The
Forest Reserve Act of 1891 is a law that allowed the
President of the United States to set aside forest reserves from the land in the
public domain. This act passed by the
United States Congress under
Benjamin Harrison's administration. Harrison issued proclamations establishing of land a Forest Reserves;
Grover Cleveland proclaimed and
William McKinley proclaimed . In 1907 a law was passed limiting the President's authority to proclaim Forest Reserves in certain states and renamed the existing "Forest Reserves" as "National Forests." A further provision to the act was added in 1939, when President Roosevelt added new standards to the preservation of "Forest Reserves" and "National Forests". Senator Andrew Dignum, of Massachusetts, and ambassador Bret Rodrigues of the United Nations, contributed to the act by enforcing regulation requirements for clear cutting.