359 



GRAZING 



Revised Trespass Procedure 



Approved by the Secretary of Agriculture, April 25, 1910. 



In all cases of grazing trespass upon the National Forests the method of procedure 

 should be as follows: 



In civil cases. The Forest officer upon discovering a grazing trespass should take 

 immediate steps to protect the Forest from injury. The owner of the stock should 

 be ordered to remove it at once, or, if the situation is urgent, the Forest officer may 

 remove the stock in any reasonable way that does not injure it physically. 



A distinction should be made between (a) unpermitted stock and (6) permitted 

 stock. 



(a) Forest officers may drive unpermitted stock from any portion of the Forest 

 upon discovery of its presence,' or they may allow the owner or herder a reasonable 

 time to remove it; but if he refuses to go, the person in charge of the stock may be 

 arrested and the stock removed from the Forest. (See procedure in criminal cases.) 



(6) Permitted stock may be removed from any portion of the Forest not allotted 

 to it, but the permit can not be canceled or the stock removed from the area allotted 

 to it without authority from the District Forester. 



The Forest officer who discovers trespassing stock should take such action as is 

 necessary to protect the Forest and as soon as possible prepare a report in duplicate 

 on Form 856 to be submitted to the supervisor. This report should contain clear- 

 cut, definite statements upon the following points: The inclusive dates upon which 

 the stock was in trespass; actual or approximate number of stock grazed in trespass 

 and method of determination; brands or earmarks of stock and recorded ownership 

 of same; name and address of the owner of the stock; location and extent of area 

 upon which stock has trespassed, by legal subdivisions, or a definite description by 

 local landmarks; whether Forest boundaries were marked at point of trespass or 

 not, and whether trespasser has ever been advised of the exact location of the Forest 

 boundaries or has theretofore committed a similar trespass on the Forest; kind of 

 monuments used to mark the boundaries and their distance apart; the names and 

 addresses of all witnesses having knowledge of the facts, together with a brief synop- 

 sis of their statements, signed by them. Should there be witnesses who decline to 

 make a statement, a brief synopsis of the facts to which it is believed they can testify 

 should be submitted . All questions contained in the above form-should be answered , 

 and if the information is too lengthy for this form, extra pages as necessary should be 

 attached. The report should be accompanied by a map showing the location of the 

 area trespassed upon. The Forest officer making the report should include therein 

 a statement of his estimate in money of the actual value of the forage and forest 

 growth or other Forest products consumed, destroyed, or injured, and an estimate 

 of the actual damage, if any, sustained by the Government through injury to improve- 

 ments on the Forest as a result of the trespass. The report should distinctly show 

 the circumstances of the trespass, that is, facts disclosing whether it was committed 

 innocently or unintentionally, or knowingly, willfully, recklessly, or without regard 

 to the rights of the Government, or in defiance of warnings against trespass. 



