TWO FORESTRY BILLS 



Two bills for a national forest policy have been presented to Congress. One is the Snell bill, which is en- 

 dorsed by the United States Forest Service, the American Forestry Association, the National Forestry Pro- 

 gram Committee and others; the other bill is the one introduced by Senator Capper. 



Both these bills are here published in full for the examination of our readers : 



THE SNELL BILL 

 The Snell bill was introduced on April 11, and was referred to the Committee on Agriculture: 



A Bill to provide through cooperation between the Federal Government, the 

 States, and owners of tiniberlands for adequate protection against forest 

 fires, for reforestation of denuded lands, for obtaining essential infor- 

 mation in regard to timber and timberlands, for extension of the na- 

 tional forests, and for other purposes, all essential to continuous forest 

 production on lands entirely suitable therefor. 

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 

 States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture, through the Forest Service, is hereby authorized and directed, in co- 

 operation with appropriate officials of the various States or other suitable 

 agencies, to recommend for each forest region of the United States the 

 essential requirments in protecting timbered and cutover lands from fire, in 

 reforesting denuded lands, and, where and to the extent necessary, in cut- 

 ting and removing of timber crops by such methods as will promote con- 

 tinuous production of timber on lands chiefly suitable therefor; and the 

 Secretary of Agriculture is further authorized, on such conditions as he 

 may determine to be fair and reasonable in each State, to cooperate with 

 the various States and through them with private and other agencies within 

 the States in bringing into effect such essential requirements favorable for 

 forest protection and renewal with a view to furnish a continuous supply of 

 timber for the use and necessities of the people of the United States. There 

 is hereby authorized to be appropriated annually, out of any money in the 

 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $1,000,000, to enable the Secretary of 

 Agriculture to carry out the provisions of sections 1 and 2 of this Act. 



Sec. 2. That in no case other than for preliminary investigations shall 

 the amount expended by the Federal Government in any State during any 

 fiscal year under the foregoing section exceed the amount expended by the 

 State for the same purposes during the same fiscal year, including the ex- 

 penditures of forest owners required by State law, and the Secretary of 

 Agriculture is authorized to withhold cooperation, in whole or in part, from 

 Sta*es which do not comply in legislation or in administrative practice with 

 such requirements as shall be established in accordance with section 1 of 

 this Act. In the cooperation extended to the several States due considera- 

 tion shall be given to the protection of the watersheds of navigable streams, 

 but such cooperation may, in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, 

 be extended to any forest lands within the cooperating Sta"es. 



Sec. 3. That the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Forest Service 

 and in cooperation with the various States, organizations of timber users, 

 owners of timberlands, and other agencies, is hereby authorized and directed 

 to make a survey of the forest resources of the United States to determine 

 the quantity, location, availability, and suitability for various uses of each 

 class or species of timber; to determine the approximate area, location, con- 

 dition, and productive capacity of the land chiefly valuable for timber 

 growth and not required for other purposes; to ascertain the yearly require- 

 ments as to kinds and quantities of timber of each State and important 

 wood-using industry; and to obtain such related information as in the judg- 

 ment of the Secretary of Agriculture may be necessary to carry out the 

 provisions of this Act. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated out 

 of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $3,000,000, to be 

 made available at such times and in such amounts as may be required and 

 recommended by the Secretary of Agriculture for carrying out the purposes 

 of this section. 



Sec. 4. That there is hereby authorized to be appropriated annually, out 

 of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of 

 $1,000,000 to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct experi- 

 ments and investigations in reforestation and methods of cutting and utiliz- 

 ing timber, to establish forest experiment stations, and to conduct experi- 

 ments, investigations, and tests in the chemical, physical, and mechanical 

 properties and utilization of native and foreign woods and other forest 

 products, including timber tests, wood preservation, tests of wood and other 

 fibrous materials for pulp and paper-making, and commercial demonstrations 

 of improved materials, methods and processes, and such other tests and in- 

 vestigations as in the judgment of the Secretary of Agricul'ure shall be 

 desirable to promote the most effective use of forest products in the United 

 States. The investigations, experiments, tests, and demonstrations provided 

 for by this section may be conducted independently, or in cooperation with 

 other branches of the Federal Government with State, county, and munici- 

 pal agencies, educational institutions, business organizations, and individ- 

 uals; and authority is hereby granted the Secretary of Agriculture to re- 

 ceive money contributions, under such conditions as he may impose, from 

 cooperators, which contributions shall be covered into the Treasury and 

 shall constitute a special fund, which is hereby appropriated and made avail- 

 able until expended, for the payment of the contributor's share of the ex- 

 penses of conducting any such investigation, experiment, or test, and for 

 refunding to contributors amounts contributed by them in excess of their 

 share of said expenses: Provided, That the Secretary of Agriculture shall 

 expend such portions of the appropriations aut-horized by this section as he 

 deems necessary to study the effects of tax methods and practices upon for- 

 est perpetuation, to devise tax laws designed to encourage the conservation 

 and growing of timber, to cooperate with State agencies in the considera- 

 tion of such laws, and to investigate and promote practicable methods of 

 insuring standing timber or growing forests from losses by fire and other 

 causes. 



Sec. 5. That there is hereby authorized to be appropriated annually, out 

 of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of 

 $1,000,000, to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to purchase or otherwise 

 obtain forest-tree seed and nursery stock, to establish and maintain forest 

 nurseries in the national forests, to sow and plant denuded lands within the 

 national forests with forest trees, and to conduct necessary experiments and 

 investigations in connection with such sowing and planting, including all 

 necessary expenses incident thereto. 



