.*^°- .HO ^*^°^ ^^^. '- ^ °^ \' ^-^o^ 64th Congress, ) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, j Document 1st Session. ) 1 No. 515. IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS. L E T T E TRANSMITTING copy of a communication from the secretary of the in- terior relating to the administration of the appro- ^priations for the improvement and management of x national parks, and submitting an item of legislation Nrelating thereto. X January 8, 1916. — Refened to the Committee on Appropriations and ordered to ];e printed. Treasury Department, ' Office of the Secretary, WasJiington, January 8, 1916. The Speaker of the House of Representatives. Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, copy of a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, of the 7th instant, in connection with the administration •mder the Secretary of the Interior of the appropriations made for the protection, improvement, and management of the various na- tional parks, including the Hot Springs Reservation, and submitting a proposed clause of legislation in the interests of better administra- tion of the parks and the work connected therewith, which he re- I quests may be included in the. urgent deficiency bill, as follows: j There is hereby appropriated from the several appropriations for protection, im- ; )royement, and management, etc., of the various national parks, includino- the Hot prmgs Reservation, as well as from the revenues from privileges, etc., in the national jarks and the Hot Springs Reservation, such sum or sums as the Secretary of the Interior in his judgment may deem necessary, to 1 e expended in employment of ompetent persons in the District of Columl ia and in the field, and other necessary )X])enses in connection with the administration of the national parks and the Hot springs Reservation, including expenses of travel incident to the transferring of ?mployees from one park to another, and of park supervisors in conferring with the superintendent of national parks; a detailed statement of such expenditures to e su')- mctted to Congress. The foregoing authorization shall remain in full force and effect .ntil specifically repealed ])y Congress. Respectfully. W. G. McAdoo, Secretary. 2 improvement and management of national parks. Department of the Interior, Washington, January 7, 19t6. My Dear Mr. Secretary: At the present time there are 13 national parks in different sections of the country, the total area of which com- prise over 4,600;000 acres. These national parks have been set aside Dy Congress at various tunes since 1872 and placed under the super- vision of the Secretary of the Interior. The appropriations made for protection and improvement of these parks and revenues derived from concessions and privileges granted therein are expendable under the Secretary of the Interior. How- ever, the laws are not altogether uniform with respect to the use of such revenues and appropriations. Each of the parks is a separate and distinct unit for administrative purposes, and in supervising same it has been customary to provide a superintendent for each, who resides in the park, together with suffi- cient employees, both permanent and temporary, to look after the {)rotection and imprcvement thereof. The work of preparing regu- ations for the government of the parks, contracts, and licenses, and considering all questions of law, as weU as disbursement of moneys, is handled through a small force of employees in the Secretary's office. With a view to securing a more effective administration of the parks, it was deemed advisable in 1914 to provide for a general super- intendent, with headquarters at San Francisco, Cal., who could go from park to park and, after inspecting same, plan proposed improve- ments in roads and bridges and give personal supervision to the various employees therein, his compensation being paid from the appropriations and revenues of the several parks under a decision of the Comptroller of the Treasury dated June 3, 1914, copy herewith; and this course was pursued with the result that many improvements were effected in handling park work. Experience, however, ot over a year under this new system demon- strated the advisability of dispensing with a general superintendent having permanent headquarters away from Washington and pro- viding for a superintendent to be in the field during the time w^hen work can be best prosecuted in the parks, and the remainder of the time in W\ashington, where he would keep in close touch with the department and its policies and render aid in the preparation of park estimates, and thereby be in a position to explain such estimates to the several appropriation committees, etc. In view of the pro- visions of the act of August 5, 1882 (22 Stat., 255), the superintendent of parks being a field officer, there is some doubt as to the length of time he would be permitted to remain on duty in Washington. This situation should be remedied by appropriate legislation. / As these parks have become more popular with the traveling public fche activities therein have increased, and commensurate with such Increase the volume of work now handled in the Secretary's office has multiplied to such an extent that provision should be made for an increase in the clerical force, thereby relieving in a great measure those persons who handle the park work from consideration of other de- partmental business. In the interests, therefore, of the better admin- istration of the parks and the work connected therewith 1 have to recommend that Congress include the following paragraph in the urgent deficiency biU, to wit: D. Of D. MAR 28 1916 IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS. 3 OP There is hereby appropriated from the several appropriations for protection ira- -proyement, and management, etc., of the various national parks, including the Hot Springs Reservation, as well as from the revenues from privileges, etc., in the national , parks and the Hot Springs Reservation, such sum or sums as the Secretary of the , Interior m his judgment may deem necessary, to be expended in emplovment of com- > petent persons in the District of (^olumbia and in the held, and other" necessarv ex- penses in connection with the administration of the national parks and the Hot Sprino's Reservation, including expenses of travel incident to the transferring of emploA^ees from one park to another and of park supervisors in conferring with the superintendent oi national parks; a detailed statement of such expenditures to be submitted to Con- gress. The toregoing authorization shall remain in full force and effect until specifi- cally repealed by Congress. ^ It was not practicable to include this in the regular estimates of the department for 1917, as a final determination upon the matters herein presented was only recently concluded. There are hereto appended excerpts from my annual report of the operations of this department for 1915, giving detailed information m relation to the various national parks. I have to request that these papers be forwarded to Congress for early consideration. Cordially, yours, Franklin K. Lane. The Secretary of the Treasury. EXCERPTS FROM THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30 1915 RELATIVE TO THE NATIONAL PARKS AND MONUMENTS. ' PLACES OF BEAUTY AS AN ASSET. • Tn casting up the assets of the United States as a landed proprietor I have made no mention of one of the most delightful of our national enterprises. To build a railroad reclaim lands, give new impulse to enterprise, and ofier new doors to ambitious capital—these are phases of the ever-widening life and activity of this Nation The United States does more; it furnishes playgrounds to the people which are, we may modestly state, without any rivals in the world. Just as the cities are seein<^ the wisdom and the necessity of open spaces for the children, so with a very laro-e view the Nation has been saving from its domain the rarest places of grandeur and beauty for the enjoyment of the world. _ And this fact has been discovered by many only this year. Ha\dng an incentive m the expositions on the Pacific coast, and Europe being closed, thousands have for the first time crossed the continent and seen one or more of the national parks That such mountains and glaciers, lakes and