NATIONAL FORESTS

740. National forests; establishment; limitations on additions in certain States. That the President of the United States may, from time to time, set apart and reserve, in any State or Territory having public land bearing forests, in any part of the public lands wholly or in part covered with timber or undergrowth, whether of commercial value or not, as national forests, and the President shall, by public proclamation, declare the establishment of such national forests and the limits thereof. (Mar. 3, 1891, sec. 24, 26 Stat. 1103; 16 U. S. C., sec. 471.)

That hereafter no national forest shall be created, nor shall any additions be made to one heretofore created, within the limits of the States of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, or Arizona, except by Act of Congress. (Mar. 4, 1907, 34 Stat. 1271; June 25, 1910, 36 Stat. 848; Aug. 24, 1912, 37 Stat, 497; June 15, 1926, 44 Stat. 745; 16 U. S. C., sec. 471 (a).)

741. Lands suitable for production of timber; moneys available for National forests; violation of rules and regulations.-That the President in his discretion, is hereby authorized to establish as national forests, or parts thereof, any lands within the boundaries of Government reservations, other than national parks, reservations for phosphate and other mineral deposits or water-power purposes, national monuments, and Indian reservations, which in the opinion of the Secretary of the department now administering the area and the Secretary of Agriculture are suitable for the production of timber, to be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture under such rules and regulations and in accordance with such general plans as may be jointly approved by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary formerly administering the area, for the use and occupation of such lands and for the sale of products therefrom. That where such national forest is established on land previously reserved for the Army or Navy for purposes of national defense the land shall remain subject to the unhampered use of the War or Navy Department for said purposes, and nothing in this section shall be construed to relinquish the authority over such lands for purposes of national defense now vested in the Department for which the lands were formerly reserved. Any moneys available for the maintenance, improvement, protection, construction of highways, and general administration of the national forests shall be available for expenditure on the national forests created under this section.

Any person who shall violate any rule or regulation promulgated under this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both. (June 7, 1924, sec. 9, 43 Stat. 655; 16 U. S. C. secs. 471 (b), 505.)

742. Laws affecting national forest lands.-That the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture shall, from and after the passage of this Act, execute or cause to be executed all laws affecting public lands heretofore or hereafter reserved under the provisions of section twenty-four of the Act entitled "An Act to repeal the timber-culture laws, and for other purposes." approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one [16 U. S. C., sec. 471], and Acts supple

mental to and amendatory thereof, after such lands have been so reserved, excepting such laws as affect the surveying, prospecting, locating, appropriating, entering, relinquishing, reconveying, certifying, or patenting of any of such lands. (Feb. 1, 1905, sec. 1, 33 Stat. 628; 16 U. S. C., sec. 472.)

743. Forest reserves to be known as national forests.est reserves

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shall be known hereafter as national forests. (Mar. 4, 1907, 34 Stat. 1269)

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744. Revocation, modification, or suspension of orders or proclamations establishing national forests; reduction of area. That, to remove any doubt which may exist pertaining to the authority of the President thereunto, the President of the United States is hereby authorized and empowered to revoke, modify, or suspend any and all such Executive orders and proclamations, or any part thereof, from time to time as he shall deem best for the public interests. The President is hereby authorized at any time to modify any Executive order that has been or may hereafter be made establishing any national forest, and by such modification may reduce the area or change the boundary lines of such national forest, or may vacate altogether any order creating such national forest. (June 4, 1897, 30 Stat. 34, 36; 16 U. S. C., sec. 473.)

745. Surveys; plats and field notes; maps.-The surveys herein provided for shall be made, under the supervision of the Director of the Geological Survey, by such person or persons as may be employed by or under him for that purpose, and shall be executed under instructions issued by the Secretary of the Interior; and if subdivision surveys shall be found to be necessary, they shall be executed under the rectangular system, as now provided by law. The plats and field notes prepared shall be approved and certified to by the Director of the Geological Survey, and two copies of the field notes shall be returned, one for the files in the United States Field Surveying Service of the State in which the reserve is situated, the other in the General Land Office; and twenty photolithographic copies of the plats shall be returned, one copy for the files in the United States Field Surveying Service of the State in which the reserve is situated; the original plat and the other copies shall be filed in the General Land Office, and shall have the facsimile signature of the Director of the Survey attached.

