400 



ANNUAL EEPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



partments on February 23, 1917. It was also lield in this case that the listing 

 and opening to entry of lands under the provisions of the forest homestead act 

 of June 11, 1906 (34 Stat., 233), do not preclude their being taken as Indian 

 allotments under section 31 cf the act of 1910. 



TRESPASS. 



Damages and fines recovered during the year for trespasses upon 

 the national forests were: 



Penalties for trespass on national forests. 



Class of trespass. 



Grazing 



Timber 



Fire 



Property 



Occupancy 



Miscellaneous fines and recoveries . 



Total. 



Damages. 



S22, 198. 73 

 7,827.97 

 1,877.87 



34, 164. 03 



66, 068. 60 



Fines. 



$1,861.79 

 95.00 



1 1,960.10 



50.00 



25. 00 



1,343.05 



5,335.94 



' This includes fines recovered by prosecution in the State courts under the State fire laws amounting 

 to $1,270, in addition to which jail sentences aggregating two years were imposed. 



Fifty-seven cases of illegal occupancy were handled during the 

 year, involving the unlawful use of land for various purposes. They 

 were dealt with mainly by the institution of injunction proceedings 

 or settlement without recourse to the courts. In 3 cases, referred 

 to in the rejDort for the preceding fiscal year, where the Supreme 

 Court affirmed decrees of the lower court enjoining the use without 

 permit of forest lands for the development of hydroelectric power, 

 petitions for rehearing were denied and damages agreed upon and 

 paid by the defendants amounting to $33,854.37, included in the fore- 

 going table. In a similar case the district court entered an order 

 giving defendant 60 daj^s in which to make payment in compliance 

 with the demand of the Secretary of Agriculture, in lieu of which 

 injunction would issue. In a suit in ejectment the jury rendered a 

 verdict for the Government and the court reserved its decision on a 

 motion by defendant to allow it to make showing of certain equitable 

 defenses. In another ejectment suit judgment was entered for the 

 Government. Injunctions were granted in favor of the Governpnent 

 in 7 cases. A decree canceling a patent was entered in 1 case, and in 

 another a decree canceling an easement. The bill in 1 case was dis- 

 missed. The remainder were either settled voluntarily by defend- 

 ants or were pending in various stages at the close of the year. 



GENERAL LITIGATION. 



Fifty-four cases not referable to any of the above classes were 

 handled. Among these were 8 involving questions of water rights. 

 One suit to cancel patent to a railroad selection on the ground that 

 the list was filed suhsequent to the forest withdrawal and 1 suit to 

 restrain a timber operator from cutting on the selection are pending. 

 There are also pending 2 suits against a timber operator and its 

 sureties for the value of timber cut from homestead claims subse- 

 quently canceled. Two condemnation suits were handled, in one of 



