66 THE U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



plies. Action upon application for rights of way for these 

 purposes obviously requires a determination of the feasibility 

 of the project and the limits of the right of way required. 



Under the Cary Act the Secretary of the Interior is author- 

 ized to contract with any state in which there are arid public 

 lands for the reclamation of such lands by the state, and for 

 their patent to the state upon satisfactory proof that an ade- 

 quate supply of water for reclamation has been developed. 



In the administration of the foregoing provisions it is fre- 

 quently necessary also to apply the provisions of the 

 so-called separation acts, the purpose of which is to permit 

 the alienation separately of the values of a tract for the sev- 

 eral purposes — agricultural, mineral or water — of which it 

 may be susceptible of use. 10 



As against all these acts making provision for the dispo- 

 sition of the public lands, there is the general act of June 25, 

 1910 (36 Stat. L., 847) providing for the withdrawal from 

 entry of any of the public lands in the discretion of the Presi- 

 dent. It is provided that "the President may at any time, in 

 his discretion, temporarily withdraw from settlement, loca- 

 tion, sale, or entry any of the public lands of the United 

 States, including the District of Alaska, and reserve the same 

 for water-power sites, irrigation, classification of lands, or 

 other public purposes to be specified in the orders of with- 

 drawals." By another act of the same date similar, though 

 more limited, provision was made for withdrawal of lands 

 within Indian reservations. Previous to the enactment of 

 these acts, however, the power of withdrawal of lands from 

 entry had long been exercised by the President without specific 

 statutory warrant. 



10 In addition there might be mentioned the reclamation act, the 

 application of which requires a determination in connection with 

 each project, not merely of the lands irrigable by the proposed works, 

 but of the size of tract within each portion of such lands required 

 for the support of a family. Special acts also grant rights of way for 

 irrigation,, power and municipal water supply purposes over the na- 

 tional forests. These acts are administered, however, by the Recla- 

 mation Service and Forest Service, respectively, without reference to 

 the Geological Survey. 