Such surveys, field notes, and plats thus returned shall have the same legal force and effect as heretofore given the surveys, field notes, and plats returned through the Field Surveying Service; and such surveys, which include subdivision surveys under the rectangular system, shall be approved by the Commissioner of the General Land Office as in other cases, and properly certified copies thereof shall be filed in the respective land offices of the districts in which such lands are situated, as in other cases. All laws inconsistent with the provisions hereof are hereby declared inoperative as respects such survey: Provided, however, That a copy of every topographic map and other maps showing the distribution of the forests, together with such field notes as may be taken relating thereto, shall be certified thereto by the Director of the Survey and filed in the General Land Office. (June 4, 1897, sec. 1, 30 Stat. 34; Mar. 3, 1925, 43 Stat. 1144: 16 U. S. C., sec. 474.)

746. Purposes for which national forests may be established and administered. All public lands designated and reserved by the President of the United States under the provisions of the Act approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one [16 U. S. C., sec. 471], the orders for which shall be and remain in full force and effect, unsuspended and unrevoked, and all public lands that may hereafter be set aside and reserved as national forests under said Act, shall be as far as practicable controlled and administered in accordance with the following provisions:

No national forest shall be established, except to improve and protect the forest within the reservation, or for the purpose of securing favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber for the use and necessities of citizens of the United States; but it is not the purpose or intent of these provisions, or of the Act providing for such reservations, to authorize the inclusion therein of lands more valuable for the mineral therein, or for agricultural purposes, than for forest purposes. (June 4, 1897, sec. 1, 30 Stat. 34; 16 U. S. C., sec. 475.)

747. Sale of timber. For the purpose of preserving the living and growing timber and promoting the younger growth on national forests, the Secretary of Agriculture, under such rules and regulations as he shall prescribe, may cause to be designated and appraised so much of the dead, matured, or large growth of trees found upon such national forests as may be compatible with the utilization of the forests thereon, and may sell the same for not less than the appraised value in such quantities to each purchaser as he shall prescribe, to be used in the State or Territory in which such timber reservation may be situated, respectively, but not for export therefrom. Before such sale shall take place, notice thereof shall be given by the Secretary of Agriculture, for not less than thirty days, by publication in one or more newspapers of general circulation, as he may deem necessary, in the State or Territory where such reservation exists: Provided, however, That in cases of unusual emergency the Secretary of Agriculture may, in the exercise of his discretion, permit the purchase of timber and cordwood in advance. of advertisement of sale at rates of value approved by him and subject to payment of the full amount of the highest bid resulting from the usual advertisement of sale: Provided further, That he may, in his discretion, sell without advertisement in quantities to suit applicants, at a fair appraisement, timber and cordwood and other forest products not exceeding five hundred dollars in appraised value: And provided further, That in cases in which advertisement is had and no satisfactory bid is received, or in cases in which the bidder fails to complete the purchase, the timber may be sold, without further advertisement, at private sale, in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, at not less than the appraised valuation, in quantities to suit purchasers; payments for such timber to be made to the receiver of the local land office of the district wherein said timber may be sold, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of Agriculture may prescribe; and the moneys arising therefrom shall be accounted for by the register of such land office to the Secretary of Agriculture, in a separate account, and shall be covered into the Treasury. Such timber, before

being sold, shall be marked and designated, and shall be cut and removed under the supervision of some person appointed for that purpose by the Secretary of Agriculture not interested in the purchase or removal of such timber nor in the employment of the purchaser thereof. Such supervisor shall make report in writing to the Secretary of Agriculture, and to the receiver in the land office in which such reservation shall be located of his doings in the premises. (June 4, 1897, sec. 1, 30 Stat. 35; June 6, 1900, 31 Stat. 661; Feb. 1, 1905, 33 Stat. 628; June 30, 1906, 34 Stat. 684; Mar 3, 1925, sec. 3, 43 Stat. 1132; 16 U. S. C., sec. 476.)

