded from what may have
been their homes for years, and a lot
of annoying restrictions are suddenly
enforced against the people living in
the vicinity. Under the act of 1891
one of these reserves is easily created,
and it often requires months of effort
to get M of them set aside, in fact |
doubt If one has ever been curtailed or
set aside in New Mexico. There were
90 biiio bSloiC liz SSSSlOh vi COu'
gress just closed for the throwing open
of the Mescalero Apache Indian reser.
walton, or some portion of it, to the
public, there being a large part of il
much more valuable for mining and
farming than as a reserve for a few
Indians, for there are only 377 Indians
in the tribe. Those bills are pending
7 hnfnrA tha npnra;4tao IN Jpl;on n ffai,e
of the house yet, and now, instead OF
eliminating a portion of that great re.
serve Git contains $50 900 acres) an
other great reserve almost as large is
created directly north of it.
1t is admitted that a forest reserve
in the country referred to is a proper
thing, but it is not admitted that il
ought to be of the dimensions which
the department has made it.
| do most solemnly protest against
this system of creating forest reserves
in a night without notice to the people
1t will probably result in the power
being taken away from the department
by congress. 1t will not do to tell us
that the department knows best what
we want. The people of New Mexico
expect to be the people of the state Of
New Mexico, and the territory of New
Mexico is their patrimony, with which
the government will have nothing tC
do after it disposes of the public lands
therein, and therefore it is not pre-
sumptious in us wanting to have some
thing to say about it, and wanting Il
at least get notice before these grea'
reserves are created in our midst. Two
sections in every township in the lanC
in question belongs to u schools, ant
they are rendered of much less value
now by the creation of this reserve
around it. Under the act of 1898 We
have still more than a million and &
half of acres of land to select from the
public domain for our public institu
lions, and all of the fine land included
in this new reserve is now taken our
of the land from which we might make
our selections. The statehood bill nov
pending in the United States senate
gives us two additional sections o.
land in every township for our com
mon schools, and as much more lane
for our public institutions as was giveI
to us by the Ferguson act of 1898, anC
our chance to select it w1Tlin the lin
its of this new reserve is now gone.
Our hope was that our school and in
situations lands would be selected from
at least reasonably good lands. Sc
much OF New MeXico's best land is al
ready in private ownership, in the way
of railroad land grants and Spanish
land grants, and in individual entries
as that while we nave a vast amount
of public domain in the territory, it is
not all of a character such as we would
like to select for the support of our in
stitutions.
most respectfully submit this letter
for the consideration of the depart
ment.
With to yourself of my
highest esteem, ! am, sincerely yours
B. S. RODEY,