I 



UNAUTHORIZED GRAZING. 189 



DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, 

 Washington, D. C., November 17, 1898. 

 The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 



SIR: Section 5388 of the Revised Statutes, as amended by the 

 act of June 4, 1888 (25 Stat., 166), provides as follows: 



Every person who unlawfully cuts, or aids or is employed 

 in unlawfully cutting, or wantonly destroys or procures to be 

 wantonly destroyed, any timber standing upon the land of the 

 United States which, in pursuance of law, may be reserved or 

 purchased for military or other purposes, or upon any Indian 

 reservation, or lands belonging to or occupied by any tribe of 

 Indians under authority of the United States, shall pay a fine 

 of not more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned not 

 more than twelve months, or both, in the discretion of the 

 court. 



The act of June 4, 1897, entitled, " An act making appropriations 

 for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year 

 ending June 30, 1898, and for other purposes," provides (28 Stat, 

 35): 



The Secretary of the Interior shall make provisions for the 

 protection against destruction by fire and depredations upon 

 the public forests and forest reservations which may have 

 been set aside or which may be hereafter set aside under the 

 saijj. act of March 3, 1891, and which may be continued; and 

 he may make such rules and regulations and establish such 

 service as will insure the objects of such reservations, namely, 

 to regulate their occupancy and use and to preserve the 

 forests thereon from destruction; and any violations of the 

 provisions of this act or such rules and regulations shall be 

 punished as is provided for in the act of June 4, 1888, amend- 

 ing section 5388 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. 



Under the authority thus conferred, the Secretary of the Interior, 

 on June 30, 1897, promulgated certain rules and regulations for 

 the purpose of regulating the occupancy and use of the forest 

 reservations and to preserve the forests thereon from destruction, 

 among which was the following: 



13. The pasturing of live stock on the public lands in forest 

 reservations will not be interfered with so long as it appears 

 that injury is not being done to the forest growth and the 

 rights of others are not thereby jeopardized. The pasturing 

 of sheep is, however, prohibited in all forest reservations, 

 except those in the States of Oregon and Washington, for the 

 reason that sheep grazing has been found injurious to the 

 forest cover, and therefore of serious consequence in regions 

 where the rainfall is limited. The exception in favor ol the 



