Title:
Letter from W[aldemar ?] Lindgren to George C. Perkins, 1897 Feb 25.
Creator:
W[aldemar ?] Lindgren
Publisher:
University of the Pacific Library Holt-Atherton Special Collections. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies
of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Contributor:
George C. Perkins
Date:
1897 Feb 25
2008
Type:
Text
Format:
Image/jpeg2000
Identifier:
muir09_0766-md-1
Source:
Original letter dimensions: 27 x 20.5 cm.
Language:
eng
Coverage:
Washington, D.C
Rights:
Copyright status unknown
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of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners.
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Transcription:
-DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR- -UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY- WASHINGTON , D. C. Feb. 26, 1897. Hon. George C. Perkins,
U. S. Senate, Washington, D. C. Dear Sir:- In a letter of December 18th. 1896, Prof. David S. Jordan of the Stanford University,
requested me to call upon you and consult about the matter of the forest reservation of the high Sierras. The Sierra Club
and many other people in California had asked him to take the matter before the Forestry Commission and before Secretary Francis.
Prof. Jordan wrote to me because my official duties as a geologist have made me familiar with that special section of California
to which he refers. At the meeting of the Forestry Commission last January, I appeared before them upon their request and
explained the economic value of the areas which it was proposed to reserve. The Commission did not agree with Prof. Jordan
as to the areas which should be placed in the reservation, and only reserved a strip of land embracing both sides of the summit
of the Sierra Nevada extending from the northern line of the Yosemite National Park for 35 miles northward. The distance from
the northern line of the newest reservation to the southern end of Lake Tahoe is about 35 miles. The objection of the Commission
to extend the reservation further northward was that the range in the vicinity of Lake Tahoe is comparatively largely taken
up by cattlemen and sheepmen which go to their accustomed ranges every year. Further, that the reservation of this area would
have no practical value as the forests for a considerable distance south of the railroad has been taken up, and that, moreover,
the old sections belong to the railroad. Lastly, the forest in the high mountains of this vicinity is very scant, and has
little economic value. I proposed two smaller reservations at the head waters of the American and of the Cosmunes rivers,
but the Commission did not find it practicable to add these small areas to the other sections reserved. Very respectfully,
(signed) W. Lindgren. COPY U.S. Geologist. 06187