16 FOREST RESERVES IN IDAHO. 



to secure timber for the development of the claim that the rules of the rest^i 

 only permit timber to be cut from the mining claims themselves. 



Affiant further says that while engaged in mining in the Buffalo Hum; 

 trict within the Bitter Root Forest Reserve he, together with others, we: 

 bidden to cut sufficient timber to make cabins in which to live. Tha 

 prospectors thereabouts were notified not to cut any timber. That such " 

 tions and rules made prospecting onerous, and prospecting continually ui... 

 supervision of agents of the Department was unpleasant and burdensome in 

 extreme. 



Affiant further says that it is impossible to develop quartz ledges without I; 

 use of timber. That it is necessary in the development and working of aii 

 mines, and that when unreasonable restrictions are thrown around the cuttmi^: 

 of timber it is practically putting restrictions upon prospecting and mining. 



Affiant is familiar with the territory adjacent to and along the Coeur d'Alene 

 River and its tributaries. He knows that no part thereof is arid, but that .» 

 all seasons of the year the same is well watered. That all the lowlands alr." 

 the Coeur d'Alene River are overflowed during great parts of the year. . 

 the water supply, instead of being too small, is too great. That sections of thv 

 country which would be included, as affiant is informed, within the propose<' 

 reserve, would be far distant from points of connection and from the head- 

 quarters of the supervisors. That it would require much time in traveling baoJ- 

 and forth between the office of the supervisor and the mining claims which 

 might be located for the purpose of securing permission to do various things, 

 such as to cut trails, make roads, and otherwise develop and make possible the 

 development of the mining claims. 



E. M. Gilpin. 



Subscribed and sworn to before me this 25th day of April, A. D. 1904. 



William H. Batting, Notary Puhlic. 



The undersigned, being first duly sworn, deposes and says : 



That his name is W. J. McConnell. and that his age is (54 years ; that he nas 

 been a resident on the Pacific coast for forty-four years, during nearly all of 

 which time he has been interested in mines and mining. His present business 

 is the operating of mines and the promotion and sale of mining properties. 



One of the greatest embarrassments being encountered at the present writing 

 in the mineral belt located on the Clearwater and Salmon rivers and their tribu- 

 taries is the forest reserve covering that locality. 



A compliance with the rules governing forest reserves seriously retards the 

 development of mines and mining prospects. Under the law the mine owner 

 or the owner of a prospect is at liberty to cut timber off of any one of his 

 claims or all of them for the purpose of working or developing the particular 

 claim on which the timber is found, but has no right to appropriate any timber 

 outside of the lines of his mining claims. Now, therefore, as it quite fre- 

 quently occurs that mineral is discovered upon high rocky cliffs where no timber 

 is found, before proceeding with his work it is necessary to make a pilgrimage, 

 often consuming many days, to find the superintendent of the forest reserve or 

 some of his rangers to make the necessary application. 



In a locality like that of the Bitter Root Range, where the winter snows do 

 not disappear until July, and begin to fall again in September, these delays are 

 a serious detriment and materially reduce the value of the properties which may 

 be discovered on the reserve; even such trails and wagon roads as are necessary 

 to development can not be attempted without the consent of the Secretary of 

 the Interior, thus consuming additional valuable time. There was a discovery 

 made some time since near the summit of the Bitter Root Range, in Shoshone 

 County, near the northeast corner of the Bitter Root Reserve, work upon which 

 is practically suspended pending an effort to have the district excluded from 

 the reserve by modifying its lines. Much of the district where these jirospects 

 have been discovered has been denuded of timber by fire, and, as the altitude 

 is so high, but little second growth has taken place. What there remains stand- 

 ing of the original timber is principally black or lodgepole pine, which, while 

 it could be used for mining purposes, has but little, if any, commercial value. 



W. J. McConnell. 



Subscribed and sworn, to before me this 15th day of April, 1904. 



Fred Veatch, 

 Notary Public, residing at Moscow, Idaho. 