748. Use of timber and stone by settlers, etc.-The Secretary of Agriculture may permit, under regulations to be prescribed by him, the use of timber and stone found upon such reservations, free of charge, by bona fide settlers, miners, residents, and prospectors for minerals, for firewood, fencing, buildings, mining, prospecting, and other domestic purposes, as may be needed by such persons for such purposes; such timber to be used within the State or Territory, respectively, where such reservations may be located. (June 4, 1897, sec. 1, 30 Stat. 35; 16 U. S. C., sec. 477.)

749. Egress or ingress of actual settlers; prospecting.-Nothing herein [16 U. S. C., secs. 473-482, 551] shall be construed as prohibiting the egress or ingress of actual settlers residing within the boundaries of such national forests, or from crossing the same to and from their property or homes; and such wagon roads and other improvements may be constructed thereon as may be necessary to reach their homes and to utilize their property under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture. Nor shall anything herein prohibit any person from entering upon such national forests for all proper and lawful purposes, including that of prospecting, locating, and developing the mineral resources thereof: Provided, That such persons comply with the rules and regulations covering such national forests. (June 4, 1897, sec. 1, 30 Stat. 36; 16 U. S. Č., sec. 478.)

750. Sites for schools and churches.-The settlers residing within the exterior boundaries of such national forests, or in the vicinity thereof, may maintain schools and churches within such national forest, and for that purpose may occupy any part of the said national forest, not exceeding two acres for each school house and one acre for a church. (June 4, 1897, sec. 1, 30 Stat. 36; 16 U. S. C., sec. 479.)

751. Civil and criminal jurisdiction.-The jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, over persons within national forests shall not be affected or changed by reason of the existence of such national forests, except so far as the punishment of offenses against the United States therein is concerned; the intent and meaning of this provision being that the State wherein any such national forest is situated shall not, by reason of the establishment thereof, lose its jurisdiction, nor the inhabitants thereof their rights and privileges as citizens, or be absolved from their duties as citizens of the State. (June 4, 1897, sec. 1, 30 Stat. 36; 16 U. S. C., sec. 480.)

752. Use of waters.-All waters on such national forests may be used for domestic, mining, milling, or irrigation purposes, under the laws of the State wherein such national forests are situated, or under the laws of the United States and the rules and regulations established. thereunder. (June 4, 1897, sec. 1, 30 Stat. 36; 16 U. S. C., sec. 481.)

753. Mineral lands; restoration to public domain; location and entry.Upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the President, after sixty days' notice thereof, published in two papers of general circulation in the State or Territory wherein any national forest is situated, and near the said national forest any public lands embraced within the limits of any national forest which, after due examination by personal inspection of a competent person appointed for that purpose by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be found better adapted for mining or for agricultural purposes than for forest usage, may be restored to the public domain. And any mineral lands in any national forest which have been or which may be shown to be such, and subject to entry under the existing mining laws of the United States and the rules and regulations applying thereto, shall continue to be subject to such location and entry, notwithstanding any provisions herein contained [16 U. S. Č., secs. 473-482, 551]. (June 4, 1897, sec. 1, 30 Stat. 36; 16 U. S. C., sec. 482.)

754. Angeles National Forest; President authorized to withdraw lands from entry. That the public lands of the United States within the boundaries of the Angeles National Forest located in the State of California and hereinafter described are hereby withdrawn from location or entry under the mining laws of the United States:

All Government lands in sections 6, 7, and 18, township 1 north, range 7 west, San Bernardino meridian.

All Government lands in sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19, township 1 north, range 8 west, San Bernardino meridian.

All Government lands in sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27, township 1 north, range 9 west, San Bernardino meridian.

All Government lands in sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18, 21, and 24, township 1 north, range 10 west, San Bernardino meridian.

All Government lands in sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14, township 1 north, range 11 west, San Bernardino meridian.

All Government lands in sections 1, 2, and 12, township 1 north, range 12 west, San Bernardino meridian.

All Government lands in sections 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 30, and 31, township 2 north, range 7 west, San Bernardino meridian.

All Government lands in sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36, township 2 north, range 8 west, San Bernardino meridian.

All Government lands in sections 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36, township 2 north, range 9 west, San Bernardino meridian.

All Government lands in sections 1, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36, township 2 north, range 10 west, San Bernardino meridian.

All Government lands in sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36, township 2 north, range 11 west, San Bernardino meridian.

All Government lands in sections 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33,