Weeks Act

views updated May 29 2018

WEEKS ACT

WEEKS ACT. The Weeks Act was a bill sponsored by Representative John W. Weeks of Massachusetts and approved by President William Howard Taft in March 1911. It authorized(1) interstate compacts for the purpose of conserving forests and water supply; (2) federal grants to states to help prevent forest fires upon watersheds of navigable waters; (3) acquisition of land by the federal government for the protection of watersheds, to be held as national forest land; and (4) the grant to states of a percentage of proceeds derived from national forests located within their boundaries, to be used for schools and public roads.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Nash, Roderick Frazier, ed. American Environmentalism: Readings in Conservation History. 3ded. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990.

P. OrmanRay/c. w.

See alsoConservation ; Fire Fighting ; Water Law ; Water Supply and Conservation .

More From encyclopedia.com