Sierra Forest Reserve
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The Sierra Forest Reserve was a federal reserve in the Sierra Nevada, in eastern California. It was established on February 14, 1893, by President Benjamin Harrison with authorization from section 24 of the Forest Reserve Act of 1891. It was the largest reserve with over 4 million acres (16,000 km2), and was the second reserve established in California. The first was the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve.
The Sierra Reserve beginnings, like the San Gabriel Reserve, were by petitions sent to the US Congress from Tulare County officials wanting to stop the damage in the Sierra Nevada by timber and livestock commercial interests.
The United States General Land Office which was responsible for management of public lands, sent Benjamin Allen to investigate and report back, which he did, recommending a set aside of land called Tulare Reserve. He originally had five million acres (20,000 km2) to six million acres (24,000 km2) for this reserve in his report.
Support
The majority of local citizens were supportive, any protests heard were coming from the sheepmen. Conservationist and later Venice, California founder Abbot Kinney and Century magazine editor Robert Underwood Johnson gave their support of the proposed set aside.