NATIONAL FOREST MANUAL LAWS. 43 



hundred and seventy-three, division -of the land claimed may be made 

 by legal subdivisions, to include, as near as may be, the valuable 

 improvements of the respective parties. The Commissioner of the 

 General Land Office is authorized to issue all needful rules and regula- 

 tions for carrying into effect the provisions of this and the four pre- 

 ceding sections. 



SEC. 2352. Nothing in the five preceding sections shall be construed Rights reserved, 

 to destroy or impair any rights which may have attached prior to the 

 third day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy- three, or to authorize 

 the sale of lands valuable for mines of gold, silver, or copper. 



SURFACE PATENTS ON GOOD-FAITH ENTRIES OF COAL LANDS. 

 Act of March 3, 1909 (35 Stat, 844), for the protection of the surface rights of entrymen. 



AGRICULTURAL ENTRY FOR SURFACE OF LANDS CLASSIFIED OR WITH- 

 DRAWN AS COAL LANDS. (NoT APPLICABLE TO ALASKA.) 



Act of June 22, 1910 (36 Stat., 583), to provide for agricultural entry of coal lands. 

 Act of April 30, 1912 (37 Stat., 105) supplementing above. 



COAL-LAND LAWS EXTENDED TO ALASKA. 

 Act of June 6, 1900 (31 Stat., 658). 



AMENDMENTS TO COAL-LAND LAWS IN ALASKA. 



Act of April 28, 1904 (33 Stat., 525). 

 Act of May 28, 1908 (35 Stat., 424). 



DECISIONS UNDER THE COAL-LAND LAWS. 

 COAL LANDS. 



Coal lands are mineral lands within the meaning of the act of June 4, 

 1897, and as such are subject to entry, when found in forest reserves, 

 the same as other mineral lands within such reserves. (T. P. Crowder, 

 30 L. D., 92; see also Brown v. N. P. R. R. Co., 31 L. D., 29.) 



Citizens in need of coal for their own use, who have not initiated 

 claims under coal-land laws, have no authority to take any coal from 

 National Forest lands, either with or without a permit from the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture. (1 Sol. Op., 477.) 



The act of April 28, 1904 (33 Stat., 525), amending the coal-land 

 laws, as theretofore extended to Alaska, did not remove the restriction 

 as to the quantity of such lands enterable by one person or association, 

 but merely provided a method by which unsurveyed coal lands in 

 Alaska could be acquired subject to the limitations of the general coal- 

 land laws. (The Cunningham claims (United States v. Schofield 

 et al.) ; decision of Commissioner of the General Land Office of June 21, 

 1911, affirmed and adopted by Interior Department, Aug. 29, 1912.) 



Open cuts and tunnels made merely for the purpose of ascertaining 

 whether a group of claims contains coal and not with the intent to 

 develop operating mines do not satisfy the statutory requirement as 

 to opening and improving. (Same.) 



Persons who file declaratory statements and then abandon them 

 without valid cause or excuse are disqualified to make new entries. 

 (Same.) 



The benefits of the act of May 28, 1908, authorizing the consolidation 

 of claims or locations of coal lands in Alaska, can be shared only by 

 persons who made such locations in good faith that is, honestly and 

 lawfully prior to November 16, 1906, in their own interests individ- 

 ually, without fraud, collusion, or deceit, or any purpose to violate 

 any provision of the law. (Op. Atty. Gen., 38 L. D., 86.) 



An individual or association expending time and money in an honest 

 effort to open and develop coal deposits is not a trespasser and is entitled 

 to the coal extracted as an incident to the reasonable prosecution of 

 the work. (Ghost v. United States (C. C. A. Eighth Circuit), 168 Fed., 

 841.) 



