Daily Arizona silver belt., 1908-01-28
GRAND CANYON NOW NATIONAL
 MONUMENT

President Roosevelt has just signed a proclamation making national mon. ument of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, and another creating an addition of r. 2S8,3 1920 acres of land to the Tonto na- tional forest, which is also located in Arizona.
 The world-famed Grand Canyon has been part of the Grand Canyon nation al forest, and it's establishment as of the act of June 8, 1906, which pro vides that objects of scientific interest may be declared national monuments, if such action is deemed necessary for their preservation and protection.
 President Roosevelt, speaking Of the importance of protecting the Grand Canyon as a national monument, says
 in his proclamation: "It is an object of unusual scientific interest, being the greatest eroded canyon within the United States, and it appears that the public interests would be promoted by reserving it as a national monument, with such other land as is necessary for its proper protection.
 It has long been realized that it was highly desirable to have this wonder full gorge made by the Colorado river set apart as national monument. This assures the area of exclusion from all kinds of entry, and means that the government will have power to pre-. vent the .marring of the scenic beauty by unsightly exploitation of any kind. The area put in the national monu. ment constitutes, approximately, S25,- 230 acres. In determining the bound. ary of the national monument, an ef- fort was made to draw the line ap. proximately one mile back from the rim of the canyon.
 The addition of l,2ss, 1920 acres to the Tonto national forest in Arizona is situated in Maricopa, Gila and Pinal counties. That part of the addition which is situated on the west side of the Tonto forest is given national for est protection because it includes the watershed of the Verde river, above the proposed Mcdowell reservoir site, which is located on the Verde just above its junction with Salt river.
 It seems probable that this McDow ell reservoir will be built by the recla- nation service at some future time, and when this project is completed, something over 100000 acres of land will be irrigated in the Salt river val To ,, aII tn hn lan hat ,rr,1 be assured of uniform supply of water by the great Salt river project at Roosevelt.
 The eastern portion of the addition includes the headwaters of the Pinal and Pinto creeks. Both of these streams empty into Salt river above the Roosevelt dam. Their watersheds have been damaged by overgrazing, mainly by goats. It is of the utmost importance that the watersheds of these streams be protected.
 They are already carrying large quantities of silt into Salt river, and since they both empty near what will be the upper end of the reservoir, they could do enormous damage in filling it with silt. The most southern portion of the addition, lying directly west of the Pinal mountains forest, which has now, by this proclamation, been made part of the Tonto national forest, protects the watershed of Queen creek, the waters of which the reclamation service has determined it will one day bc desirable to impound.
 The Pinal mountains national forest of 45,760 acres has been thrown into the Tonto forest, giving an area includ- ing the new addition, of 2,449,280 acres. In the large addition there is very little commercial forest, but in most of the canyons and draws there are stands of oak and chapparal species, and in limited areas very dense stands of Arizona cypress This limited sup ply of wood is of great importance, both from the point of water conser- vation and of prolonging the fuel sup ply in country in which the supply is very short.