16 NATIONAL FOREST MANUAL. 



PROPERTY TRESPASS. 



The unauthorized appropriation, damage, or destruction of prop- 

 erty of the United States, used in the administration 

 What consti- () f ^j ie National Forests, constitutes a trespass. Inlcr- 

 tr^spass. P ference with the personal property of Forest oducrs 



is not trespass against the United States, andredios 

 can only be obtained in the localcourts between the offender and the 

 officer in his capacity as a private citizen. 



Property trespass, when taken up, will usually result in litigation. 

 Therefore, Forest officers discovering that a trespass 

 * ^ s cnaracter nas Deen committed must make 

 every effort to gather and submit with their report 

 sufficient convincing legal evidence to insure a conviction. 



Forest officers, as agents of the Government, may, without further 

 instructions, seize Forest Service property wrongfully 

 Recovery of taken wherever it may be found, but should be 

 property extremely careful that the identification of the prop- 



erty is complete. Seizure may be made only when it 

 can be done peaceably, and when necessary to prevent the Govern- 

 ment property from being sold, damaged, destroyed, or removed 

 beyond recovery. 



Forest officers, upon discovery of a property trespass, will prepare 



a full report in accordance with the outline given on 



Form 856 and forward it to the supervisor. The 



report will state specifically the kind and value of the property stolen, 



damaged, or destroyed; the circumstances of the trespass; and the 



action, if any, taken for the recovery or protection of the property of 



the Government wrongfully taken or destroyed. 



If the supervisor considers that there is sufficient evidence to war- 



rant legal action, he will transmit the report with his 



own comments and recommendations to the district 



forester. The subsequent procedure will be as prescribed under 



" Settlement of trespass cases." 



SETTLEMENT OF TRESPASS CASES (Regs. T-5 and T-6). 



The United States has all the legal remedies for trespasses upon 

 its lands that are available to individuals, and invokes 



die^ for trespass" ^ e a ^ ^ ^ own court . s to enforce them. Among 

 these remedies are: Injunction either to prevent 

 threatened trespasses or to terminate such as are being committed; 

 action to recover the value of products and resources of the lands 

 converted or injured by trespassers; and prosecutions for violation of 

 statutes defining crimes in relation thereto. 



Whenever a threatened or actual trespass on lands of the Unite 

 States within a National Forest is discovered and resort 

 to the remedy of injunction is necessary, the super- 

 visor will communicate the facts to the district forester, who will 

 consult with the district assistant to the solicitor, and if the latter i 

 of the opinion that injunction can be maintained he will report th 

 facts to the Solicitor for reference by the Secretary to the Attorne 

 General for action. 



Whenever application for an injunction is too urgent to admit o 

 delay in ordinary correspondence between the district assistant 



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