272 THE USE BOOK. 



any violations of the provisions of this act or such rules 

 and regulations shall be punished as is provided for in the 

 act of June 4, 1888, amending section 5388 of the Revised 

 Statutes of the United States. 



[267] Under the authority thus conferred, the Secretary of 

 the Interior, on June 30, 1897, promulgated certain rules and 

 regulations for the purpose of regulating the occupancy and 

 use of the forest reservations and to preserve the forests thereon 

 from destruction, among which was the following : 



13. The pasturing of live stock on the public lands in 

 forest reservations will not be interfered with so long as 

 it appears that injury is not being done to the forest growth 

 and the rights of others are not thereby jeopardized. The 

 pasturing of sheep is, however, prohibited in all forest 

 reservations, except those in the States of Oregon and 

 Washington, for the reason that sheep grazing has been 

 found injurious to the forest cover, and therefore of seri- 

 ous consequence in regions where the rainfall is limited. 

 The exception in favor of the States of Oregon and Wash- 

 ington is made because the continuous moisture and abun- 

 dant rainfall of the Cascade and Pacific coast ranges make 

 rapid renewal of herbage and undergrowth possible, etc. 

 In view of the foregoing, you request my opinion whether a 

 criminal prosecution will lie to punish a person who grazes 

 sheep in a forest reservation in violation of the regulation 

 quoted. 



I recognize the existence of the salutary rule that Congress 

 can not delegate its legislative power so as to authorize an ad- 

 ministrative officer, by the adoption of regulations, to create 

 an offense and prescribe its punishment. But here the statute 

 proclaims the punishment for an offense which in general terms 

 is defined by law, the regulation dealing only with a matter of 

 detail and administration necessary to carry into effect the 

 object of the law. The protection of the public forest is in- 

 trusted to the Secretary of the Interior. Section 5388 makes it 

 an offense, punishable by fine and imprisonment, for any person 

 wantonly to destroy any timber on a public reservation. In 

 furtherance of this policy the act of June 4, 1897, directs the 

 Secretary to make provision for the protection of the forests 

 and authorizes him to regulate the use and occupancy of the 

 forest reservations and to preserve the forests thereon from 

 destruction, making for such purpose proper rules and regula- 

 tions. Any violation of such rules and regulations is by [268] 

 the statute made an offense, punishable as provided in section 

 5388. 