canyons, forests and waterfalls were to be found in this country was a revelation to many, who had heard but had not believed It would appear from the experience of this year that the real awakening as to the value ot these parks has at last been realized, and that those who have hitherto fcund themselves enticed by the beauty of the Alps and the Rhine and the soft loveliness ot the valleys of France, may find equal if not more stimulating satisfaction in the mountains, rivers, and valleys which this Government has set apart for them and for all others. It may reconcile those who think that money expended upon such luxuries is wasted— if any such there are— to be told that the soberminded traffic men of the railroads estimate that this year more than a hundred milUon dollars usually spent in Liiropean travel was divided among the railroads, hotels, and their supportino- enterprises m this country. ° During the year a new national park of distinction and unusual accessibility has come into existence. It crosses the Rockies in Colorado at a point of supreme magnifi- cence; hence its title, the Rockv Mountain National Park. Through it from north to south winds the Continental Divide— the Snowy Range In name and in fact. Two hundred lakes grace this rocky paradise, and bear and bighorn inhabit its fastnesses. It has an area of 350 square mdes and lies only 70 miles from Denver. Many hotels lie at the feet of these mountains, and three railroads skirt their sides. 4 IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OP NATIONAL PAEKS. This is Colorado's second national park, the other being Mesa Verde, where this department, with the assistance of Dr. Jesse Walter Fewkes, of the Smithsonian Institution, has \incovered during the last summer prehistoric ruins of unprecedented scientific interest. ( )regon has l)ut recently completed a great highway along the Columbia River. This should be connected by road with Mount Hood and a portion of the present forest reserve converted into a park. The limits of Sequoia Park, in California, the home of the great redwoods, should be so extended as to include the Kern River Canyon, a most practicable })roject to-day, but to-morrow may be too late, because of the lumber interests. The Grand (-anyon is not yet part of the park system, although as part of a national forest it comes under the control of the Department of Agi'iculture. There is no reason why this Nation should not make its public health and scenic domain as available to all its citizens as Switzerland and Italy make theirs. The aim is to open them thorox:glily by roaci and trail and give access and accommodation to every degree of income. In this belief an effort has been made this year as never before to outfit the parks with new hotels wdiich should make the vititor desire to linger rather than hasten on his journey. One hotel was built on Lake McDermott, in tilacier Park, one is to be built immediately on the shoulder of Mount Rainier, in Paradise Valley, another in the valley of the Yosemite, with an annex high over- head on Glacier Point, while more modest chalets are to be dotted about in the ob- scurer spots to make accessible the rarer beauties of the inner Yosemite. For with the new Tioga road, wliich, through the generosity of ]\Ir. Stephen T. Mather and a few others, the Government has acquired, there is to be revealed a new Yosemite, wliich only John Muir and others of similar bent have seen. This is a Yosemite far different from the quiet, incomparable valley. It is a land of forests, snow, and glaciers. From Mount Lyell one looks, as from an island, upon a tumbled sea of snowy peaks. Its lakes, many of wliich have never been fifhed, are alive with trout. And through it foams the Tuolumne River, which in a mile drc'ps a mile, a water spectacle destined to world celebrity. Meeting < bstructions in its slanting riuh, the water now and again rises nearly perpendicularly, forming upright ff aming arcs sometimes 50 feet in height. These "water wheels," a dozen or more in number, will be accessible next summer by a trail to be built when the snow melts in June. While as the years have passed we have been modestly developing the superb scenic possibilities of the Yellowstone, nature has made of it the largest and most populous game preserve in the Western Hemisphere. Its great size, its altitude, its vast wildernesses, its plentiful waters, its favorable conformation of rugged mountain and sheltered valley, and the nearly perfect protection afforded by the p:)licv and the scientific care of the Government have made this pxrk, since its inauguration in 1872, the natural and inoAdtable cei^er of game conservation for this Nation. There is something of significance in this./ It is the destiny of the national pirks, if wisely controlled, to become the public lalioratories of nature study for the Nation* And from them specimens may be distributed to the city and State preserves, a^is now being done with the elk of the Yellowstone which are too abundant, and may be later with the antelope. If Congress will but make the funds available for the construction of roads over which automobiles may travel -with safety (for all the parks are now open to motors) and for trails to hunt out the hidden places of beauty and dignity, we may expect that year by year these parks will become a more precious possession of the people, holding them to the further discovery of America and making them still prouder of its resources, esthetic as well as material. N.\TIONAL PARKS AND RESERVATIONS. The creation of the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho by the act of March 1, 1872, marked the beginning of a policy on the pirt of Congress of setting aside tracts of land as recreation grounds for all the people. Since that time 12 additional national parks have been established in various sections of the country, the latest being the Rocky Mountain National Park, in Colorado, which park was opened to the public last June. The total amount of land embraced in these reservations is 4,665,906.25 acres. To these parks should be added as speedily as possible the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, with its wonderful scenic features. The areas of these national parks, with the date of the establishment of each, are as follows: IMPBOVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS. Area of national parks. Name. Yellowstone, in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Yosemite, in ra'ifornia Sequoia, in California General Oraut, in Ca'ifornia Moimt Rainier, in Washington Crater Lake, in Oregon Wind Cave, in South Dakota SuUys Hill, in North Dakota Plait, iu O klahoma Mesa Verde, in Colorado . Date of es- tablishment. Glacier, in Montana Rocky Mountain, in Colorado Hot Springs Reservation, in Arkansas. Total 4, 665, 966. 25 Mar. Oct. Sept. Oct. Mar. May Jan. Apr. fUilv \Apr. /June \June May Jan. June 1, 1872 1, 1890 25, 1890 1, 1890 2, 1899 22, 1902 9, 1903 27, 1904 1,1902 21, 19C4 29, 1906 30, 1913 11,1910 26, 1915 16, 1880 Area. Acrex. , 142, 720 719, 622 161,597 2, £36 207,360 159, 360 10, £22 780 848.22 48,966.40 981, 681 229, 062 911.63 Visitors. — The interest of the general public in these national parks has been clearly e^ddenced by the large number of requests for literature regarding them. During the season just closed there has been very marked increases in the number of tourists visiting these national playgrounds. In the Yellowstone National Park in 1914 there were 20,250 visitors, and this year two and one-half times as many — 51,895. Yosemite National Park in California had 33,452 visitors during the 1915 season, whereas in 1914 only 15,145 parsons visited the park. Again, in Mount Rainier National Park, Wash., there has been an increase in the number of visitors of over 100 per cent — 35,166 in 1915 as against 15,038 in 1914. The following table strikingly indicates how greatly popular interest in national parks has increased: Tourist travel in national parks. 1915 Yellowston" National Park (Wyo.) Yosemite National Park (Cal.) Sequoia National Park (Cal.) Crr-n3ral Grant National Park (Cal.) Mount Raiui r National Park (Wash.).. Mesa Verde National Park (Colo.) Cratsr Lake National Park (Or. g.) Gla:-i:r National Park (Mont.) Ro?kv Mountain National Park (Colo.). Wind Cave National Park (N. Dak.).... Piatt National Park (Okla.) Sully's Hill National Park (S. Dak.). ... Hot Springs Reservation (.