The Sinnott bill was referred to the House Committee on Public Lands. In response to a request from committee chairman Scott Ferris, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane submitted a letter on May 3 endorsing the legislation:
The provisions of this bill are identical, except for the necessary changes to make it applicable to Crater Lake National Park, instead of Glacier National Park, with the provisions of the act of Congress approved August 22, 1914 (38 Stat., 699), accepting similar jurisdiction ceded by the State of Montana over the Glacier National Park. It also follows generally the provisions of S. 3928, to accept similar jurisdiction over the Mount Rainier National Park, Wash., which passed the Senate on March 9, 1916, and which is now pending in the House of Representatives.
It is very desirable for administrative reasons that the cession of jurisdiction by the State of Oregon over the lands within Crater Lake National Park should be accepted, and I recommend that the bill be enacted into law at the earliest practicable date. [3]
The Committee on Public Lands reported the bill with several minor amendments on June 22, and on July 1 the House passed the legislation. The bill was sent to the Senate on July 3, and nine days later the Senate Committee on Public Lands reported favorably on the bill. [4] After passing the Senate on August 5, the legislation (39 Stat. 521) was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on August 21. [5]
The law, as was customary with such acceptance bills, included detailed regulations for the park’s administration. The park was declared part of the United States judicial district for Oregon. The United States District Court for Oregon, which had jurisdiction over all offenses committed in the park, was to appoint a commissioner who would live in the park for the purpose of hearing and acting “upon all complaints made of any violations of law [misdemeanors] or of the rules and regulations made by the Secretary of the Interior for the government of the park.” The commissioner would receive a salary of $1,500 per year.
2. An Act Making Appropriations for Sundry Civil Expenses of the Government for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1918, and for Other Purposes (40 Stat. 152–June 12, 1917)
The general appropriations act for fiscal year 1918 contained a section (U.S.C., title 16, sec. 135) pertaining to the acquisition of land inholdings at Crater Lake National Park. By its provisions the Secretary of the Interior was authorized to accept patented lands or rights of way over patented lands in the park that might be donated for park purposes.
While this specific authorization pertaining to Crater Lake was repealed by 46 Stat. 1028 in 1931, its general provisions were covered by 41 Stat. 917, a government appropriations bill approved by Congress on June 5, 1920. In “An Act Making Appropriations for Sundry Civil Expenses of the Government for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 1921, and for other purposes,” Congress granted:
The Secretary of the Interior in his administration of the National Park Service is authorized, in his discretion, to accept patented lands, rights of way over patented lands or other lands, buildings, or other property within the various national parks and national monuments, and moneys which may be for the purposes of the national park and monument system. [6]
