CLASSIFICATION IN RELATION TO WATER RESOURCES. 165 

 Montana meridian. 



[Description of lands.] 



Samuel Adams, 

 June 22, 1912. mrst Assistant Secretary. 



Withdrawals of this form receive the concurrence of the Commis- 

 sioner of Indian Affairs before being forwarded to the Secretary of 

 the Interior and become effective on approval by the Secretary, no 

 action by the President being contemplated by the law. 



Copies of approved orders of withdrawal are furnished to the 

 Geological Survey, to the Office of Indian Affairs if affecting Indian 

 lands, and to the General Land Office, and notification thereof is sent 

 to the local land office of each district in which the reserved lands are 

 located. Notation of the withdrawal is thereupon made on the tract 

 records of the General and local land offices. Thereafter entries 

 inconsistent with the purpose of the withdrawal, except under the 

 mining laws pertaining to metalliferous minerals, are rejected. Modi- 

 fications of a withdrawal may, however, be made to permit the allow- 

 ance of an application that will subserve the purpose of the with- 

 drawal or that involves a more beneficial use of the land than could 

 be had under the purpose of the withdrawal. Withdrawals therefore 

 in no way interfere with the proper development of the resources 

 involved but tend toward their most complete and beneficial 

 utilization. 



5. Preparation of minutes. At the time each order of withdrawal 

 is prepared minutes are written setting forth the object sought to be 

 attained by the withdrawal, the extent and value of the resources 

 involved, the data on which the withdrawal is based, and other perti- 

 nent facts. Orders of withdrawal are numbered consecutively in 

 chronologic order, and successive withdrawals on any stream are also 

 given consecutive numbers in connection with the stream name. The 

 various sets of minutes for withdrawals on any stream therefore con- 

 stitute a concise statement of its value for power or reservoir sites 

 and of the data relating thereto. 



6. Office records. When notice of the approval of an order of with- 

 drawal is received at the Survey, the withdrawn area is plotted and 

 numbered on a General Land Office State map. A township card is 

 prepared for each township affected, showing the location of the 

 stream and indicating the legal subdivisions withdrawn and the 

 number of the withdrawal. If more than one withdrawal is made in 

 a township, the card is prepared so as to show the withdrawals sepa- 

 rately and constitutes a graphic record of all withdrawals and restora- 

 tions of withdrawn lands. The numbers and dates of recommenda- 

 tion and approval of all power-site withdrawals and restorations 



