The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-01-20
INVESTIGATE THE
FOREST RESERVE
Government Experts Confer
With State Officials.
Also CONSIDER IRRIGATION
PROF. NEWELL EXPLAINS OF
POSITION TO UTAH LAKE.

distinguished party of government
experts. whose lines lie in the efforts Of
retaining the arid lands. the preserva-
tion of the forests and the increasing Of
the water supply in the mountain states
arrived in the city yesterday afternoon.
il consists of F. H. Newell chief of the
irrigation bureau with special connection
with the reclamation of the arid lands
PROFESSOR Clifford PinchOtt, chief of for
estry; G. 4. Mausing and Arthur l. Dahl
private secretaries 10 the first two men.
1. H. Taylor, district engineer for Ne
yea and d W Ross. district engineer
Tor Idaho They are returning from st
tepencEe at the livestock convention at
20, OF sEta .i3 AID are quartered at the Ken
The speciaAl purpose Of the visit of these
experts IS d take up seyeraily with the
state englnes 7r and the state land board
susgess[iions n regard to the present pol
icy OF the government in regard to forest
reserves. At 1.-THE same time they will try
70 arrive At F. practical method Of lmprOy-
ing and ext4 nding the. Influence Of the
Two main sodsrces of irrigation water in
Utah, the Utsh and Bear lake sources
me engineerilaE features to accomplish
this end have Abeen practically perfected
In both INSTANCES, but there are many
Of the water. Cofeeerted action IS neces-
saTy before the work can be taken up by
government.
Visit Has Man ifold Objects.
Stating the PURPOSE OF the visit last
night. Professor NeWeN explained that the
Gently appointed BY President Roosevelt
70 investigate the practical results from
the present land laws, aqd the cOnten-
tion that the laws are Heing used too
much in the interests OF private owners.
ais N e9amissi02 is eppmPqPs2d Of Pr9fes-
man or the commission is w. A. Rich
ards commissioner Of the General land
office; Incidentally il takes up the mat
Ter OF arid land reclamation iaLd the re-
1orrestatlon OF former timber regions.
Today these gentlemen, accompanied by
members OF the state land board, the Utah
arid land reclamation fund Commission,
including the state engineer. A. 4. DOre-
mus ana Governor II. N. Wells will 20
% the Last Jordan meeting house near
Bingham Junction and there 1meet with
the representatives Of the various canal
companies who draw their irrigation
waters from Titan lake. The object OF
the conference IS to try TO arrive at q
method that viii insure the junior and
cooperation Of the diverse vested rights
In this water supply.
Opposition to Utah Lake Scheme.
Explaining the Utah lake project as It
has come TO be known Prof Newell last
night said that but a small percentage
Of the vast volume of water that now
Flows into this natural reservoir can be
utilized for irrigation under present con-
ditions, for the reason that the greater
portion OF it is lost by evaporation The
scheme adopted by the government en-
g1neers who have had this special prof.
ect IN hand, is 10 cut such a. channel
carry all the waters INTO the various ca
mats. and IL is estimated that not less
tpan zo1,OW acres can be added to the IL
rigated area by such change.
In connection with the business of the
party. en- interesting conference was held
at the Commercial club last night with
Governor Wells and members of the
state land board in attendance. State
Engineer Doremus was also present.
Purposes Of Foreign Reserves.
At the reqtest OF Governor Wells Pro-
lessor FinchotI explained briefly that the
purposes of the creation OF forest reserves
were threefold. To make the areas with
drawn produce more wood, become better
summer range and to increase and con-
serve the water supply for the use of the
cities but more especially for irrigation
aEd tie consequent extension Of the irri-
gable lands IN Utah He explained that
the large areas now withdrawn IN Utah
were segregated to afford the experts
chance to select and retain such lands as
would be suitable for the extension of for
ests, ana that be was ready TO report on
the curtaiiment of the areas so that lands
better adapted TO public use might be re-
turned for public entry
The subject of forest reserves was not a
palataDie one at the meeting and eX-
presSlOns from Governor Wells Byron
tsroo and state Engineer Doremus were
70 the effect that these men seemed 10
prefer municipal ownership and commu-
nifty ownership of the watersheds of The
various sections dependent upon them for
While Professor Pinchott warmly de-
tended government ownership on the
ground Of its being more Elective, he ac-
knoWledged that he was here to get the
best opinions, and that he gave them 0ue
weight.
1T was the desire Of Governor Wells
and others 10 entertain the visitors at the
Commercial club tonight after the visit
TO Bingham Junction, but the party is
eastbOund via Denver and Cheyenne. ana
VIII leave tonight over the RIO Grande.