276 THE USE BOOK. 



tary of Agriculture may direct for the protection, admin- 

 istration, improvement, and extension of Federal forest 

 reserves. 



It appears to me that in so far as the questions relevant to 

 your inquiry are questions of law they have been determined 

 by the opinion of my predecessor, furnished to you on May 31, 

 1905. (25 Op., 470.) In that opinion Attorney-General Moody 

 says : 



Under the act of 1897 you are simply directed to so regu- 

 late the occupancy and use of these reservations as to insure 

 the objects thereof and preserve the forests thereon from 

 " destruction. The act contains nothing inconsistent with 

 the [424] making of a reasonable charge on account of the 

 use of the reserves under the permit granted by you. By 

 the act of 1905 you are to cover into the Treasury money re- 

 ceived from the " use of any land or resources " of the reser- 

 vations, which " shall constitute a special fund * * * for 

 the protection, administration, improvement, and extension 

 of the Federal forest reserves." Any sums of money realized 

 in this connection would thus tend to preserve the forests 

 and insure the objects of reservations, and it might therefore 

 be contended that Congress in authorizing you to regulate 

 their use and occupation considered the incidental question 

 of charging for their use a proper subject to be left to your 

 judgment and discretion. That such was the Congressional 

 intent finds support in the fact that services somewhat anal- 

 ogous to compensation have been required for several years 

 without any indication of a disapproval thereof on the part 

 of Congress. 



Furthermore, your power to prohibit absolutely the use 

 or occupation of any forest reserve, when such action is 

 deemed by you essential to insure its objects and preserve 

 the forests from destruction, would probably be unquestion 

 able, and that the authority to prohibit carries with it the 

 right to attach conditions to a permission is well estab- 

 lished. 22 Opin., 13, 27.) 



In answer to your third question, therefore, I have to ad- 

 vise you that, in my opinion, you are authorized to make a 

 reasonable charge in connection with the use and occupation 

 of these forest reserves whenever, in your judgment, such a 

 course seems consistent with insuring the objects of the 

 reservation and the protection of the forests thereon from 

 destruction. 



The question under consideration in that case was whether 

 you had authority to make a reasonable charge as a condition 



