6 DEPAETMENTAL EEPORTS. 



Every effort was made to cooperate with the General Land Office 

 of the Department of the Interior in securing settlement in civil 

 cases and conviction in criminal cases of trespass upon lands included 

 within National Forests since the trespass took place. A number of 

 the civil cases were transferred to the Office of Law and $5,004.91 

 was recovered through settlement. 



Very few cases of trespass upon State school sections, surveyed 

 or unsurveyed, within National Forests were reported. Friction 

 with the States which claim the right to sell timber from or to lease 

 these sections has been avoided, because both the States and the 

 Forest Service have refrained from making such sales and leases. 

 Federal and State legislation was outlined for the relief of the States 

 which claim school sections within National Forests. 



The law officer cooperated with the Office of Lands in dealing with 

 invalid land claims in National Forests. Within the Plumas Na- 

 tional Forest claims amounting to 18,000 acres, alleged to be invalid 

 under the mineral laws, are now being contested. 



When the National Forests were transferred to the Department, of 

 Agriculture several protests were pending against the granting of 

 special use applications, most of them rights of way for water and 

 hydraulic electric plants, usually on the grounds of a speculative pur- 

 pose and absence of a prior water right. Inquiry into these questions 

 involved long and expensive hearings in the field, followed by suc- 

 cessive appeals, and entailed voluminous records, wearisome delays, 

 and heavy costs to the contestants. The Forest Service now requires 

 the beginning and completion of construction within definite times and 

 beneficial use for a fixed period each year, referring decision as to the 

 priority of water rights to the courts. Under this policy, which 

 was devised by Mr. Woodruff, most of the protested special use 

 applications were promptly disposed of. 



The increased National Forest business required the preparation 

 of new forms for a number of instruments. Special contracts were 

 prepared for the cooperative management of Utah State lands in 

 National Forests and for miscellaneous permanent improvements in 

 and protection of the National Forests, especially against fire, in the 

 San Bernardino Forest. 



Correspondence with citizens and members of State legislatures 

 was carried on and advice upon forest legislation was asked and given 

 in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, 

 Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, 

 South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wis- 

 consin. The most important State legislation of the year was a 

 general forest law for Tennessee and fire laws for Pennsylvania and 

 Oregon. 



The agricultural appropriation act of March 4, 1907 (34 Stat., 

 1256), contains (pp. 1269-1271) the following new provisions affect- 

 ing the Forest Service: Increase of the Forester's salary J;o $5,000 

 per annum; forest reserves to be known hereafter as National For- 

 ests; authorizing payment of expenses incurred for the transporta- 

 tion and care of fish and game supplied to stock the National Forests; 

 authorizing the purchase of technical books and technical journals 

 for officers stationed outside of Washington; Forest Reserve special 

 fund abolished, with a compensating increase from $900,000 to 

 $1,900,000 in the appropriation to protect, administer, improve, and 



