Amador ledger., 1906-07-06
Restoring Forest Reserve Land.

For some days the Land Office in
Sacramento has been besieged by let
ters asking just when and where the
land in the temporary forest reserve
in the Sacramento district was to be
opened up for settlement.
Registrar Armstrong and receiver
Newcum said today that they had no
definite knowledge as to the actual
sections, townships and ranges to be
restored, and that the order making
the restoration had not yet been re-
ceived from Washington and pro.
badly will not be for some weeks to
come.
In 1902 the secretary of the interior
withdrew large areas of the public do
main in California from settlement,
entry, sale or other disposal under the
public land laws pending the determi-
nation of the question of the advisa-
bility of including those lands within
a forest reserve. The lands are main.
ly in the high Sierra range and en-
brace the headwaters of the MANY
watersheds which form the streams
and rivers of our state.
As soon as practicable after this
temporary withdrawal. Clifford Pin
chot, forester of the forest service of
the agricultural department, put
crews OF his most capable assistants at
work on the necessary Investigations,
and within very short time the re-
port and recommendations of the
forest service were in the hands of
the secretary of the interior. Those
who reported on the subject we're in
structed to recommend the inclusion
within forest reserves of only those
portions of the withdrawn area which.
when included within q permanent
forest reserve, would meet all the
requirements of re forestation con-
servation of water and increased graz
ing capacity.
The people of the state did not take
kindly to the establishment of new
forest reserves, and the departments
at Washington were besieged with
petitions asking that the lands with.
drawn be restored to entry. To all of
these they gave no serious heed and
on their recommendation the presl-
dent by his proclamations has estab-
llshed the following reserves:
Santa Bar bara, Dec. %, 1903; War
ner Mountain, Nov. 20, 1904; Modoc,
Nov. 20, 1904; Plumas, March u, 1905;
Trinity, April 26, 1905; klamath, May
e, 1905; Lassen Peak, June 2, 1905;
Diamond Mountain, July IA, 1906;
Sierra, July %, 1905; Shasta, Oct. 3.
1905; Tahoe (additional), Oct. 3,
1905; Yuba, Nov. IL, 1905.
The establishment of the above
mentioned forest reserves left without
the boundaries thereof many thou
sands of acres of the lands originally
temporarily withdrawn and the people
are now more than anxious to have
that restored to entry which 1T is
settled will not be needed tor any
permanent reserve.
Representative Gillett, realizing the
Importance of this restoration to
many of his constituents, took up
the matter with the forest service of
the agricultural department and with
the interior department, and accord
ing to recent published adyices from
Washington, they are now preparing
the maps and orders necessary SO that
the restoration of the lands in the
temporary reserves. adjacent to that
which has been made permanent may
be accomplished in the near future.
The lands to be restored upon the
request of representative GilIett are
in Mariposa, Tuolumne, Amador, Ell
Dorado, Placer and Nevada counties.
In Ell Dorado the restoration is to be
north of the line between townships
10 and IL north. Restoration of land
south of this line in Ell Dorado
county will in all probability not be
made until permanent reserve is
created connecting the Tahoe with
the Stanislaus reserve. The matter
of the restoration of the temporarily
Withdrawn lands in Sierra, Yuba,
Butte and Tehama counties will be
taken I'D at a later date -Sacramanto