134 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



March 



conditions has already been brought 

 about by range control on the forest 

 reserves, and that the great bulk of 

 the western stockmen are definitely in 

 favor of Government control of the 

 open range. 



Fifth. Upon facts presented at 

 many public meetings held through- 

 out the West and upon innumerable 

 suggestions which have been received 

 and considered. 



Your Commission concurs in the 

 opinion of the stockmen that some 

 form of Government control is neces- 

 sary at once, but is opposed to the 

 immediate application of any definite 

 plan to all of the grazing lands alike, 

 regardless of local conditions or actual 

 grazing value. The following plan is 

 intended to bring about the gradual 

 application to each locality of a form 

 of control specifically suited to that 

 locality, whether it may be applicable 

 to any other locality or not. Your 

 Commission recommends that suitable 

 authority be given to the President to 

 set aside, by proclamation, certain 

 grazing districts or reserves. To the 

 Secretary of Agriculture, in whose 

 Department is found the special ac- 

 quaintance with range conditions and 

 livestock questions which is absolute- 

 ly necessary for the wise solution of 

 these problems, authority should be 

 given to classify and appraise the 

 grazing value of these lands, to ap- 

 point such officers as the care of each 

 grazing district may require, to charge 

 and collect a moderate fee for grazing 

 permits, and to make and apply defi- 

 nite and appropriate regulations to 

 each grazing district. These regula- 

 tions should be framed and applied 

 with special reference to bringing 

 about the largest permanent occupa- 

 tion of the country by actual settlers 

 and home seekers. All land covered by 

 any permit so given should continue 

 to be subject to entry under reason- 

 able regulations notwithstanding such 

 permit. 



M I XING LAWS. 



Your Commission has not yet found 

 it possible to take up the extremely 

 important subject of the revision of 



the mining laws with the thorough- 

 ness which it deserves. From the evi- 

 dence already submitted it is obvious 

 that important changes are necessary, 

 both in the United States and Alaska. 

 The Commission hopes to treat this 

 matter more at length in a subsequent 

 report. 



RIGHTS OF WAY. 



Year after year the question of 

 rights of way across the public lands 

 and reservations has been called to the 

 attention of the Congress in the re- 

 ports of the Secretary of the Interior 

 and the Commissioner of the General 

 Land Office. The laws on this subject 

 are numerous and apparently often in- 

 congruous. Rights of way are granted 

 contingent upon the execution of work 

 within a definite time, but decisions 

 and practices are now in force under 

 which it has become almost impossi- 

 ble to divest the public lands of the 

 incubus of these rights, granted con- 

 ditionally in the first place, but still in 

 existence, although the conditions were 

 not fulfilled. 



Rights such as these are very nu- 

 merous. They lie dormant until actual 

 development has begun to take place, 

 cither under the reclamation act or 

 otherwise ; then they appear in enor- 

 mous numbers to the very serious 

 hindrance of new enterprises. Your 

 Commission is engaged on a study of 

 this subject and will report hereafter 

 upon it. 



AGRICULTURAL LANDS TN FOREST RE- 

 SERVES. 



Attention is called again to the rec- 

 ommendation of your Commission in 

 its previous report that entry of 

 agricultural lands included in for- 

 est reserves be permitted under 

 surveys by metes and bounds, and 

 special emphasis is directed to the rec- 

 ommendation, which is here renewed, 

 that in such cases actual residence at 

 home on the land be rigidly required 

 and that no commutation be allowed. 



LARGE AND SMALL HOLDINGS. 



Detailed study of the practical op- 

 eration of the present land laws, par- 

 ticularly of the desert-land act and 



