44 THE NATIONAL FOREST MANUAL. 



or which applies for over 160 acres, or for two or more noncontiguous 

 tracts, it will be returned to the applicant for correction. Applica- 

 tions when received in the form prescribed by Reg. L-51 will be 

 given consecutive numbers by Forests in the order of their receipt by 

 the district forester. 



The tract books for each Forest will consist of township plats (Form 



123), one for each township in the Forest, index sheets 



Entry of appti- (F orm 124), and wing binders. The tract books will 



book 118 k e P r ep are( i m accordance with the procedure on 



National Forests, and the necessary entries made on 



the Forms 123 and 124 in the same manner as provided in those 



instructions. 



Whenever status of lands is required, it will be obtained, if possible, 

 from the local land office. When necessary to secure 

 Securing status s t a tus from the public-land records in Washington, the 

 Set books? 11 district forester will use Form 31, changing the words 

 "Register and receiver' 7 to "Forester." No letter 

 will be used in making such requests to the Forester, but any explana- 

 tion may be made, if necessary, by an accompanying memorandum. 

 The request will be returned with the status report (Form 301). 

 When the status of the land applied for is ascertained, it will be noted 

 on the township plat (Form 123) and the status report filed with the 

 other papers in the case. 



If the status records show that the land applied for is not covered 

 by any entry under the public-land laws or any sub- 

 Notification to sisting claim, the applicant will be notified by letter 

 ce tanceofappii- ? tne acceptance of his application. If the applica- 

 cation. tion is an amended one, the original must be with- 



drawn unless the amendment is an addition to the 

 original application. In the latter case the amended application will 

 be given the same number as the original application. 



The supervisor will be informed of the acceptance of an application 

 by forwarding to him carbon copies, in duplicate, of 

 Application re- the letter to the applicant. These copies will be 

 ferred to super- accO mpanied by a promise card (Form 326) and a 

 nation ^nd^Te- township plat (Form 974), on which will be noted the 

 port. location of the land applied for, if surveyed, and a 



description of it if unsurveyed, and the case designa- 

 tion. On Form 124, in the tract book, will be noted the date the 

 application is sent for examination. 



Upon receipt of the examiner's report it will be carefully scrutinized 

 . to insure the thoroughness of the investigation and the 



port ^examiner" com pleteness of statement. If fqr any reason it ap- 

 pears that the report is erroneous or incomplete, it will 

 be returned to the supervisor who approved the report, indicating its 

 defects and requiring its correction. If the report recommends the 

 listing of an area not included in the original application, the applicant 

 will be given an opportunity to amend his original application, if he 

 has not already done so, to include the additional area recommended, 

 provided that the total area does not exceed 160 acres. When the 

 report covers unsurveyed land, the field notes and tracing on Form 

 220 will be referred to Atlas. When the report recommends that a 

 strip of land for road right of way be excluded from the tract to be 

 listed, the tracing showing the excluded strip will be referred to Atlas. 



