SERVICE NOTES FOR JULY 



These notes contain instructions and necessary information for 

 Forest officers, and will, therefore, be carefully read and kept on file 

 for reference. 



OFFICE OF THE FORESTER 



In the Absence of a District Forester 

 The Manual of Procedure, page 30, is hereby amended by adding the following 



sentence to the paragraph under "Office of the District Forester: Duties:" . 



In the absence of the District Forester the Assistant District Forester will per- 

 form the duties and sign papers as Acting District Forester: Provided, That in 

 case of emergency during the absence of both District Forester and Assistant Dis- 

 trict Forester, the District Forester may designate a Chief of Office who will perform 

 the duties and sign papers as Acting District Forester. 



LAW 



Amendment of Manual of Procedure: Law Report 



The Manual of Procedure, page 81, is amended to read as follows: 



Law (monthly). A brief statement of new legal questions of importance arising 

 or likely to arise in the District, and a brief report of progress. The report should 

 give separately the total number of cases in each of the following classes: 



Pending claims cases not yet acted upon by the District Forester; probable court 

 cases not yet acted upon by the District Forester; claims cases pending before 

 local land office; cases pending in the courts; cases decided by local land officers 

 (a) for the United States, (6) against the United States; cases decided by the 

 courts (a) for the United States, (6) against the United States. 

 Claims: Final-Proof Hearings 



In a recent case where the register and receiver refused to allow a Forest Service 

 officer to cross-examine witnesses at a final-proof hearing, the Commissioner of the 

 General Land Office instructed the register and receiver that a Forest Service officer 

 is a representative of the Government and should be permitted to interrogate claim- 

 ants and witnesses offering final proof on entries within or near the boundaries of 

 National Forests. Forest Service officers should not, however, introduce govern- 

 ment witnesses at final-proof hearings. The Forest Service concurs with the view 

 of the Department of. the Interior that a claimant should be given notice of any 

 charges made by the Government against his entry before adverse proceedings. 

 Where notice has been received of intention to submit final proof, and it is believed 

 that the claim is not in good faith or that its erroneous passage to patent would 

 prejudice National Forest interests, the report upon the claim to the Chief of Field 

 Division should be made as early as possible before final-proof hearing. 



(25) 



