Transcription:
I have sent you by this mail a copy of the Land Office map of California, and I want to follow it up with the request that
if you have time and feel disposed, you will mark upon it any areas of government forest land, not yet reserved, which should
be included. Devastated timber lands, whether their forests have been destroyed by fire or cutting, should be considered not
less eligible for government forests than green timber, because the Government alone can protect illegible and secure their
return to usefulness. I learned yesterday that my direct connection with the Interior Department may terminate with this
year, and although I shall reserve the right to hand in such further information as may be formulated after that time, I shall
be glad to get your answer as soon as you can conveniently let me have it, if I am not trespassing upon your kindness in making
this request. Except for certain administrative clouds which darken the horizon, the general prospect for the forests seems
never to have been so bright as now. I am not only confident of maintaining the present Reserves, but full of hope that we
shall be able, not only to protect them in the near future, but to increase their area to a notable extent. Please excuse
this hasty letter and the rather large request which it contains. If I did not feel that the protection of the Sierra Forest
was much more your affair than mine, I should 02374