VACAVILLE, Calif., Aug. 26 — A reporter said Wednesday that Charles Manson wrote him a letter saying: “I sent a list of people out to be murdered.”

Greg DeGiere, city editor of The Reporter, said the letter arrived late Tuesday from the California Medical Facility where Manson is being held. It was published in the newspaper Wednesday.

DeGiere said Manson did not say to whom he had sent the list or mention any names on it. But he said the letter described the targets as “the people responsible for the redwood trees being murdered.”

Manson is serving a life sentence for masterminding the 1969 slayings of actress Sharon Tate and six other persons.

Philip Guthrie, spokesman for the state prison system, confirmed that Manson had written a sealed letter to a reporter. He said he had no evidence Manson had sent out a death threat list.

DeGiere said the letter referred disparagingly to a recent statement by prison Supt. Lawrence Clanon that Manson did not appear to be as dangerous in prison as he once was.

He also quoted Manson as writing that if the lessons of the Tate killings are not learned, “you will become what you have been killing your earth for.”

The passage appeared to be directed at society as a whole, DeGiere said.

Warnings about redwoods and killing the earth have also been made by two Manson followers, Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme and Sandra Good. Both are serving prison terms – Miss Fromme for attempting to kill President Ford and Miss Good for conspiring to mail death threats.

DeGiere said he wrote back to Manson, asking him to elaborate. The reporter said he notified state prison officials of the letter.

Guthrie said such sealed letters from convicts to reporters are not censored or inspected.

“If they don’t seal them up, we might look at them, but if they seal them up and mark them confidential, we don’t open them,” Guthrie said.

He said authorities would investigate the latest incident only if they heard of any evidence that a crime was committed.