The American Forest Congress. 77 



numbers of sheep and careless methods of herding had done much 

 injury to the forest lands, and the matter is now controlled by 

 permit, no stock being allowed to graze in the reserves except by 

 special authority from the General Land Office. Last year 843 

 permits for 1,806,722 sheep were granted on twenty reservations, 

 and 5,822 permits to graze 610,091 cattle and hor^e^ (-,111^43 

 reserves. .-,, r" 



A peculiar feature of the administration of the reserves is 

 that the survey work is carried out by the Geological Survey, the 

 control of the lands is in the General Land Office, while the forest 

 experts are in the Bureau of Forestry. The latter Bureau can as- 

 sist in the management of the reserves only as called on by the 

 Land Office. Consolidation of the administration is therefore 

 urged, and a resolution supporting it was passed by the Forest 

 Congress. This has since been carried into effect by Congress. 



The administration by the Federal Government of forest 

 lands which have not been included in reservations has never 

 been placed on any logical or sound basis. In 1831 Congress 

 made it a felony to cut or remove timber from public lands with- 

 out due permission, but homesteaders had the right to use the 

 timber on their land for domestic purposes, and miners had the 

 same right for individual necessities. Timber dealers who tres- 

 passed were required, if detected, to pay stumpage or the timber 

 was seized. In 1878 came the much-quoted Timber and Stone 

 Act, by which timber land unfit for cultivation or land valuable 

 for stone only, in California, Oregon, Nevada and Washington, 

 might be sold to citizens at $2.50 per acre, but not more than 160 

 acres to one individual or company. It was also provided that 

 timber or mineral lands might be taken for domestic purposes by 

 residents in Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, 

 Wyoming, Dakota, Idaho or Montana. The Homestead Act 

 provides for a free grant of 160 acres after five years' residence, 

 but this may be commuted at the end of six months on proof of 

 residence and cultivation and the land purchased at the legal rate. 

 There being no direct method for the lumberman to obtain the 

 timber the two acts mentioned were used for this purpose, and 

 of necessity resulted in fraudulent methods, the employees of the 

 lumber firms and others being used as dummies. 