\rk.) Total. 20,250 15, 145 4,667 3,735 15,038 502 7,096 14, 168 3,592 30,000 500 125,000 239,693 51,895 33,452 7,647 10,523 35, 166 663 11,371 14,265 31,000 2,817 20,000 1,000 115,000 334,799 Economic value of national parks. — ^Leaving out of consideration the cost to visitors of transportation from their homes to the parks, a fair idea of the economic value cf tourist travel in four of the larger parks may be obtained by consideration of the financial reports of concessioners, which show gross receipts for past seasons in the fol- lowing approximate estimates: Yellowstone National Park, in 1912, $1,067,161.34; in 1913,.' $1,186,811.36; and in 1914, $848,688.44. Yosemite National Park, iu 1912, $311,444.32; in 1913. $359,481.45; and in 1914. $334,914.32. Glacier National Park, in 1913, $161,510.87, and in 1914, $155,716.14. Mount Rainier National Park, in 1912, $56,735.93; in 1913, $66,942.76; and in 1914, $61,078.08. Financial reports of concessioners in the parks for the season of 1915 have not yet been received in the department, but in view of the large tourist travel to the far West initiated by the expositions held in California, it is anticipated that marked increases in gross receipts by national-park concessioners will be noted. 6 IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS. Third nationftl-park conference. — In prior animal reports attention has been directed to the very satisfactory results obtained from brinpng together in conference the various park suiierintendents' for the purpose of discussing the many difficult problems pre- sented in the administration of these reservations. In March of the present year the third conference of superintendents was held at l^erkeley, Cal., under the immediate direction of the assistant to the secretary, at which there were in atteiKhince other rejiresentatives of this (le])artment, representatives of the Departments of Agriculture and War, of the transcontinental railways, of many of the concessioners in the parks, as well as a number of other persons interested in national-park matters. Questions were discussed pertaining to hotel accommodations, sanitation, transportation, con- struction of roads, trails, and bridges, forestry, lire protection, protection of game, and other phases of park administration. A detailed report of the conference will be published by the department. The consensus of opinion at this conference as well as of those conferences held in 1911 and 1912, was that as many of the problems of park management were substantially the same throughout the several national parks, their supervision should be central- ized or grouped together under a single administrative bureau specifically charged with such work. The conference developed many instances where economy and etliciency would be increased by a central administration of all the parks. For in- stance, the law does not permit the resident engineer of the Yosemite to be utilized at times in any other national park. A temporary surplusage of service or equipment can not be used to meet a corresponding need elsewhere. \\'ithout a central administra- tion the national parks can not be handled together, like departments of one business, for the good of all. Bills to create a national park service have heretofore been introduced in Congress, but none has as yet been enacted into law. Approprintions and revenues. — The total of appropriations made by Congress for protection and improvement of these parks during the year, expendable under this department, was §283,590, and the total revenues received from concessions in all the parks was $81,705,70. Expenditures of revenues. — The several acts of Congress setting aside lands for national park purposes, except in case of the Crater Lake National Park, Greg., and the Mesa Verde and Rocky Mountain National Parks, Colo., authorize the expenditure of the revenues derived from the privileges or concessions therein in the management and protection of the respective reservations. The revenues from the three parks above mentioned, however, are under existing law deposited in the Treasury to the credit of miscellaneous receipts, and the parks receive no direct benefit therefrom. It is de- sirable that these parks, so far as their revenues are concerned, be put upon the same footing as the other national parks. Automobiles in the parks. — Automobiles have heretofore been admitted under strict regulations governing travel of tlie roads to the Mount Eanier, Crater Lake, Glacipr, Mesa Verde, General Grant, Piatt, and Wind Cave National Parks; over the Giant Forest Road, in Sequoia National Park; in Yosemite National Park, over the Coul- terville Road from the Merced Grove of Big Trees into Yosemite Valley, over the Wawona Road leading to the Mariposa Big Tree Grove, and over the Big Oak Flat Road; and in the Yellowstone National Park, over a road in the northwestern sec- tion of the park not in general use, for the special accommodation of people of Gal- latin County, Mont. During the past season the generally traveled roads in Yellowstone National Park were opened to motor-driven vehicles, operated for pleasure purposes only, under strict regulations which became effective on August 1, 1915. The roads in Hot Springs Reservation are not in such condition, considering the safety of individuals and animals, as to permit of their joint use by motor-driven vehicles and vehicles drawn by horses, but on special occasions and under special restrictions motor-driven vehicles are permitted on such roads. The opening during the year of Yellowstone National Park to automobiles used for pleasure pur])oses has been much appreciated by the traveling public. They were operated under a very carefully work-out schedule, wliich has proved to be highly satisfactory. This park was visited during the season by 958 cars, carrying 3,513 people, which points to a much fuller enjoyment of the w^onders in this park by motorists in 1916. The total receipts from automobiles and motor cycles in all the parks were .'r!42.589.73 in 1915, as against $14,243.07 in 1914. Automobile licenses have been issued during 1915 as follows: IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS. Automobile licenses issued seasoris of 1914 and 1915. 1914 1915 National park. Automo- Motor biles. cycles. Automo- biles. Motor cycles. 1,594 ' 188 1,107 1 18 207 , 4 158 ' 392 t 12 673 1 11 i 34 1 4 3,238 2,015 457 330 1,584 3,895 10 86 958 6 247 31 26 11 40 Piatt 1 Total 4,236 226 12,579 355 The extremely rapid development of motoring throughout the country, and its en- joyment by people of all degrees of income, has led to an active policy of road extension in all the national parks. An example is the acquisition and improvement of the old Tioga Road through the Yosemite National Park, establishing another highway over the Sierras. Priraie holdings. — The administration of affairs in all of the national parks, with the exception of the Yellowstone, General Grant. Piatt, Wind Cave, and Sullys Hill, is considerably embarrassed by the fact that within the respective boundaries are many patented lands and some toll roads. These private holdings are as follows: Yosemite National Park, 19,827 acres; Sequoia National Park, 3,716.96 acres; Crater Lake National Park, 1,337 acres and 1,211.11 acres of unperfected claims; Mesa Verde National Park, 875 acres and 118 acres unperfected claims; Mount Ptainier National Park, 18.2 acres; and Glacier National Park, 8,864.40 acres of patented lands and 7,803.71 acres of unperfected claims. The majority of these lands, including the Mineral King Road in Sequoia National Park and the Coulterville and Wawona toll roads in Yosemite National Park should be acquired by the Government. During the year, through the instrumentality of Mr. Stephen T. Mather, assistant to the Secretary, the title by donation to portions of the "Great Sierra wagon and toll road" (also known as the Tioga Road) and the portions of the "Big Oak Fiat and Yosemite toll roads," within the limits of Yosemite National Park, were transferred to the United States, such donations being accepted by the Secretary of the Interior under the provisions of the sundry civil act of March 