FOREST LEGISLATION BEFORE THE 

 59th CONGRESS FIRST SESSION 



""THE following Acts, which bear 

 * more or less directly upon forest 

 reserve interests, were passed at the 

 last session of Congress : 



Act of March 15, 1906, permitting 

 agricultural settlement in a certain re- 

 stricted portion of the Yellowstone 

 Forest Reserve. 



Act of March 16, 1906, to provide 

 for an annual increase in the appro- 

 priation for agricultural experiment 

 stations until the total for each State 

 and Territory shall be $30,000. Such 

 stations as desire to do so can turn 

 part of this added income toward ex* 

 periments in forestry. 



Act of May 1, 1906, to grant the 

 Edison Electric Company a permit to 

 occupy land in the San Bernardino, 

 Sierra, and San Gabriel Forest Re- 

 serves for electric power plants. This 

 law was drawn in cooperation with the 

 Forest Service, which approved it a9 

 an entering wedge for a uniform law 

 with regard to rights of way and privi- 

 leges upon all land owned by the 

 United States. Its salient features are : 



( 1 ) That it grants an .easement to 

 the permittee, thus making his tenu f e 

 certain for some definite length of 

 time. 



(2) That the Secretary may fix the 

 duration of the permit to suit the needs 

 and the magnitude of the project in- 

 volved in the permit. 



(3) That construction work must 

 be completed within a definite time and 

 the privilege enjoyed beneficially for 

 a reasonable time each year. 



(4) That the Secretary may exact 

 from the permittee such reasonable 

 annual rental charge as he deems 

 proper, changing it from year to year 

 as circumstances seem to warrant. 



Act of June 4, 1906, to punish the 

 cutting, chipping, or boxing of trees 

 on the public lands. This law was 

 passed to prevent the practice of going 

 upon the public domain and destroy- 



ing resin-bearing trees by conducting 

 turpentine operations. The Commis- 

 sioner of the General Land Office has 

 already agreed to investigate turpen- 

 tining in Florida and bring action 

 against trespassers on the public land. 



Act of June 8, 1906, to preserve 

 American antiquities. This Act pro- 

 vides that the Secretaries of the Inte- 

 rior, of War, and of Agriculture may 

 join together to make such rules and 

 regulations for excavation and study 

 of historic or prehistoric ruins or mon- 

 uments or other objects of antiquity 

 upon the public land under their re- 

 spective jurisdictions, as they may 

 deem necessary to protect these an- 

 tiquities. 



Act of June 11, 1906, to provide for 

 the entry of agricultural lands within 

 forest reserves. (Described fully in 

 Forestry and Irrigation for June, 

 1906.) This law makes it possible for 

 the Secretary of Agriculture to list for 

 entry under the homestead laws, such 

 tracts of agricultural land as he may 

 find within forest reserves. It should 

 do much to allay criticism of the Na- 

 tional forest policy and at the same 

 time bring within the reserves a de- 

 sirable class of inhabitants available 

 for protection against forest fires and 

 timber depredations. 



Act of June 11, 1906, to accept the 

 recession by the State of California 

 of the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa 

 Big Tree Grove. This law brings 

 these important parks again under the 

 control of the United States Govern- 

 ment, and incidentally modifies, to a 

 slight extent, the boundary of the Yo- 

 semite National Park. The change 

 will probably be advantageous, since 

 the State of California had not appro- 

 priated the money necessary to care 

 for the Yosemite Valley. 



Act of June 27, 1906, to grant lands 

 to the State of Wisconsin for State 

 forest reserve purposes. By means of 



