20 



Upon the recommendation of Supervisor Langille, an elimination has been 

 made from the Chugach Forest. A strip 1 mile wide and about 30 miles long, 

 extending along the shore of the Valdez Arm of Prince William Sound, was 

 eliminated to avoid land difficulties incident to a railroad boom. The area 

 is nearly all timberless and contains approximately 33,000 acres. The Presi- 

 dent signed this proclamation on September 18. 



Administrative Sites. Whenever any portion of a National Forest is trans- 

 ferred from one district to another, the officer who assumes charge of the 

 transferred area should secure, from the officer previously in charge, a com- 

 plete list of all tracts which have been withdrawn therein for administrative 

 purposes, and should see to it that the withdrawals are properly made of record 

 in his office. 



The attention of Forest officers is also invited to the importance of not only 

 making each case the subject of a separate communication (see instructions 

 upon this point in The Use Book, p. 132), but also the necessity of treating 

 each subject in a separate communication. For instance, the withdrawal of a 

 tract and the matter of acquiring the improvements thereon are separate sub- 

 jects, requiring separate communications in order to prevent confusion in the 

 files and records. 



Claims 



Surveys of Squatter Claims. In many cases the Forest Service might assist 

 bona fide settlers on unsurveyed lands by calling the attention of the General 

 Land Office to the necessity of surveys. Forest officers should remember this 

 and report such cases to the Forester, who will notify the Commissioner of the 

 General Land Office. 



Supplemental Reports on Claims. Inspectors, under their general authority, 

 may direct reexaminations and supplemental reports upon claims without 

 referring the question to the Forester, and they should direct such action when 

 in their judgment a report by a Forest officer on any claim is based on insuffi- 

 cient facts. 



Improvements on Claims. It is important that Forest officers, in reporting on 

 claims, ascertain and give the exact date when the claimant first placed upon his 

 claim such work and improvements as the law requires to evidence the claim- 

 ant's good faith and prior right to the land. In many instances claimants 

 attempt to make final proof who placed such improvements on the land long 

 after the time limited by the law. 



Describing Lands in Correspondence. In describing lands in all correspond- 

 ence Forest officers must say whether the township is north or south and 

 whether the range is east or west. They must also name the meridian. In 

 reporting upon claims Forest officers must name the land district in which the 

 claim is located. 



OFFICE OF ORGANIZATION. 



Complaint has been made that in some cases game wardens and others are 

 securing the Service uniform. No one except members of the Forest Service 

 are authorized to wear this uniform. In order to avoid the securing of uni- 

 forms by unauthorized persons members of the Forest Service are requested, 

 when making orders, to state their titles and, in case of local Forest officers, to 

 submit orders through the supervisor. 



The contract for furnishing the Service uniform is at present held by the 

 Pettibone Brothers Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. This company 

 states that the uniform made of the heavy weight or 22-ounce cloth will be 

 furnished at a special price of $10 for the coat and $6.50 for the trousers or 

 riding breeches. The company states that they are prepared to ship uniforms 

 within ten days after the receipt of measurements. Arrangements have been 

 made by the company by which measurements of men stationed at Washington 

 will be made without extra charge by Mr. G. E. Hebbard, 709 Ninth street NW., 

 Washington, D. C. 