3, 1915, authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to accept patented lands or rights of way, whether over patented or other lands, in Yosemite National Park that may be donated for park purposes. In discussing the matter of acquisition of private holdings in the parks in a prior annual report, the Secretary of the Interior stated: "It is of sjsecial and urgent importance that provi=^ion should also be made by Congress for the extinguishment of private holdings in the several parks. These holdings seriously interfere with the proper administration of the parks and impair their usefulness and beauty in many ways. They can be extinguished either by way of direct appropriation for their purchase or by authorizing their exchange for lands or timber within the particular parks or witliin the national forest reserve adjacent thereto. The public timber so exchanged can, in many cases, be confined to dead or matured timber wliich can be removed from the parks without injuri' >usly affecting the scenic beauty thereof. If authority of tliis sort is vested in the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior, as to the reserves of which they have jurisdiction, respectively, exchanges of park or forest lands or timber can be made for appropriate strips of private timbered lands along ihe public roads within the exterior limits of the parks or forest reserves, so as to protect the scenic beauty of these roads from impending destruction." Thereafter Congress, by the act approved April 9, 1912 (37 Stat., 80), authorized the Secretary of the Interior, for the i)in'pose of eliminating private holdings within the Yosemite National Park and to preserve intact the natural timber along the roads in the scenic portions of the park, both on patented and park lands, in his discretion, to obtain by exchange complete title to any and all of the lands within the boundaries of the park held in jjrivate ownership. Among other things it was provided that the 8 IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS. vahic of i)atontod lands within the i)ark offered in the exchange and the vahie of timber on park lands j)roposed to be given in the exchange should be ascertained in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior might direct. The STibject was taken up with the Yosemite Lumber Oo., which has a large area of ])atent('d lands in the park, principally along the Wawona Road, and it was found that an exchange could not be made, for the reason that the value of the lands owned by the com])any with the timber thereon was far in excess (>f the timber on the park lands, and (Congress, by the act approved A])ril Ki, 1914 (38 Stat., 345), amended sec- ti(>n 1 ( f the act (jf 1912 so as to authorize the Secretaries of the Interitjr and Agricul- ture, for the purpose of eliminating private holdings in said park and preserving the timlx r along the roads adjoining the scenic portions thereof on patented lands, to obtain and accept f«ir the United States a complete title to any and all patented lands within the boundaries of the park "by the exchange of timber or timber and lands within the Yosemite National Park and the Sierra and Stanislaus National Forests for such lands and the timber thereon wathin the park." I'ndor this legislation the matter was taken up with the Yosemite Lumber Co.. and a contract was entered into on January 18, 1915. between it and the department under which the Government is to give timber and timber lands in Yosemite National lark and Sierra National Forest to that corporation in exchange for lands and timber owned by it in the park and forest, the exchange values in each case to be equal. This contract is now being carried into effect under supervision of the representatives of the department in the park. The act of Congress ai)proved May L3, 1914 (38 Stat., 376), for the purpose of pre- serving scenic features and consolidating certain forest lands belongiQS to the LTnited States within the Sierra National Forest and the Yosemite National Park, Cal., authorize? the Secretary of the Interior, on the recommendation of the Secretary of Agriculture — "and after obtaining and accepting for the Government of the United States a valid title to the land to be acquired, which title shall be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, to exchange lands belonging to the United States within the Sierra National Porest for pri^ately owned timberlands of approximately equal area lying within the boundaries of said national forest and the Yosemite National Park." LTnder this statute an exchange of lands has been consummated which will result in the addition of IGO acres of land to the park. Senate bill 5433, which passed the Senate on June 5, 1914, authorized the Secretary, for the purpose of eliminating private holdings within the Glacier National Park, and to preserve the natural timber along the roads in the scenic portions of the park on patented and park lands, to obtain for the United States a complete title to any or all lands held in private or State ownership within the park "by the exchange of dead, decadent, or matured timber that can be removed from any part of the park without affecting the scenic beauty thereof, or from Government lands within the metes and bounds of the national forests wdthin the State of Montana," and also to exchange for patented lands in the park Government lands of equal value witliin national forests in said State, the lands in the national forests to be offered in exchange to be determined by the Secretary of Agriculture. This bill, however, failed to become a law. Jurisdiction. — The United States has exclusive jiuisdiction over the lands in Yel- lowstone Park within the State of Wyoming and also over the lands within Glacier National Park, Mont., and Piatt National Park, Okla., and Congress has provided a means of enforcement of the laws and regulations pertaining thereto. In the other national parks, however, over which the laws of the States in which they are located obtain, great difliculties in administration have been encoimtered, owing to the fact that the department has no jurisdiction to punish offense.^ in violation of the regula- tions relating thereto, and especially in the matter of preventing depredations on game and the selling of liquor therein. (Conservation of vi'ld animal life. — The national parks, free as most of them are from all public lumbering and private grazing enterprises, and protected by law from hunting of any kind, alone have the seclusion and other conditions essential for the protection and propagation of wild animal life. Eventually they will become great public nature schools to which teachers and students of animal life will repair yearly for investigation and study. The enormous increase of wild animals in the Yellowstone since it became a national park in 1872 points the way. Deer, elk, moose, bison, and antelope here abound in greater numbers no doubt than before the days of the white man; and many of them have become almost as fearless of man as animals in captivity. From here many State, county, and city parks have been supplied, under proper restrictions, with surplus animals for propagation purposes. '\\Tien interfering private holdings are IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS. 9 extinguished in other national parks and United States laws made to supersede State laws, these, too, will become centers of animal preservation as effective as the Yellow- stone. Increastnq park areas. — Congress so carefully ciit the boundaries of the national parks to the express purpose for which each was created that in some instances scenic fea- tures of the very first order were excluded. In the carefiU study which the depart- ment has since made of each such territory it has become appirent that in several instances outlying territory should be added to these reservations. The most dis- tinguished of these instances is Sequoia National Park, the boundaries of which should be extended to include the sup?rb Kings Canyon on the north, and on the east the Kern Canyon, and the west slcpe and summit of Mount Whitney, the highest mountain imder the American flag: also other instances are the Continental DiAdde, for a few miles south of the new Rocky Mountain National Park, together with several small