1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



15 



join to influence the Senate and House 

 committees before which the respec- 

 tive individual bills are pending, in in- 

 troducing the amalgamated bill before 

 Congress. The bill is as follows : 

 59th Congress, 



1st Session. 



A BILL 



For the Purchase of Two Nation- 

 al Forest Reserves in the Appa- 

 lachian Mountains and White 

 Mountains, to be Known as the 

 Appalachian Forest Reserve and 

 White Mountain Forest Re- 

 serve, respectively. 



Be it enacted by the Senate and 

 House of Representatives of the Uni- 

 ted States of America in Congress as- 

 sembled, That the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture is hereby authorized and di- 

 rected, in his discretion, to acquire 

 by purchase or condemnation lands 

 suited to national forest reserve 

 purposes in the Appalachian Moun- 

 tains within the States of Maryland, 

 West Virginia, Virginia, North Caro- 

 lina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alaba- 

 ma, and Tennessee, and the White 

 Mountains in the State of New Hamp- 

 shire, to be known as the Appalachian 

 Forest Reserve and the White Moun- 

 tain Forest Reserve, respectively, and 

 to care for, protect, use, and make ac- 

 cessible the said reserves under the 

 laws governing national forest re- 

 serves. 



Sec. 2. That the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture shall advertise in the several 

 states named in this act for lands to be 

 purchased under the provisions here- 

 of ; and as between lands of equal val- 

 ue, for the purposes of this act, the 

 lowest bids shall be accepted: Pro- 

 vided, that the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture shall have the right to reject any 

 or all bids: Provided further, that the 

 Secretary of Agriculture is hereby 

 authorized and empowered, in his dis- 

 cretion, to contract for the purchase 

 of lands, exclusive of the timber there- 

 on of kinds and sizes to be specified 

 in the contract, said timber to be cut 



and removed in accordance with rules 

 and regulations to be prescribed by 

 him for that purpose ; and Provided 

 further, that the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture is hereby authorized and empow- 

 ered, in his discretion, to contract for 

 the purchase of lands, exclusive of the 

 mineral rights therein ; and on such 

 lands mineral deposits may be mined 

 under such rules and regulations as the 

 Secretary of Agriculture may pre- 

 scribe, and the rules and regulations, 

 as provided in this section for cutting 

 and removal of timber and mining of 

 minerals, shall be embodied in the con- 

 tract for purchase and conveyance of 

 title. 



Sec. 3. That in the acquirement of 

 lands for the purposes of this act the 

 Secretary of xA.griculture shall, in each 

 of the several states named herein, 

 conform to the conditions prescribed 

 in the present or future act or acts of 

 the legislature of each such state ced- 

 ing to the United States the right to 

 acquire and control such lands, and 

 the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby 

 authorized and empowered to exercise, 

 as to such lands, all the rights and 

 powers granted in said act or acts: 

 Provided, that when the owners of 

 lands sought to be acquired for the 

 purposes of this act are unwilling to 

 sell the same on terms satisfactory to 

 the Secretary of Agriculture, condem- 

 nation proceedings for the acquire- 

 ment of such lands shall not be had so 

 long as the said owners protect and 

 perpetuate the forests on said lands, 

 under such regulations as may be pre- 

 scribed by the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture for the control of the forests on 

 lands purchased by the government 

 under this act, so far as the same may 

 be applicable. 



Sec. 4. That the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture is hereby authorized and em- 

 powered to accept gifts of land for the 

 purposes of this act. and such lands 

 shall thereafter be known by such 

 names as the donors, with the appro- 

 val of the Secretary of Agriculture, 

 may prescribe. 



