CLAIMS, SETTLEMENT, SPECIAL USES, WATER POWER. 61 



is, as a matter of Government economy, placed at the disposal of the Secretary 

 of the Interior, upon whom rests the responsibility for determining the title to 

 all lands within the National Forests. 



It is not the purpose or intent of the department to initiate contests against 

 claimants who have entered lands in the National Forests in good faith to 

 secure a home or for other purposes recognized by law. It is the purpose and 

 intent to protect the lands of the United States within the National Forests 

 from acquisition by those who do not seek them for purposes recognized by law, 

 and when it is apparent that an entry or a claim is not initiated in good faith 

 mid in compliance with the spirit of the law under which it is asserted, but is 

 believed from the facts to be a subterfuge to acquire title to timber lands, or 

 to control range privileges, water, a water-power site, or rights of way, or if it 

 otherwise actively and materially interferes with the essential interests of the 

 National Forest in that locality and is not made or maintained in good faith, 

 a contest will be recommended, even if the technical requirements of the law 

 appear to have been fulfilled. 



DEFINITION OF A VALID CLAIM. 



A valid claim is one initiated in good faith under some act of Congress for 

 the acquisition of title to public lands. It is a fundamental requisite that all 

 claims be initiated in good faith for the purpose contemplated by the law under 

 which they are held. It is bad faith, for instance, to hold a mining or agricul- 

 tural claim primarily for the timber thereon. Where the land is held for the 

 timber, for a hotel site, saloon site, or other foreign use, and there has been no 

 compliance with the requirements of the law under which the claim was initi- 

 ated, it is considered prejudicial to public interests. 



EXAMINATION OF MINERAL CLAIMS. 



Prospecting is not interfered with, and mineral locations will not be examined 

 prior to application for mineral patent, except where a report is requested by 

 the Department of the Interior, or where locations interfere with the adminis- 

 tration of the National Forest. No adverse report will be submitted to the 

 Department of the Interior which has not been made by a mineral examiner. 



FREE USE OF TIMBER FOR DEVELOPMENT OF MINERAL CLAIMS. 



The locator or subsequent owner of a mining claim has a right to the use 

 of sufficient timber from his claim for development purposes, such as timber 

 for shafts and tunnels. Timber, however, may not be cut from one claim to 

 be used on another claim, even if it be of the same group, unless its use tends 

 to develop the claim from which it is cut, as well as the one on which it is 

 used, except under free-use permit. 



Free-use permits are granted to bona fide miners and prospectors who may 

 not reasonably be required to purchase, and who have not on their own claims a 

 sufficient or practically accessible supply of material for the purposes named in 

 the law. (See Reg. S-20, p. 30.) 



A mining claimant has no right whatever to cut or remove timber from his 

 claim for sale or for purposes other than the development of the claim. 



SETTLEMENT. 



NATIONAL FOREST HOMESTEAD ACT. 



REGULATION L-50. The act of June 11, 1906, authorizes the Secretary of 

 Agriculture to examine and ascertain the location and extent of lands within 

 permanent or temporary National Forests which are chiefly valuable for agricul- 

 ture, and which, in Ms opinion, can be occupied for agricultural purposes with- 

 out injury to the National Forests and which are not needed for public pur- 

 poses, to the end that they may be listed with the Secretary of the Interior for 

 opening to settlement and entry under the act and homestead laws. The ex- 

 amination and listing of such lands are optional with the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture and may be made either independently or on application. (Issued 

 December 10, 1911, to take effect February 1, 1912.) 



REGULATION L-51. Applications for the examination and listing of lands 

 under the act of June 11, 1906, must be in writing, must be dated, and must be 

 signed by the applicant. If the tract applied for is covered by a public-land 