outlying featiu'es of extraordinary beauty. New national -paries. — Of the 10 or more scenic neighborhoods claiming national- park status the most distinguished is the Grand Canyon of tlie Colorado, now classed as a national monument. This is one of the greatest natural show places of the world. It demands and should have immediate recognition and development as a national park. Other proposed national parks have scenic value and availability of high degree and will be considered as Ihey come prominently before Congress through the desires and activities of the people of their respective States. It is the policy of the depirt- ment not to actively seek the creation of new national parks but to develop and admin- ister all such reservations accepted by Congress and intrusted to its care. General superin/evehnit nf natioval perks. — Mr. Mark Daniels, general sup-^rintendent and landscape engineer of the national parks under this department, made insp?ctions during the year of the Mesa Verde, Piatt, and Wind Cave National Parks and the Hot Springs Reservation; supervised the enforcement of the regulations in the parks, the laying out of roads and trails, designing of buildings and structures, and the planning of general improvements: provided for the establishment of a unit cost- keeping system in the Yosemite National Park which has resulted in considerable saving: supervised the construction of a concrete bridge in the Mount Rainier Na- tional Park and wooden bridges in the Yosemite National Park, and supplied plans and specifications for several different typ^s of concrete bridges for other parks; replanned the road-.sprinkling system in Yosemite, established an automobile sched- ule therein, designed a complete road and trail system for five of the parks, prepared plans for a new village in Yosemite, installed a purchasing branch for the several national parks in San Francisco and purchased th)ough the same materials for most of the western parks, and gave attention to many other details of park administration. Proposed national- park service. — In the annual r':^p ort of the Secretary of the Interior \ iov 1911, in discussing national-park affairs, he stated: \ "While public interest in and use of these reservations is steadily increasing, as I shown by the growing number of visitors, adequate provision has not been made J I for their efficient administration, and sufficient appropriations have net been made \ for their proper care and deA^elcpment. At present each of these parks is a separate \3,nd distinct unit for administrative pui poses. The only general supervision which IS possible is that obtained by referring matters relating to the national parks to the same officials in the office of the Secretary of the Interior. Separate apprcpriations are made for each park, and the errployment of a common supervising and directing force is impossible. Many of the problems in park management are the same through- out all of the national parks, and a great gain would be obtained and substantial economies could be effected if the national parks and reservations were grouped together under a single administrative bureau. Bills to create a bureau of national parks have heretofore been introduced in Congress, and, in my judgment, they should immediately receive careful consideration, so that proper legislation for this purpose may be enacted. Adequate appropriation should also be made for the development of these pleasure grounds of the people, especially through the con- struction of roads and trails and their proper care and maintenance." In a special message to Congress, dated February 3, 1911, President Taft stated: "I earnestly recommend the estalbishment of a bureau of national parks. Such legislation is essential to the y^roper management of those wondrous manifestations of nature, so startling and so beautiful that every one recognizes the obligations of the Government to preserve them for the edification and recreation of the people." A bill (S. 826, 63d Cong., 1st sess.) to establish the national park service, and for other purposes, was re^5orted favorably from the Senate Committee on Public Lands, but failed to become a law. f s] 10 IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS. There are hereto appended tables giving the location, date of establishment, area, private holdings, if any, and number of visitors, and the special characteristics of the various national parks under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior, the approi)riations made by Congress for the protection and improvement thereof during 1915 and nine years prior thereto, as well as revenues derived from leases, privileges, and concessions in said reservations received during said period; also a statement of the automobile receipts during 1915. NATIONAL MONUMENTS AND PRESERVATION OF AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. By an act approved June 8, 1906, entitled "An act for the preservation of American antiquities," the President of the United States is authorized, "in his discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated u])on the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national monu- ments." Under such authority the President has created 30 monuments: National monuments adminutered by Interior Department. Name. Dfivils Towpr Montrizuma Castle EI Morro Chaco Canyon Muir Woods 2 Pinnacles Tumacarori Mukuntuwoap Shoshon? Cavorn Natural Bridgas s Gran Quivira Sitka Rainbow Bridge < Lewis and Clark Cavern. Colorado Petrified Forest Navajo < Papago Saguaro Dinosaur State. Wyoming Arizona New Mexico. do California do , .Ari/ona , Utah Wvoming IT tall New Mexico. Alaska Utah Montana Colorado Arizona do do Utah Date. Sept. 24, Dec. 8, do.. Mar. 11, Jan. 9, Jan. 16, Sept. 15, July 31, Sept. 21, Sept. 25, Nov. 1, Mar. 23, May 30, May 16, May 24, July 31, Mar. 14, Jan. 31, Oct. 4, 1906 1906 1907 1908 1908 1908 1909 1909 1909 1909 1910 1910 1911 1911 1911 1912 1914 1915 Area. Acres. 1,152 160 160 1 20,629 295 2,080 10 1 15,840 210 1 2, 740 160 57 160 160 13, 883 25, 625 360 2,050 1 Estimated area. 2 Donat-id to the United States. 3 Originally sjt aside by proclamation of Xpr. 16, 1908, and contained only 120 acres. < Within an Indian reservation. Administrative conditions. — The supervision of these various monuments has, in the absence of any specific appropriation for their protection and improvement, necessarily been intrusted to the field officers of the department having charge of the territory in which the several monuments are located. As stated in the last annual report, the administrative conditions continue to be unsatisfactory, since no appropriation of funds has yet been made available for this important protective and preservative work. Such supervision as has been possible in the cases of a few monuments only has been wholly inadequate and lias not prevented vandalism, unauthorized exploitation, or spoliation of relics found in those prehistoric ruiiis, whose preservation is contemplated bj^ the passage of the act of June 8, 1938. An estimate in the sum of 15,000 for protection of these monuments was submitted in 1913, but no appropriation was made by Congress. This amount was desired not so much for the purpose of preserving by restoration the objects reserved in the national monuments as to prevent the removal of valuable relics, and vandalism. Monu- ments suffering from these causes should be provided with a custodian or superintend- ent, and in this .way a small general appropriation can be made most useful, and its expenditure will be wholly in the interest of the public. The protection and pres- ervation of the national monuments as public reservations are of great interest and importance, because a great variety of objects, historic, prehistoric, and scientific in character, are thus preserved for public use intact, instead of being exploited by private individuals for gain and their treasures scattered. These reserves should be administered in connection with the national parks, which they strongly resemble. It would be difficult to define one in terms that would exclude the other. The renewal IMPEOVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS. 11 of the estimate for an appropriatiou of $5,000 has been made for the purpose of keeping this class of reserves intact until such time as Congress shall authorize the creation of some administrative unit which shall take over both the pirks and monuments and administer them under a general appropriation. No new monuments were created during the year. National monuments under other departments. — The following national monuments are not administered by the Secretary of the Interior: National monumc7its administered by Department of Agriculture. State. Date. Cinder Cone Lassen Peak Gi.a ClilT Dwellings. Tonto Grand Canyon Jewel Cave Wheeler Oregon Caves Devil Postpi e Mount Olympus California do New Mexico . . Arizona do. Poutli Dakota. Colorado Oregon California.. .. Washington . . May (\ ...".do.. Nov. l(i, Dec. 19! Jan. 11 Fcl). 