1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



269 



that no lands entered under the pro- 

 visions of this Act shall be patented 

 under the commutation provisions of 

 the homestead laws, but settlers, upon 

 final proof, shall have credit for the 

 period of their actual residence upon 

 the lands covered by their entries. 



Sec. 2. That settlers upon lands 

 chiefly valuable for agriculture within 

 forest reserves on January first, nine- 

 teen hundred and six, who have al- 

 ready exercised or lost their home- 

 stead privilege, but are otherwise com- 

 petent to enter lands under the home- 

 stead laws, are hereby granted an ad- 

 ditional homestead right of entry for 

 the purposes of this Act only, and 

 such settlers must otherwise comply 

 with the provisions of the homestead 

 law, and in addition thereto must pay 

 two dollars and fifty cents per acre 

 for lands entered under the provisions 

 of this section, such payment to be 

 made at the time of making final proof 

 on such lands. 



Sec. 3. That all entries under this 

 Act in the Black Hills Forest Reserve 

 shall be subject to the quartz or lode 

 mining laws of the United States, and 

 the laws and regulations permitting 

 the location, appropriation, and use of 

 the waters within the said forest re- 

 serves for mining, irrigation, and 

 other purposes ; and no titles acquired 

 to agricultural lands in said Black 

 Hills Forest Reserve under this Act 

 shall vest in the patentee any riparian 

 rights to any stream or streams of 

 flowing water within said reserve ; and 

 that such limitation of title shall be ex- 

 pressed in the patents for the lands 

 covered by such entries. 



Sec. 4. That no homestead settle- 

 ments or entries shall be allowed in 

 that portion of the Black Hills Forest 

 Reserve in Lawrence and Pennington 

 counties in South Dakota except to 

 persons occupving lands therein prior 

 to January first, nineteen hundred and 

 six, and the provisions of this Act 

 shall apply to the said counties in said 

 reserve only so far as is necessary to 

 give and perfect title of such settlers 

 or occupants to lands chiefly valuable 



for agriculture therein occupied or 

 claimed by them prior to the said date, 

 and all homestead entries under this 

 Act in said counties in said reserve 

 shall be described by metes and bounds 

 survey. 



Sec. 5. That nothing herein con- 

 tained shall be held to authorize any 

 future settlement on any lands within 

 forest reserves until such lands have 

 been opened to settlement as provided 

 in this Act, or to in any way impair 

 the legal rights of any bona fide home- 

 stead settlers who has or shall estab- 

 lish residence upon public lands prior 

 to their inclusion within a forest re- 

 serve. 



To prepare the Forest Supervisors 

 for the rush of applications, which was 

 likely to follow the passage of this 

 bill, and to inform the public of the 

 first steps to be taken toward having 

 agricultural lands examined, classified, 

 and listed preparatory to opening them 

 for settlement and entry, the Forester 

 issued the following general instruc- 

 tions : 



To Forest Officers in Charge: 



In order that you may be prepared 

 to perform your duties under the 

 Agricultural Settlement Act of June 

 11, 1906, you will please notice: 



1. That the Secretary of Agricul- 

 ture may use his discretion about ex- 

 amining and listing lands under the 

 law. 



2. Only lands chiefly valuable for 

 agriculture and not needed for admin- 

 istrative purposes by the Forest Serv- 

 ice or for some other public use will 

 be classified and listed under this Act. 



3. Land covered with a merchant- 

 able growth of timber will not be de- 

 clared agricultural, except upon the 

 strongest evidence of its value for 

 agricultural purposes, both as to pro- 

 duction and accessibility to a market. 



4. Areas known to have been occu- 

 pied by actual settlers prior to Janu- 

 ary 1, 1906, will be examined first, and 

 when such areas are found chiefly val- 

 uable for agriculture they will be list- 

 ed, in order that the occupants may 

 make entry under the Act. The mere 



