Show Prospectors Uproot Petrified Forest The virgin forest of petrified trees containing some of the largest largest largest lar lar- gest specimens yet found in Nevada and located about miles north of Reno on the road leading from Gerlach to the old mining camp of Leadville are being sabotaged according to a report by Nevada state park chairman Thomas W. W Miller liller to Governor Charles II 11 Russell In reporting t td to the governor Chairman Miller said some some of and most extensive of the petrified tree deposits give evidence of having been uprooted by bulldozers and other power machinery in an endeavor to either dislodge the specimens or to perform perform per per- form the necessary location work on mining claims that have only been taken up there within the thelast thelast thelast last six months Craters 30 feet in diameter and 10 to feet IS deep have been gouged gouged gouged ed out by power machinery in several locations and smaller petrified petrified petrified petr petr- specimens give evidence of having been systematically despoil despoil- ed In his report Chairman Miller sought that a ruling from proper legal authority to ascertain whether whether whether ther the filing of a mining claim claimon on what is public domain or state lands permits those filing to violate violate violate vio vio- late our antiquity as have been looted and despoiled in that particular particular particular ular area |