7, Dec. 7 July 12 ,TulV 1007 1907 1907 1908 190S 1908 19G9 191! Apr. 17,1912 Acres. 1 5, 120 I 1,280 leo 1640 1 806, -WO 1 1,280 1300 480 > 800 1 299, .370 1 Estimated area. National monuments administered by War Department . Name. State. • Date. Area. Big Ilo!e Battle field 1 June 23,1910 Acres. 5 Cahrillo . . Oct. 11,1913 1 • Set aside by Executive order. Excavation of ruins. — Paragraph 3 of the uniform rules and regulations promulgated by the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and War, under date of December 28, 1906, to carry out the provisions of the act for the preservation of American antiquities, reads as follows: "Permite for the excavation of ruins, the excavation of archaeological sites, and the gatheriH^pf objects of antiquity will be granted by the respective Secretaries having jurisrliction to reputable museums, universities, colleges, or other recognized scientific or educational institutions, or to their duly authorized agents." During the year seven permits were granted for the examination, excavation, and gathering of specimens, as follows: To Prof. A. V. Kidder, of Harvard University, to make examination and excava- tion of ruins in the Chinlee Valley and the tributary canyons which enter it below the Mexican water and the canyons heading against the Navajo Mountains on its east and north sides, as continuation of explorations under similar permits granted by the department in 1913 and 1914. This locahty is in the vicinity of the Navajo National Monument. To Mr. Edgar L. Hewett, director of the School of American Archaeology, Santa Fe, N. Mex., to make explorations and excavations necessary for the making of an archaeo- logical report upon the district lying between the north boundary of the Kamon Vigil grant and the Guages Canyon, on the Pajarito Plateau, N. Mex., and to collect speci- mens for the use of the Commercial Museum of Philadelphia, Pa., which institution collaborates mth the School of American Archaeology in this research work. To the Smithsonian Institution, to make archaeological reconnoissance of and, if deemed practicable, to conduct excavations and gather specimens on the public do- main in Millard, Beaver, Iron, and Box Elder Counties, Utah, such collections to be permanently deposited in the United States National Museum. To Frof. I ivingston Farrand. president of the University of Colorado, to prosecute archaeolo'/ical research on public lands under administration of the Interior Depart- ment in San Juan and Rio Arraba Counties, N. Mex., and in a strip of country 15 miles in width crossing Montezuma, La Plata, and Archuleta Counties (not, however, 12 IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS. within llie boundaries of the Mesa Verde National Park), and to collect specimens. This work is in the nature of continuation of research under similar permit issued in 1914 coverinu: territory contiguous to the above. To the Tniversity of Arizona, at Tucson, Ariz., to prosecute archaeolo.q:ical research within the territory south and west of Navajo Mountain and in the Sa'.i:i Canyons, in northern Arizona east of the Colorado River, and to colk'ct specimens for use of the univei'sity, sucii work to be conducted under personal supervision of I'rof. Byron Cumminirs (formerly of the University of Utah), and tlie territory within which ex- plorations take place not to overlap that covered by the above permit to ] rof. Kidder. To Mr. CharU\s H. Ko])in.son, to gather archaeological specimens on the i)ublic do- main within the* so-called "Spanish Diloomin.3 ^5 >- lis <5 !S 2; <) 3S H. Doc. 515, 64-1 coO So ^ .S , 1=1 ■d.2 M03 fl > Oj o3 ^. ® -J 1- K* O ft en S W c o S 18 IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS. Treasury Department, Okfre of Comptroller of the Treasury, Washington, June S, 1914- Tlio honoml)le the Secretary of the Interior. Sir: I have your letter of tlie 1st instant, reffuesting my deeision as to whether the revenues from national parks or the appropriations for the administration of said parks would be available to pay for the services of Mr. Mark Daniels should you see fit to employ him as a superintendent of national parks "to go from park to park planning proposed improvements in roads, bridges, buildings, etc., and give personal direction to the men in the parks Ihemselves" — his salary and expenses to be appor- tioned to the various parks for which he works. 1 understand from your submission that the object sought to be accomplished by the employment of Mr. Daniels is the improvement of national parks. Congress has, in connection with the appropriation of funds and otherwise, imposed upon the Secretary of the Interior the duty of improving certain national parks. Therefore, if in the administration of your office you deem it necessary or advisable to employ Mr. Daniels in connection with any national park improvement work for which funds have been provided to be expended under your direction, I am of opinion that any such funds, whether arising from park revenues or from specific appropria- tions made by Congress, are available for the payment of his salary and expenses in the manner proposed. ^ You do not state in which of the national parks it is proposed to utilize Mr. Daniels's ser\-ices, and the laws are not altogether uniform with respect to the use of the reve- nues and appropriations of the various parks. But the appropriation for most of the parks under your control, and also the revenues from some of them, are author- ized to be expended for the "improvement" of said parks. Both the appropriations and the revenues of Yosemite, Wind Cave, and Glacier National Parks provide for the improvement of said parks. In such cases either or both may be used at your discretion for the purpose contemplated. The revenues from the Yellowstone, Mount Rainier, Sequoia, and General Grant National Parks can not be used for the general improvement of said parks but only in the management thereof and the construction of roads and bridle paths therein. (See sec. 2475, R. S.; sec. 2, act Mar. 2, 1899, 30 Stat., 994; sec. 2, act Sept. 25, 1890, 26 Stat., 478; sec. 2, act Oct. 1, 1890, 26 Stat., 651). Therefore, Mr. Daniels's salary and expenses can not be paid from said revenues except to the extent that his services in each of said parks are in connection with the work of constructing roads and bridle paths. But the appropriation for each of said parks, except Yellowstone (see sundry ciidl act of June 23, 1913, 38 Stat., 49 and 50), provides for "improvement" as does also the appropriation for Crater Lake, Glacier, Mesa Verde, Wind Cave, and Yosemite National Parks. It appears that neither the revenues from the Yellowstone National Park nor the appropriation therefor, under your control, is authorized to be expended for the improvement of said park. Except for such minor limitations as necessarily follow from the facts stated above, there is no apparent reason why you may not proceed as outlined in your letter. Respectfully, Geo. E. Downey, Comptroller. Department op the Interior, Washington, December 18, 1914. My Dear Mr. Comptroller: I beg to refer to your opinion of June 3, 1914, with reference to my power to employ a general superintendent and landscape engineer of national parks. I now find it desirable to supplement the superintendent with two or three other men, who will have charge of promoting the interests of the parks in various ways, regulating concessions granted, insuring larger revenue for the parks, and supervising the accounts of concessions and park employees. I beg to be advised whether there are any legal objections to providing such employees and for providing for appropriations for such administration, apportioning their salaries and park expenses to the parks in which they work. I am trying to get our parks in condition for the enlarged travel of the coming year and to put system into the regulation of our park affairs. Cordially, yours, (Signed) Franklin K. Lane. Hon. George E. Downey, Comptroller of the Treasury. IMPBOVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PAEKS. 