66 



NATIONAL FOREST MANUAL - LAWS. 



1(1 110 



erted 



association, or corporation making or controlling the inclosure had 

 claim or color of title made or acquired in '_ r ""d faith, or an asser 

 right thereto by or under claim., made in good faith with a vie\v to entry 

 thereof at the proper land office under the general laws of the United 

 States at the time any such inclosure was or shall be made, are hereby 

 declared to be unlawful ? and the maintenance, erection, construction, 



Assertion of ex- or control of any such inclosure is hereby forbidden and prohibited; 

 elusive right. an( j ^ ne a88er tj0 n of a right to the exclusive use and occupancy of any 

 part of the public lands of the United States in any State or any of the 

 Territories of the United States, without claim, color of title, or asserted 

 right as above specified as to inclosure, is likewise declared unlawful, 

 and hereby prohibited. 1 



civiisuit. Am- SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of the district attorney of the United 

 JJfn 11 " States for the proper district, on affidavit filed with him by any citizen 



of the United States that section one of this act is being violated, show- 

 ing a description of the land inclosed with reasonable certainty, not 

 necessarily by metes and bounds nor by governmental subdivisions of 

 surveyed lands, but only so that the inclosure may be identified, and 

 the persons guilty of the violation, as nearly as may be, and by descrip- 

 tion, if the name can not on reasonable inquiry be ascertained, to insti- 

 tute a civil suit in the proper United States district or circuit court, or 

 Territorial district court, in the name of the United States, and against 

 the parties named or described who shall be in charge of or controlling 

 the inclosure complained of as defendants; and jurisdiction is also 

 hereby conferred on any United States district or circuit court, or Ter- 

 ritorial district court, having jurisdiction over the locality where the 

 land inclosed, or any part thereof, shall be situated, to hear and deter- 



Injunction. mine proceedings in equity, by writ of injunction, to restrain violations 

 of the provisions of this act; and it shall be sufficient to give the court 

 jurisdiction if service of original process be had in any civil proceeding 

 on any agent or employee having charge or control of the inclosure; 

 and any suit brought under the provisions of this section shall have 

 precedence for hearing and trial over other cases on the civil docket of 

 the court, and shall be tried and determined at the earliest practicable 

 de- day. In any case, if the inclosure shall be found to be unlawful, the 

 court shall make the proper order, judgment, or decree for the destruc- 

 tion of the inclosure, in a summary way, unless the inclosure shall be 

 removed by the defendant within five days after the order of the court . 

 f SEC. 3. That no person, by force, threats, intimidation, or by any 

 ;_' fencing or inclosing, or any other unlawful means, shall prevent or ob- 

 struct, or shall combine and confederate with others to prevent or ob- 

 struct, any person from peaceably entering upon or establishing a set- 

 tlement or residence on any tract of public land subject to settlement 

 or entry under the public lands laws of the United States, or shall pre- 

 vent or obstruct free passage or transit over or through the public 

 lands: Provided, This section shall not be held to affect the right or 

 title of persons who have gone upon, improved, or occupied said lands 

 under the land laws of the United States, claiming title thereto, in good 

 faith. 



Criminal action. SEC. 4. That any person violating any of the provisions hereof, 



Penalty. whether as owner, part owner, agent, or who shall aid, abet, counsel, 



advise, or assist in any violation hereof, shall be deemed guilty of a 

 misdemeanor, and fined in a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars 

 or be imprisoned not exceeding one year, or both, for each offense. 

 (As amended by act Mar. 10, 1908 (35 Start.', 40).) 



1 It is unlawful under this act for persons who have acquired the right to use railroad 

 odd sections to construct a fence located entirely on the odd sections, but in such a man- 

 ner as to inclose with the odd sections some of the even sections belonging to the Govern- 

 ment. (Camfield v. United States, 167 U.S., 538.) In this case the court relied upon the 

 maxim that one must use his own so as not to injure another; and as this gave rise to the 

 suggestion that the result would involve the exercise by the United States of police power 

 within a State, the court said, " We do not think the admission of a Territory as a State 

 deprives it (Congress) of the power of legislating for the protection of the public lands, 

 though it may thereby involve the exercise of what is ordinarily known as the police 

 power, so long as such power is directed solely to its own protection. A different rule 

 would place the public domain of the United States completely at the mercy of State 



Summary 



Obstruction 



bidden. 





