THE LAND SYSTEM NEEDED FOR THE ARID REGION. 45 
are discovered mining districts are organized, and on the proper representa- 
tion of these interested parties the mineral lands are withheld from general 
sale by the Land Department. Thus, proper provision is already made for 
this branch of the work of classification. 
In many parts of the Arid Region there are extensive deposits of coal. 
These coal fields are inexhaustible by any population which the country 
can support for any length of time that human prevision can contemplate. 
To withhold from general settlement the entire area of the workable eoal 
fields would be absurd. Only a small fraction will be needed for the next 
century. Only those lands should be classed as coal lands that contain 
beds of coal easily accessible, and where there is a possibility of their 
being used as such within the next generation or two. To designate or 
set apart these lands will require the highest geological skill; a thorough 
geological survey is necessary. 
In providing for a general classification of the lands of the Arid 
Region, it will, then, be necessary to recognize the following classes, namely : 
mineral lands, coal lands, irrigable lands, timber lands, and pasturage lands. 
The mineral lands are practically classified by the miners themselves, and 
for this no further legal provision is necessary. The coal lands must be 
determined by geological survey. The work of determining the areas 
which should be relegated to the other classes—namely, irrigable, timber, 
and pasturage lands—will be comparatively inexpensive. 
