Despite the recommendations of Powell and other conservationists, S. 16 again encountered opposition in the Committee on Public Lands, generated primarily by Oregon ranching and sheepherding interests. It was “reported adversely and indefinitely postponed” on February 6, 1888. [12]
With the rejection of his bill Senator Dolph on February 14 wrote to Steel concerning the virtual impossibility of getting Congress to approve legislation for a national park at Crater Lake. He observed:
The majority of the Committee on Public Lands is opposed to the creation of any more National Parks, and there is no possibility of securing the passage at the present session of Congress, and I fear not at any future congress, for a bill creating such a park.
Dolph went on to say that in view of the political realities he had introduced a bill (S. 1817) on February 1, providing that the land surrounding Crater Lake be given to Oregon in trust for a state park. In this regard he noted:
The Committee has consented, however, that I might report a bill granting the lands to the State for the purposes of a park only, and I have reported such a bill. I doubt whether it can pass the House. Should it pass, however, the State can exercise its option to accept the grant or not and no harm is done. Neither is any harm done to the measure if the bill does not pass, or even if it should fail in the Senate. It only attracts attention to the measure. The bill reported by me contains the same description as the bill introduced by me for a National Park. . . . [12]
The state park bill, which was opposed by Steel because he felt that Oregon would be unable to afford proper maintenance and protection for the park, provided for a public park upon certain conditions to be met by Oregon. The state legislature was to accept the grant from the federal government within three years. The land was to be held “for public use as a public park and place of public resort and forest reserve and shall be inalienable by the State of Oregon for all time.” Oregon was prohibited from permitting the cutting or removal of timber from the park except for the construction of roadways and buildings for visitor accommodation and for fire wood usage on the reservation. Leases not exceeding fifteen years would be granted for hotels and other visitor services, the income derived from such leases to be spent for the preservation and improvement of the reservation and the construction of roads and access routes. [13]
The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Public Lands which reported it with amendments on February 6, 1888. The Senate passed the measure with amendments on March 21, and it was sent to the House of Representatives. The bill received no further consideration after encountering opposition in the House Committee on Public Lands. [14]
Lumber, sheep, and ranching interests continued to oppose a public park of any kind at Crater Lake. To counter this opposition in 1890 Steel wrote a book entitled The Mountains of Oregon, copies of which he mailed to President Benjamin Harrison and members of his cabinet and Congress. The work was designed to publicize his interests in preserving the natural resources, scenic beauty, and early history of the state. Steel observed that the Jacksonville and Fort Klamath military road passed within three miles of the lake. The “road to the very walls of it (the lake)” was “an exceptionally good one for a mountainous country, while in near proximity may be found remarkably fine camping grounds.” The Crater Lake vicinity abounded in “great numbers of deer, bear and panther.” His work with the 1886 Geological Survey expedition had afforded him “a pleasure unsurpassed” in all his “mountain experience.” Accordingly, Steel once again issued a clarion call to unite conservationists and members of the scientific community in the effort to have Crater Lake set aside as a public park or forest reserve. [15] Senator Dolph introduced state park bills (S. 67, December 4, 1889; S. 625, December 14, 1891; and S. 69, August 8, 1893) virtually identical to S. 1817 in each of the next three congresses. In discussing these bills the only questions raised in Congress concerned the extent to which money received from leases in the park would be used for building roads. Dolph promised that the money would be used for roads to make the park accessible. To prove his sincerity on the issue he introduced two bills (S. 2888, April 11, 1892, and S. 72, August 8, 1893) that provided for $50,000 to survey and construct a wagon road from Gold Hill Station in Jackson County to Crater Lake. While the road bills were never reported, the state park bills were all reported favorably by the Senate Committee on Public Lands and passed the Senate. Each bill, however, encountered opposition and died in the House Committee on Public Lands. On January 18, 1892, Congressman Hermann introduced a bill (H.R. 3966) similar to H.R. 5075 which he had submitted in February 1886, but it suffered a fate like those of the Senate bills. [16]
