VI. Steps Leading Toward Establishment of Crater Lake National Park

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K. Cascade Range Forest Reserve

While Steel pursued his tireless efforts to win recognition of Crater Lake's potential as a national park, another significant event took place. In 1892 the Oregon Alpine Club--in whose formation both Steel and Breck were involved in the late 1880s and which was composed of enthusiastic mountain-climbers--petitioned Washington for establishment of a forest reserve along the Cascade Range in Oregon. They requested this in accordance with the act of March 3, 1891, that authorized the president to set aside public lands as forest reserves. President Cleveland approved this proposal and on September 28, 1893, established the Cascade Range Forest Reserve, which embraced practically all of the Cascade Range in Oregon and which, most importantly, included Crater Lake and its environs in its southern section. [22]