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Early 1890s legislation gave the President the power to designate forest reserves. Decades earlier, the Pre-emption Act of 1841 and the Homestead act of 1862 started the settlement of the public domain. Settlers, such as ranchers, however, could not obtain enough land and they utilized public resources to make a living. Over time, overgrazing and overuse of the land became a major problem. The government looked for ways to regulate the use of land, and began creating forest reserves. Intially these reserves were directly governed by congress, but control was eventually vested in the Department of the Interior, and later the Department of Agriculture.

A little over a century ago, Cache Valley Utah residents faced the destruction of public lands through excessive grazing and logging and they petitioned the government for a Forest Reserve. Based on this request, Theodore Roosevelt sent grazing expert Albert F. Potter to Utah, and during Potter's visit to Cache Valley he observed deforestation, excessive grazing, overfishing, and water corrupted by animal waste. Consequently in May, 1903 Roosevelt created the Logan Forest Reserve (later renamed the Cache National Forest).

Decades after the Logan Forest Reserve's designation, forestry expert David A. Prevedel embarked on a re-photography project (SCA Collection P0602) that demonstrated significant progress in reforestation. The images in this exhibit showcase Cache Valley lands around the time Potter visited the area.

Exhibit created by Risha Price