1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



327 



The General License Bill, spoken of 

 above in connection with the Edison 

 Electric Company's right of way, was 

 not even introduced this winter, but 

 will be a prominent factor at the next 

 session. 



tional Parks to the care of the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture, in order that they 

 may be administered from a forest 

 standpoint, received very little atten- 

 tion, and no prediction can be made 



A bill proposing to transfer the Na- concerning its treatment in the future. 



UNITED STATES 



RECLAMATION SERVICE 



K 



\> 



asHs 



Progress of Government Irrigation Work During Past Month 



Important 

 Decision 



The Assistant Attorney 

 General has just ren- 

 dered an important 

 opinion on the following questions : 



First. Whether one who has made 

 a homestead entry, not exceeding the 

 farm unit limit, either under the pro- 

 visions of the Reclamation Act or 

 under the general law, may obtain wa- 

 ter for such tract and also for one or 

 more other tracts of which he is the 

 proprietor, provided the area held in 

 private owenrship does not exceed the 

 private ownership limit fixed by the 

 Secretary of the Interior. 



Second. If the homestead entry was 

 made prior to the Reclamation Act 

 withdrawal and contains an irrigable 

 area in excess of the farm unit limit, 

 whether, for the purposes under con- 

 sideration, the excess area is to be re- 

 garded as of the same status as land 

 in private ownership. 



The case in point is on the Mini- 

 doka project, Idaho, where certain 

 state lands fall within the irrigable 

 area. The lands under this project 

 have been classified and the farm unit 

 fixed at 80 acres. The question arose 

 as to whether a person who makes a 

 homestead entry of 80 acres under the 

 Minidoka project and also purchases 



80 acres of state land may secure wa- 

 ter from the Government works for 

 the irrigation of both tracts. The point 

 submitted involves a broad question 

 applicable to all of the reclamation 

 projects. The Assistant Attorney 

 General holds that 



"A person who has made or may 

 make homestead entry of lands with- 

 drawn for disposal under the act of 

 June 17, 1902 (52 Stat. 288) and sub- 

 ject to the provisions, limitations and 

 conditions of said act, may obtain wa- 

 ter for such tract and may also obtain 

 water for one or more tracts of which 

 he is the proprietor, not exceeding the 

 limit of area fixed by the statute, au- 

 thorizing the use of water for land in 

 private ownership, or as fixed by the 

 Secretary of the Interior. 



"If the entry was made prior to the 

 withdrawal under the Reclamation 

 Act, the entryman may be entitled to 

 the right to the use of water for the 

 irrigable area of the land entered, and 

 also for such area of lands held by 

 him in private ownership which added 

 to the irrigable area of his entry will 

 not exceed 160 acres. 



"While there appears to be no re- 

 striction in the act upon the right of 

 a homesteader to the use of water for 



