RIGHTS OF WAY IN FOREST RESERVES 



BY 



MORRIS BIEN 



Consulting Engineer, United States Reclamation Service 



HTHE Forest Reserve Act of June 4, 1897, contains 

 two provisions which affect rights of way within 

 the reserves ; namely, that actual settlers residing with- 

 in the boundaries of the reserves shall for purposes of 

 egress and ingress, be permitted to construct wagon- 

 roads and other improvements necessary to reach their 

 homes and utilize their property, under rules and regu- 

 lations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, 

 and also that all waters on the reserves may be used for 

 beneficial purposes under the State laws or under laws 

 of the United States and the rules and regulations 

 thereunder. 



In the administration of the first of these provisions, 

 for wagon-roads and other improvements, the General 

 Land Office regulations provide for the construction 

 of private wagon-roads and county roads wherever 

 they may be found necessary and useful ; no right, 

 however, can be acquired upon the public lands for 

 such roads as against the United States. No public 

 timber, stone, or other material can be taken for the 

 construction of such roads, without permission from 

 the Secretary of the Interior, the application giving 

 necessary details concerning the extent, location, and 

 estimated value of the material to be taken. 



The second provision, concerning the use of the 

 waters, merely confirms the application to forest re- 



