[Geysers] "retention in their natural condition"

[Lee_Whittlesey at nps.gov]

Yes, Vicky is right about what the key phrase is from Yellowstone's
original legislation----"preservation, from injury or spoliation, of all
timber, mineral deposits,natural curiosities, or wonders within said park,
and their retention in their natural condition."

Congress intended that the park be preserved IN ITS NATURAL CONDITION. The
wording is clear.

Lee Whittlesey




                                                                           
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                                                                   Subject 
                                       Re: [Geysers] 1) The "For the       
             02/27/2009 09:47          benefit" phrase (Frangos)           
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I have always felt that the issue of "For the Benefit" is
used to death by people who may have never read the
entire Sec 1 and Sec 2 of the 1872 Transcript of Act
Establishing Yellowstone National Park (1872).

What about this key phrase:
"Such regulations shall provide for the preservation,
from injury or spoliation, of all timber, mineral deposits,
natural curiosities, or wonders within said park, and their
retention in their natural condition."

clipped from the Transcript of Act Establishing Yellowstone
(whole transcript at end of this)

"and dedicated and set apart as a public park or
pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment
of the people"

I happen to own a 1828 Noah Webster Dictionary!

So for historic purposes... using the dictionary of the
time period in which the words were used....

Pleasure ground n. "Ground laid out in an ornamental
manner and appropriated to pleasure."

Pleasure "gratification of the senses of the mind."
We receive pleasure from the view of a beautiful landscape;
from the harmony of the sounds"

Benefit n "Advantage; add value to property; to do good;
prosperity."

Hmmm.....  ; -)

~ Vicky Frangos


Because it's almost Sunday....

for the benefit of the people
on the geyser list...
and as a salute to Sunday March 1st
~ Happy Birthday Yellowstone!!!

here it is:

Transcript of Act Establishing Yellowstone
National Park (1872):

Forty-Second Congress of the United States of America;

At the Second Session, Begun and held at the City of
Washington, on Monday, the Fourth day of December,
one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.

AN ACT to set apart a certain tract of land lying near the
headwaters of the Yellowstone River as a public park.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That
the tract of land in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming,
lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River, and
described as follows, to wit, commencing at the junction of
Gardiner's river with the Yellowstone river, and running east
to the meridian passing ten miles to the eastward of the
most eastern point of Yellowstone lake; thence south along
said meridian to the parallel of latitude passing ten miles
south of the most southern point of Yellowstone lake; thence
west along said parallel to the meridian passing fifteen miles
west of the most western point of Madison lake; thence
north along said meridian to the latitude of the junction of
Yellowstone and Gardiner's rivers; thence east to the place
of beginning, is hereby reserved and withdrawn from
settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the
United States, and dedicated and set apart as a public
park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment
of the people; and all persons who shall locate or settle
upon or occupy the same, or any part thereof, except as
hereinafter provided, shall be considered trespassers and
removed therefrom.

SEC 2. That said public park shall be under the exclusive
control of the Secretary of the Interior, whose duty it shall
be, as soon as practicable, to make and publish such rules
and regulations as he may deem necessary or proper for
the care and management of the same. Such regulations
shall provide for the preservation, from injury or spoliation,
of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonders
within said park, and their retention in their natural condition.
The Secretary may in his discretion, grant leases for building
purposes for terms not exceeding ten years, of small parcels
of ground, at such places in said park as shall require the
erection of buildings for the accommodation of visitors; all
of the proceeds of said leases, and all other revenues that
may be derived from any source connected with said park,
to be expended under his direction in the management
of the same, and the construction of roads and bridle-paths
therein. He shall provide against the wanton destruction
of the fish and game found within said park, and against
their capture or destruction for the purposes of merchandise
or profit. He shall also cause all persons trespassing upon
the same after the passage of this act to be removed
therefrom, and generally shall be authorized to take all
such measures as shall be necessary or proper to fully
carry out the objects and purposes of this act.