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OPERATION. 

 Perpetuation of Dilapidated Land Office Corners 



Reference is made to an erroneous statement concerning the restora- 

 tion of lost or obliterated corners appearing on page 93 of the Field 

 Program of January, 1913. 



Restoration by Authorized Officials Only. No Land Office corner can 

 be legally restored (in a manner which will be recognized by the Gen- 

 eral Land Office) by any person who is not formally instructed to do 

 the work by the United States surveyor general for that State. 



Tampering with Corners a Penal Offense. To aid in the protection of 

 all evidence of public-land surveys, a clause was enacted in chapter 398, 

 29 United States Statutes, page 343, prohibiting the destruction or re- 

 moval of monuments of any United States survey, and fixing penalties 

 for violation. 



This clause was amended by section 57 of the act approved March 4, 

 1909, revising and amending the penal laws of the United States, to 

 read as follows : 



SEC. 57. Whoever shall willfully destroy, deface, change, or re- 

 move to another place any section corner, quarter-section corner, 

 or meander post, on any Government line of survey, or shall will 

 fully deface, change, or remove any monument or bench mark of 

 any Government survey, shall be fined not more than two hundred 

 and fifty dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both. 



Actions to ~be Avoided 'by Forest Officers. Forest officers are in- 

 structed not to attempt to " restore " Land Office corners, or to re- 

 mark their locations by using a combination of materials and markings 

 which may be mistaken for the work of the Land Office, except when 

 they work under formal instructions from a surveyor general. 



They should not build up dilapidated corners with stones bearing 

 notches or grooves, or the numerals 1/4, or dig pits, or scribe blazed 

 trees or posts at or near the location of a Land Office corner. The 

 practice of setting stones marked with notches, grooves, or 1/4, and the 

 additional letters F S is specifically prohibited. 



In retracing Land Office lines care should be taken not to disturb the 

 condition in which corners are found, since such action may destroy 

 all evidence by which the corner can be absolutely identified. Let the 

 marked stone or stake lie just where it is found. Do not use the stones 

 at the corner to build a new mound, as the marked stone described in 

 the official record may unwittingly be removed from its proper location 

 or other evidence of the true point for corner destroyed. If needed to 

 pile around a stake or marked stone, bring stones from another locality. 



How to Perpetuate Dilapidated Corners. It is highly desirable, how- 

 ever, that the exact location of Land Office corners found in a dilapi- 

 dated condition should be perpetuated. For this purpose the metal 

 Forest Service cruising poster should be employed. It should be nailed 

 to a post, either driven in the ground or set in a pile of stones. The 

 location should be as near to the true point for corner as may be 



