nservation of natural resources
among "the most vital internal problems" of the age, and forcibly
emphasized an issue that had been discussed in a casual way since
Cleveland's first administration. The suggestion evoked an immediate
response in Congress. Under the leadership of Senator Newlands, of
Nevada, the Reclamation Act of 1902 was passed, providing for the
redemption of the desert areas of the West. The proceeds from the sale
of public lands were dedicated to the construction of storage dams and
sluiceways to hold water and divert it as needed to the thirsty sands.
Furthermore it was stipulated that the rents paid by water users should
go into a reclamation fund to continue the good work forever.
Construction was started immediately under the terms of the law. Within
seventeen years about 1,600,000 acres had been reclaimed and more than a
million were actually irrigated. In the single year 1918, the crops of
the irrigated districts were valued at approximately $100,000,000.

In his first message, also, President Roosevelt urged the transfer of
all control over national forests to trained men in the Bureau of
Forestry--a recommendation carried out in 1907 when the Forestry Service
was created. In every direction noteworthy advances were made in the
administration of the national domain. The science of forestry was
improved and knowledge of the subject spread among the people. Lands in
the national forest available for agriculture were opened to settlers.
Water power sites on the public domain were leased for a term of years
to private companies instead of being sold outright. The area of the
national forests was enlarged from 43 million acres to 194 million acres
by presidential proclamation--more than 43 million acres being added in
one year, 1907. The men who turned sheep and cattle to graze on the
public lands were compelled to pay a fair rental, much to their
dissatisfaction. Fire prevention work was undertaken in the forests on a
large scale, reducing the appalling, annual destruction of timber.
Millions of acres of coal land, such as the government had been
carelessly selling to mining companies at low figures, were withdrawn
from sale and held until Congress was prepared to enact laws for the
disposition of them in the public interest. Prosecutions were
instituted against men who had obtained public lands by fraud and vast
tracts were recovered for the national domain. An agitation was begun
which bore frui