PROTECTION OF THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 75 



edge that it was unlawfully obtained, is a criminal offense punishable by a fine 

 of not more than $500, or imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both 

 fine and imprisonment. 



TIMBER CUTTING ON UNPERFECTED CLAIMS. 



Timber can not be cut upon an uuperfected claim beyond the extent neces- 

 sary for its actual development or for uses not consistent with, the purpose for 

 which the claim was initiated, or from one mining claim for use upon another, 

 where such use does not tend directly to develop the claim from which the timber 

 is cut. 



When National Forest timber is threatened with trespass, and no warning 

 will serve to restrain the trespasser, an injunction may be obtained to protect 

 National Forest interests. 



INNOCENT AND WILLFUL TRESPASS. 



If. at the time the cutting was done, the trespasser, after the exercise of due 

 diligence to ascertain from official sources the ownership of the land or his 

 rights therein, was unaware that he was not lawfully entitled to the timber, the 

 act will be considered an innocent trespass. If cutting occurs beyond the 

 boundaries of patented land through bona fide mistake, or trespass has been 

 committed on account of any other bona fide error of fact or in ignorance of 

 the rights of the United States, the trespass will be considered an innocent one. 

 Where these conditions do not exist, the trespass will be considered willful. 

 While the men who do the actual cutting may legally be held for the trespass, 

 proceedings will ordinarily be directed against the corporation, company, or 

 individual by whose direction and for whose benefit the cutting was done. In 

 civil cases the employer is liable for the willfulness of the employee, if he knew 

 of the trespass and took no means to stop it, or, if after the trespass was com- 

 mitted, he knowingly approved it or adopted it by receiving the fruit of the tres- 

 pass, or whenever he employed persons to do the cutting knowing them to be 

 careless, reckless, and unreliable. 



When the trespass is innocent, the measure of damage will be the value of 

 the timber after it was cut at the place where it was cut. 



Where the purchaser of timber cut in innocent trespass is held for damages, 

 the measure will be the value of the timber after it was cut at the place where 

 it was cut. If the timber is purchased from a willful trespasser, without 

 knowledge of the trespass, the value will be determined as of the time of such 

 purchase. 



When the trespass is willful, the measure of damages will be the value of the 

 timber in its condition when and where found. If, when a willful trespass is 

 discovered, the trees are felled, the assessed damage will be the stumpage plus 

 the cost of felling : if they are cut into logs, the cost of bucking will be added, 

 and, if found at the mill, the cost of both bucking and hauling will be added. 

 If the logs have passed through the mill the current value of the lumber will 

 be the basis for assessing damages. 



Where the purchaser of timber cut in trespass is held for damages, the 

 measure will be the value of the material at the time and place it is found, if it 

 was purchased from a willful trespasser with full knowledge that the timber 

 was cut in trespass. 



DAMAGE TO YOUNG GROWTH, ETC. 



If in addition to the cutting and removal of Government timber, the tres- 

 passer, by careless felling or logging, has done avoidable damage to young 

 growth or timber left standing, an estimate of the money value of this loss will 

 be made and included in the assessed damages. Merchantable timber wasted 

 in high stumps, long tops, or left in the woods will, of course, be included in 

 the scale. 



SEIZURE OF TIMBER CUT IN TRESPASS. 



Seizure, or recaption, is the right of a person to retake his property in a 

 peaceable manner wherever he finds it. Forest officers, as agents of the Gov- 

 ernment, may seize timber cut in trespass wherever found, even though it may 

 be upon patented land at the time. If there is grave danger that the timber 

 cut in trespass will be removed beyond recovery by the United States, all 

 material belonging to the Government will be seized. 