19 Treasury Department, Washington, December 21 , 1914. The houoiable the Secretary of the Interior. Sir: I have your letter of the 18th instant, in which, after referring to a decision of this office of June 3, 1914 (69 MS. C«mp. Dec, 1271), relative to the employment of a superintendent of national parks, you state that, for reasons hereinafter mentioned , it is desirable to supplement the superintendent with two or three othei employees, and ask whether there are any legal objections to providing such employees and ap- portioning their salaries and park expenses to the parks in which they are to work. In the above-mentioned decision of this office it was held that, with certain limita- tions therein indicated, the revenues of the appropriations for the various national parks under the control of the Secretary of the Interior were available to pay the sal- ary and expenses of a superintendent of national parks, this upon the piesumption that the object of his employment was the improvement of national parks. In the present case you state, in effect, that the employees are needed to regulate concessions granted and to supervise the accounts of concessions and park employees, in order that the parks may be in proper condition to meet the enlarged travel which is expected to occur within the coming year. It would thus appear that the object of the proposed employment is the better management or administration of the parks. Congress has charged the Secretary of the Interior with the proper management of certain national parks and, by acts of appropriation or acts designating the uses to which the revenues of the parks may be applied, has provided the funds from which to pay the expenses of management thereof. The Secretary being charged with the management of the parks it follows that a large discretion is, of necessity, vested in him as to what are or are nol proper expenses of management. Accordingly, if in your discretion you deem the services of the employees desired necessary to the proper management of the parks — it being pre- sumed that said services will be rendered in the parks and not at the seat of govern- ment — I know of no lawful reason why their salaries and proper expenses may not be paid from any funds available for expenses of management, arising either from appropriations or from revenues of the parks, or why said salaries and expenses may not be apportioned in the manner suggested in your letter. Respectfidly, Geo. E. Downey, Comptroller. Department of the Interior, Office of the Solicitor, Washington, November 26, 1915. Dear Mr. Secretary: My opinion has been requested upon the questions of a transfer or detail of a park ranger from one park to another, and also as to the pay- ment of the transportation and subsistence expenses of the ranger so transferred while en route. The matter is presented in the following form: "In the readjustment of national park matters it may be necessary to transfer a park ranger from one park to another. As, for example, from Yellowstone National Park, in AVyoming, to Yosemite National Park, in California, or to Rocky Mountain National Park, in Colorado. This because of his becoming especially proficient in some paiticular class of work, such as road building, fighting fires, or the like, and his services theiefore being of moie value to the Government in the park to which it is proposed to transfer him than the one in which he is now stationed . "Your opinion is requested as to whether such tiarsfei can be made under existing law, and the transportation and subsistence expenses of the ranger so transferred while en route paid from the appropiiation or revenues cf the park to which he is transferred. "Youi opinion is also sought as to whether a ranger in one park may be detailed to another park and his transportation and subsistence expenses likewise paid fiom the funds of the park to which detailed." The act of March 3, 1915 (38 Stat., 822-862) provided the following appropriations: "Yellowstone National Park: For administiation and protection, * * * |.5,500. "Yosemite National Park, Cal.: For protection and improvement, * * * in-, eluding not exceeding $2,700 for maintenance and repair of horse-dfa\^Ti passenger- carrying vehicles for use of the supeiintendent, supervisor, resident engineer, and employees In connection with general park work, * * * $75,000. "Rockv Mountain National Park, Colo.: For protection and improvement, * * * $8,000. 20 IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS. Park rangers arc ai)i)()int(Hl under the regulations oi this department, dated January 9, 1915, under the provisions of Schedule A, Subdivision VIII, section 22, of the civil-service rules. The regulations of January 9, 1915, provide that the national l)ark ranger service shall consist of a general supervisor of ranger service, chief rangers, rangers lirst class, and rangers. The regulatipns further provide: "The ranger service is under the direction of the general superintendent of national ])arks, who administers it in conformity with regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Int(>rior. "Ai)])ointments and promotions within the service will be made by the Secretary of the Interior on the recommendations of the superintendent of national parks in which detachments of the service are serving. * * * -X * * * ■'The strength of the ranger detachment assigned to each i)ark shall be prescribed by the general superintendent of national parks, subject to the approval of the Secre- tary of the Interior. "The duties of the ranger service in each park shall be prescribed by the super- A'isor of the park and the general superintendent of national parks, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior." The files of the department disclose that each park ranger is ai^pointed to a par- ticular national park and takes an oath of office as such. Apparently the question presented relative to a transfer of such ranger from the Yellowstone National Park, for exami^le, to the Yosemite or Rocky Mountain National Parks is upon the pre- sumption that the salary of such ranger while so transferred shall continue to be paid from the appropriation for the national park to which he was first appointed. Appropriations for national parks are not made, generally, for national parks col- lectiA'ely, but separate appropriation is made for the administration, protection, and improvement of each individual park. Section 3678, Revised Statutes, provides as follows: "All sums appropriated for the various branches of expenditures in the public service shall be applied solely to the objects for which they are respectively made, and for no others." The authority for the appointment of park rangers is contained in the appropria- tion acts, and they are appointed for the protection and administration of each par- ticular park; service upon some other park is not within the purposes of the appropria- tion imder which they are appointed and from which they are paid. Under the facts presented I am, accordingly, of the opinion that a transfer of the kind con- templated can not legally be made, although there would be no prohibition upon or illegality in appointing such ranger to a similar position in another national park, his salary to be paid from the proper appropriation. Much of the above disciission is also applicable to the question submitted as to whether such ranger might propsrlv be detailed to service in any other park. Section 166, Revised Statutes, as amended by the act of May 28, 1896" (29 Stat., 179), reads in part as follows: "Each head of a department may from time to time alter the distribution among the various bureaus and offices of his department of the clerks and other employees allowed by law, except such clerks or employees as may be required by law to be