30 THE USE BOOK. 



visors, unless otherwise authorized, may not grant permits for material exceed- 

 ing $100 in value. All Forest officers whom the supervisor may designate are 

 authorized to grant free-use permits up to $20 in value, The Forester is also 

 authorized to grant free use of stone and to delegate this authority to subordi- 

 nate officers. All applications for free use of timber of value above $500 v/ill 

 be submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture for approval. (Issued October 81. 

 1911, to take effect December 1, 1911.) 



REGULATION S-20. Free-use permits may be granted to bona fide settlers, 

 miners, residents, and prospectors for minerals, who may not reasonably be 

 required to purchase, and who have not on their own lands or claims, or on 

 lands controlled by them, a sufficient or practically accessible supply of material 

 suitable for the purposes named in the law. They may also be granted to 

 school and road districts, churches, or noncommercial cooperative organizations 

 of settlers desiring to construct roads, ditches, reservoirs, or other similar im- 

 provements for mutual or public benefit. Free use may be granted for the 

 construction of telephone lines when necessary for the protection of the 

 National Forests from fire. Free use may be granted to other branches of the 

 Federal Government. Free use may be granted for consumption outside the 

 State in which the National Forest is located. (Issued October 31, 1911, to take 

 effect December 1, 1911 ; as amended March 28, 1913, to take effect April 1, 1913.) 



Whether an applicant is entitled to free use must be decided by the proper 

 Forest officer. In all cases not clearly covered by the letter of the law and the 

 regulations he will be guided by their spirit, especially as indicated by the 

 expression "those who may not reasonably be expected to purchase" and by 

 the distinction between public or personal and commercial use. A member of 

 a corporation is not necessarily debarred from free use of fuel for his own 

 home, though his ability to secure it from another source will be considered, 

 especially if the Forest supply is limited and in demand by more needy appli- 

 cants. Residents of towns and villages engaged in business or earning a liveli- 

 hood are expected to purchase tirtfber for their town buildings and other home 

 structures, and, except in small villages, fuel also. Settlers, particularly those 

 under the Forest homestead act, who have not yet improved their claims may 

 receive a liberal allowance for their own use. There is no more reason for 

 giving a hotel keeper or merchant timber solely to build or warm his hotel or 

 store than to give him a stock of goods, yet it need not be refused the proprietor 

 of a small establishment when it will be used chiefly by himself and his family. 

 Prospectors may be assisted in developing their properties, but owners of pro- 

 ducing mines and those who are able to employ several or many men on wages 

 will be required to pay. Well-to-do stockmen and owners of large ranches may 

 reasonably be expected to purchase. 



Free use of timber may be allowed in connection with other uses of the 

 National Forests, regardless of the ability of the permittee to purchase, if the 

 timber will be used in improvements of essentially public benefit, or if the 

 stumpage value of the material used is less than the value of these improve- 

 ments for protective or administrative purposes, considering both the actual 

 use of the improvement and the increased value of the Forest through better 

 regulation. 



Cooperative associations of settlers may be granted free use of timber needed 

 in the construction of roads, schools, and other structures of public benefit, 

 and irrigation works or structures of any kind required for the development of 

 unperfected claims or unimproved ranches which do not yet furnish an ample 

 livelihood for their owners. Such associations will be required to purchase 

 timber necessary for the construction of irrigation works and other struc- 

 tures any portion of which will be used commercially, as in the sale of water; 

 and irrigation works or other structures designed to further enhance the value 

 of improved ranches which now furnish an ample livelihood for their owners. 

 Free-use timber may be obtained for the construction of telephone lines where 

 necessary to protect the National Forests from fire. 



REGULATION S 21. Free use of material to be used in any business will be 

 refused, as, for example, to sawmill proprietors, owners of large establishments, 

 or commercial enterprises, companies, and corporations. (Issued October 31. 

 1911. to take effect December 1, 1911.) 



Free use may be refused, in the discretion of the supervisor, to permittees 

 who repeatedly violate the provisions of their permits and interfere with the 



