REPORT OF THE FORESTER. 



including the forests themselves, the water needed for agriculture, 

 domestic supply, power, and navigation, which the forests largely 

 control, and the soil which they hold in place. 



SCHEME OF ORGANIZATION. 



The chart on page 4 shows the present organization of the Service. 

 This organization became eifective April 17, 1907. 



OFFICE OF THE FORESTER. 



LAW. 



On March 22 Mr. George W. Woodruff, Chief of the Office of Law, 

 resigned to become Assistant Attorney-General of the United States, 

 assigned to the Department of the Interior. His work for the Service 

 was of very great value, not only in purely legal matters, but also in 

 solving administrative problems and important questions of policy, 

 especially in the sections of claims, special uses, and settlement, which 

 were under his charge. These sections, with status, were in April 

 transferred to the new Office of Lands, under which their activities 

 for the year will be reported, and the law officer and his force were 

 transferred to the Office of the Forester. 



During the year the work was defined and systematized. The law 

 officer now disposes of the following classes of business : Correspond- 

 ence concerning forest legislation. State and P'ederal; litigation, in- 

 cluding contested land claims; communications with the Department 

 of Justice, including cases submitted to the Attorney-General for his 

 opinion; submissions to the Comptroller of the Treasury for his 

 decision. He scrutinizes regulations proposed to the Secretary of 

 Agriculture for the Forest Service; proposed new proclamation 

 forms ; proposed new business forms ; all contracts, bonds, and stipu- 

 lations, including the sufficiency of their execution by the adverse 

 party. He also advises the Forester, the fiscal agents, and branches 

 and offices in legal questions incidental io the business of the Service, 

 including questions of policy having a legal bearing. 



In trespass, 73 cases were referred to the law officer, of which_ 48 

 were settled without court proceedings. Sixteen criminal and 8 civil 

 suits were brought and 13 are pending in the hands of the United 

 States attorneys. Two injunction suits to prevent grazing trespass 

 and 2 to prevent unpermitted special use were decided, all in favor 

 of the Government. Six civil and 18 criminal cases were closed, 9 

 of the latter by trial and conviction and 9 by discontinuance. 



In the cases of United States v. Domingo (152 Fed. Kep., 566) 

 and United States v. Daguirre (162 Fed. Eep.,- 568), the constitu- 

 tionality of that part of the act of June 4, 1897, which makes it a 

 criminal offense to violate the regulations of the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture made under that act, was again upheld. The criminal ap- 

 peals act of March 2, 1907 (34 Stat., 1246), will enable the Govern- 

 ment to appeal this question to the Supreme Court in case of an 

 adverse decision. In the case of United States v. Shannon (151 Fed. 

 Eep., 863) it was decided that the National Forests need not be fenced 

 to restrain unauthorized grazing upon them, though State laws re- 

 quire this in the case of private lands. 



