Apache Indians, and creating and defining the All-year National Park," was passed by the Senate on July 7, 1922. New bills were also introduced for the following purposes: To establish the Yakima National Park in the State of Washington, the Grand Coules National Park in the State of Washington, the Petit Jean National Park in the State of Arkansas, the Wonderland National Park in the State of South Dakota, the Appalachian National Park in the State of Virginia; also a bill establishing a national park in the national forest reservation in the State of Georgia, and one creating the Battle of the Bear's Paw National Monument in the State of Montana. Other new bills which were introduced affecting the national parks propose the making of appropriations for the construction of roads within the Zion National Park; the making of appropriations for the construction of roads in the Sevier and Kaibab National Forests and the Grand Canyon National Park; the locating of mining claims within national parks; the placing of national parks under the supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture; the authorization of prospecting and mining in the national parks under certain conditions; the consolidation of certain patented lands in Glacier Park; the extension and development of Sullys Hill National Park; and the acceptance from the State of Illinois of the Old Salem State Park at Petersburg, Ill. H. R. 7542,12 "A bill to add certain lands to the Sequoia National Park, California, and to change the name of said park to RooseveltSequoia," which was discussed in the fifth annual report, was favorably reported out of committee on January 20, came up several times on the Unanimous Consent Calendar, and was finally stricken off on April 3 on the ground that the bill should receive more consideration than is possible on the Unanimous Consent Calendar. S. 274, entitled "A bill for the erection and maintenance of a dam across the Yellowstone River in the State of Montana," which was referred to in our last annual report, was not acted upon during the year, although on February 16 the Senate Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation held a hearing on it. In preceding years bills for the extension of the Yellowstone National Park southward to complement and round out the park's exhibits by the inclusion of the wonderful Teton Mountain area have been introduced in Congress, but there is no bill in the present Congress for such purpose. This matter is not being permitted to lie dormant, as it is one of the most important park boundary rectification projects before the country. Problems requiring personal investigation of possible boundary modifications have arisen, and at this writing are being carefully studied. A satisfactory solution is essential so that the enlargement program may be speedily perfected and laid before Congress for effective legislation. There is little opposition to this project, the enlargement plan being generally conceded as most desirable and wise. No new bills looking toward the utilization of the parks' natural resources were introduced into Congress during the year, the only activity in this direction being hearings held on February 16 last 12 See committee report on page 165. before the Senate Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation on S. 274, a bill introduced by Senator Walsh of Montana, on April 12, 1921. The hearing was not extensive. The bill has not been reported from committee. PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATIONS. By proclamation,13 the President on January 24, 1922, established the Lehman Caves National Monument, Nev. As the remarkable limestone caverns reserved by the national monument proclamation are located within the Nevada National Forest, the monument reservation will be administered by the United States Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture. EXECUTIVE ORDERS. Executive orders affecting national parks and national monuments were issued as follows: December 22, 1921, setting apart Sullys Hill National Park Game Preserve, N. Dak., as a bird refuge. January 13, 1922,15 a withdrawal of lands in Alaska for use in connection with the administration of the Mount McKinley National Park and to protect a right of way for a proposed road into the park. March 20, 1922,16 a withdrawal of land pending resurvey of the Chaco Canyon National Monument. PROPOSED NATIONAL MONUMENTS. By act of Congress approved August 26, 1922,17 the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to set apart as a national monument 1,600 acres in Palm, Andreas, and Murray Canyons, Calif., containing the stately Washington palm (Washingtoniana filifera). The act provides that before such reservation shall become effective the consent and relinquishment of the Agua Caliente Band of Indians shall first be obtained, covering its right, title, and interest in and to the lands and payment therefor made to them when there shall be donated sufficient funds for such purpose. It is understood that interested persons stand ready to donate funds for the purchase of the Indian rights. Through the generosity of one of its trustees, Mr. Archer M. Huntington, the American Museum of National History has tendered to the Government for national monument purposes the Aztec ruin near Aztec, N. Mex. This ruin of precious historic value contains a circular walled city which has been excavated by the Museum at a cost of $15,000. Director Mather has taken personal interest in the proposal to establish Pipe Springs, Ariz., as a national monument. Pipe Springs was first settled in 1863; its historic "Winsor Castle" with portholes in its walls was used as a place of refuge from the Indians by the early settlers. It was also the first station of the Deseret Telegraph in Arizona. Pipe Springs affords the only water in the desert between Hurricane, Utah, and Kanab, Utah, on the road between Zion National Park and the north rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. Certain private interests will have to be acquired before it will be available for reservation. Its creation as a monument would serve as a memorial of western pioneer life. Three remarkable groups of prehistoric towers, two in Utah and one in Colorado, are recommended for preservation, under the name Hovenweep National Monument, by Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, Chief, Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution. At the request of the service the General Land Office sent a surveyor to determine on the ground the exact location of the ruin groups in relation to the land line surveys. IN CONCLUSION. Briefly, in conclusion, one needs only to consider the annually mounting flood of visitors to come at once to a full realization of what splendid national assets the national parks and monuments are as places for recreation, enjoyment, and rest for our people. Twelve hundred thousand visitors tells its own story. Not one year during the past four has seen the country without serious national problems-participation in the greatest conflict between nations the world has ever seen and when that was splendidly consumated, the days of reconstruction, of social and economic unrest that have intimately affected the home life of each living person-and not one year of those four has failed to register the gradual mounting of the visiting list into figures that at the time of the creation of the service, in 1916, would have been deemed decidedly visionary. And this may be considered only the beginning of a constant annual travel movement of millions to these national playgrounds. The necessity for national retrenchment in expenditures has kept in abeyance the development of the various parks to their fullest standard of service to the public. The most urgent needs are reconstruction of existing roads which have been subjected to heavy wear from the travel flowing over them, modern public camping grounds, and modern sanitation everywhere where large crowds of visitors congregate. If the estimates submitted by you to Congress through the Budget are enacted into appropriations, the parks will be started on a program of development that in three years should place them in condition for efficient service to the public, which is what they were created for, and what the people of the country will surely demand. Respectfully, The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. ARNO B. CAMMERER, |