Sec. 6. That there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any 

 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $50,000,000, 

 to be made available at such times and in such amounts as may be required 

 and recommended by the National Forest Reservation Commission for carry- 



ing out the purposes of the Aact of March 1, 1911. entitled "An Act to ena- 

 ble any State tocooperate with any otherSrate or States, or with the United 

 States, for the protection of the watersheds of navigable streams, and to 

 appoint a commission for the acquisition of lands for the purpose of con- 

 serving the navigability of navigable rivers," as amended. 



Sec. 7. That the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized to locate, 

 examine, survey, and with the approval of the National Forest Reservation 

 Commission, and at the price or prices fixed by it, to purchase lands chiefly 

 suitable for forest production in any part of the continental United States, 

 whether the control of such lands will promote or protect the navigation of 

 streams on whose watersheds they lie or otherwise; and the appropriations 

 authorized for the purchase of lands under the Act of March 1, 1911, ojiti- 

 tled "An Act to enable any State to cooperate with any other State or 

 States, or with the United Sta'es, for the protection of the watersheds of 

 navigable streams, and to appoint a commission for the acquisition of lands 

 for the purpose of conserving the navigability of navigable rivers," are 

 herewirh also authorized for the purposes named in this section: Provided, 

 That all of the provisions of the aforesaid Act of March 1, 1911, as 

 amended, not inconsistent with the provisions of this section, shall apply 

 to any lands so purchased. 



Sec. 8. That the Secretary of the Interior be, and hereby is, authorized 

 to accept on behalf of the United States title to any lands within or adja- 

 cent to exterior boundaries of national forests if, in the opinion of the 

 Secretary of Agriculture, the public interests will be benefited thereby and 

 the lands are chiefly valuable for national forest purposes, and in exchange 

 therefor may give not to exceed an equal value of such national forest land 

 or timber or assignable certificates for timber within the national fores's as 

 may be determined by the Secretary of Agriculture and accepted by the 

 owner as fair compensation, consideration being given to any reservations 

 which either the grantor or the Government may make of timber, minerals, 

 or easements. Such assignable certificates for timber shall be issued under 

 the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture, shall be for the agreed values 

 of the lands acquired, and shall be accepted at their face value, when 

 accompanying bids, for the purchase of national forest timber or in payment 

 for national forest timber purchased under existing laws and regulations. 

 Any timber given under such exchanges shall be cut and removed under the 

 direction and supervision and in accordance with the requirements of t u ~ 

 Secretary of Agriculture. Lands conveyed to the United States under thu 

 section shall, upon acceptance of title, become parts of such national forests 

 as the Secretary of Agriculture shall designate: Provided, That the Secre- 

 tary of the Interior shall report to Congress annually the quantities of such 

 land exchanges as are consummated and the names of the parties thereto. 



Sec. 9. That all lands now embraced in national forests or national 

 parks which are owned by the United States or subject to disposition by 

 the United States, including unreserved public land, lands covered by for- 

 mer patents, or grants which have reverted in the United States, and Indian 

 reservations, and all lands of the character herein defined which may here- 

 after be acquired by the United States, with the exception of military, naval, 

 lighthouse, and other special reservations, which are classified by the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture and approved by the National Forest. Reservation Com- 

 mission as valuable chiefly for the production of timber or protection of 

 watersheds, shall be, and the same are hereby, withheld from all forms of 

 entry, appropriation, or allotment, except mineral entries authorized under 

 existing law, from and after the date of the filing of such classification with 

 the Secretary of the Interior; and the lands so classified shall remain with- 

 drawn from any form of entry or appropriation as aforesaid, with the ex- 

 ception of mineral entries authorized under existing law, until the Congress 

 shall direct otherwise; and there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, 

 out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of 

 $1,000,000, to be made available at such times and in such amounts as may 

 be required and recommended by the Secretary of Agriculture to enable 

 him to classify and determine the areas of the lands herein defined which 

 are valuable chiefly for the production of timber or protection of water- 

 sheds: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall affect the standing 

 of any valid claim, entry, or allotment existing on such lands at the date of 

 their classification or the equities or rights of the claimants or entrvmen 

 thereunder. ^ 



Sec. 10. That the National Forest Reservation Commission, created pur- 

 suant to the Act of March 1, 1911, is hereby authorized and directed to rec- 

 ommend to the President of the United Sta'es the incorporation in national 

 forests of any lands classified as valuable chiefly for the production of tim- 

 ber or protection of watersheds and withdrawn from entry under the pre- 

 ceding section, which, in the judgment of said commission are adapted to 

 national forest purposes. Said commission is further authorized to deter- 

 mine the value of any lands so withdrawn which are the property of Indian 

 tribes, and to make recommendations to Congress for the purchase of such 

 lands or otherwise for the liquidation of the equities of such Indian tribes 

 therein. 



Sec. 11. That the President of the United States is hereby authorized, 

 in his discretion, upon recommendation of the National Forest Reservation 

 Commission, to incorporate in national forests, now existing or which the 

 President by Executive proclamation may create, any lands classified and 

 withdrawn as defined in section 9 herein; but the addition to any national 

 forest of such lands shall not affect any valid claims, entries, or allotmen's 

 existing at the date of their withdrawal, and to the rights, equities or title of any 

 Indian tribes: Provided, That the President may, in his discretion, incor- 

 porate in national forests all or any portion of military, naval, or other 

 special reservations, not including national parks, or any lands acquired by 

 the United States through gift, bequest, or o'herwise which are chiefly val- 

 uable for the production of timber or protection of watersheds under such 

 regulations or conditions as he deems wise with respect to the use of such 

 lands for military, naval, or other purposes: Provided further, That it is 

 the intent and purpose of this Act that should any part thereof fail because 

 of ambiguity or other reason, such failure shall not be construed as ad- 

 versely affecting the remaining parts. 



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