exclusively engaged upon specific work, as he may find it necessary and proper to do; but all details hereunder shall be made by written order of the head of the depart- ment, and in no case be for a period of time exceeding one hundred and twenty days." Section 166, Revised Statutes, originally read as follows: "Each head of a department may from time to time alter the distribution among the various bureaus and offices of his department of the clerks allowed by law, as he may find it necessary and proper to do." This section of the Revised Statutes had its origin in section 3 of the act of March 3, 1853 (10 Stat., 189), which directed that the clerks in the Department of the Interior should be arranged into four classes, based upon salary, and contained the proviso which was later carried into section 166, Revised Statutes. In view of the history of the law authorizing the detail of clerks or employees allowed by law, it is doubtful whether such provisions apply to an employee of this kind, since he is not a part of the regular graded service of the department. Further, .the section 166, Revised Statutes, as now amended, excludes from its operation— * * * such class of employees as may be required by law to be exclusively engaged upon specific work. As al)ove pointed out, a park ranger is employed for the protection and administra- tion of a particular park to which he is assigned and for which a particular appropri- ation is made by Congress. To detail such ranger to any other park removes him from the character of work u]wn which the law requires him to be exclusively engaged. IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS. 21 In this conuection I would refer to an opinion of the Attorney General, dated March 21, 1894 (20 Op. A. G., 750), considering section 166, Revised Statutes, in which it was said, at page 752: "I am of opinion that it is competent for you, as head of a department, to 'alter the disposition among the various bureaus and offices of your 'department of the clerks allowed by law, as you may find it necessary and proper to do'; taking care, however, that in no case shall any such clerk be paid from any appropriation made for con- tingent expenses, or for any specific or general purpose, unless such payment is spe- cifically provided for in the law granting the appropriation." I am, accordingly, of the opinion that such detail can not be legally made; but, as above pointed out, a new appointment as park ranger upon the national park then needing his services may be made. 1^ The question is further presented, whether the transportation and subsistence expenses of a ranger so transferred or detailed, while en route, may be paid from the appropriation or revenues of the park to which he is transferred or detailed. As above stated, the transfer or detail can not legally be made; and, fmther, the question as to whether such expenses for transportation and subsistence incurred while the ranger is en route to his new place of employment is more properly one for submission to the Comptroller of the Treasury, within whose jurisdiction it lies. I therefore hesitate to express any opinion thereon. However, I would call your attention to the following decisions of the Comptroller of the Treasury. In decision of June 10, 1903 (9 Comp. Dec, 751), it w^as held (sylla- bus): "The chief clerk in the office of the inspector of the third lighthouse district in Porto Rico is not entitled to reim'nu\sement of traveling expenses on 1 eing transferred to a similar position at St. Louis, Mo., as the two places are separate and independent appointments." In the decision dated August 7, 1913 (20 Comp. Dec, 73), on an application of an employee of a United States land oflice for reim'iiirsement for traveling expenses incurred in connection with his transfer from one local office to a like position in another local office, the comptroller held: "The travel performed was not travel from one station to another under the same appointment. Each transfer was in effect a new appointment to a new place requir- ing the taking of a new oath of office and actual entrance on duty 1 efore such clerk was lawfully entitled to pay at the new place of duty. (See decision of July 21, 1898, 7 MS. Comp. Dec, 110). And the travel was performed in going to accept a new posi- tion or appointment. "Such travel can not l;e considered as travel on pu' lie business so as to entitle the claimant to reimV/ursement of expenses therefor under the act of March 3. 1875 (18 Stat., 452^. Traveling expenses are incident to service and the right to reimbursement therefor can properly attach only after he has qualified for the position. So, also, the travel in question had no official connection with the position he left when going to accept the new position." A similar question arose in connection with the transfer of employees in national cemeteries. There is. however, a vital distinction letween appropriations for na- tional parks and appropriations for national cemeteries. In the latter case the ajopro- priations are made generally for maintaining and improving national cemeteries col- lectively, and not in the form of separate and distinct appropriations for each indi- vidual cemetery. Superintendents of national cemeteries are not appointed for duty at any particular cemetery, 1 ut are appointed in the service generally and then assigned to duty at the several national cemeteries according to the interests of the service. Their appointment is continuous under the same appropriation. In con- sidering the right of superintendents of national cemeteries to reim" au-sement of travel- ing expenses, in going from one cemetery to another under orders, the Comptroller held (17 Comp. Dec, 481), that (syllauis): "The cost of transporting superintendents of national cemeteries and of their house- hold effects from one cemetery to another when the transfer is for the convenience of the Government is a proper charge against the United States and is chargeable to the appropriation 'National cemeteries.'" Again, in 19 Comp. Dec. 551. 554, the comptroller considering the same question, said : "It is understood that superintendents of national cemeteries are not appointed for duty at any particular cemetery, but are appointed in the service generally and then assigned to duty at the several national cemeteries according to the interests of the service. "At the time of Superintendent Dommitt's appointment a regulation was in force to the effect that superintendents transferred from one cemetery to another in the 22 IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PAEKS. interest and for the convenience of the Government were entitled to be furnished transportation and sleeping-car accommodations when necessary, and it is now the rule to pay for such transportation and sleeping-car accommodations from the appro- priiition for national cemeteries made each year in the sundry civil appropriation act on the theory that such transportation and sleeping-car accommodations are an inci- dent to the proper maintenance of the national cemeteries." In this connection, the act of March 4, 1911 (36 Stat., 1235), authorizing the pay- ment of traveling expenses incm-red in transferring employees of the Department of Agriculture from one official station to another for permanent duty is significant. The act provides: "That hereafter officers and employees of the Department of Agriculture transferred from one official station to another for permanent duty, when authorized by the Secretary of Agriculture, may be allowed actual traveling expenses, including charges for the transfer of their effects and personal property used in ofilcial work, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture." The comptroller, considering this provision (18 Comp. Dec, 698, 700), said: "It is quite clear from the language used that such employees are to be reimbursed their traA'eling expenses in getting from the old to the transferred station, something they are not entitled to by law until the passage of the act in question. A reading of the above decisions, creates the impression that the comptroller's view would be adverse to such payment. Cordially and respectfully, Preston C. West, Solicitor. o 10 3. ^" /' X •- ^^'^-^ 'WW /'\ -.^K- ^■^ ■ K* *^/T^\/ - *^ .0^ » 4 .^^ ^^*^°^ .^