Sec. CHAPTER NINE. TIMBER AND TIMBER CULTURE. Sec. 256. Timber on mineral lands may be taken 273. Cutting or injuring trees on lands of for certain purposes. Permission to take not extended to railroad companies. 257. Duty of register and receiver to report unauthorized taking. 258. Penalty for unauthorized taking. 259. Timber and stone lands in California, Oregon, &c., to be sold. 260. Application for purchase. swearing. False 261. Publication of application. Facts to 262. Cutting timber unlawfully; penalty. 265. Live-oak and red-cedar lands. 266. Selection of live-oak and red-cedar tracts. 267. Protection of live-oak and red-cedar 268. Cutting or destruction of live-oak or 272. Lands not required, to be certified to 274. United States reserved or purchased for public uses; punishment. Authority to condone trespasses committed prior to March 1, 1879. 275. Timber-culture entries. Patents to 276. 278. Proof of cultivation, final certificate, and patent. 279. Right to be forfeited on failure to 280. Land not liable for prior debts. 283. eral lands may be SEC. 256. All citizens of the United States and other per- Timber on minsons, bona-fide residents of the State of Colorado, or Nevada, taken for certain or either of the Territories of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, purposes. Wyoming, Dakota, Idaho, or Montana, and all other mineral districts of the United States, shall be, and are hereby, authorized and permitted to fell and remove, for building, agricultural, mining, or other domestic purposes, any timber or other trees growing or being on the public lands, said lands being mineral, and not subject to entry under existing laws of the United States, except for mineral entry, in either of said States, Territories, or districts of which such citizens or persons may be at the time bona-fide residents, subject to such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe for the protection of the timber and of the undergrowth growing upon such lands, and for other 95 Permission to purposes: Provided, That the foregoing provisions shall not so take not ex- extend to railroad corporations. tended to railroad companies. Duty of register and receiver to ing. 20 Stat. 88. U. S. v. Nelson, 5 Saw. C. C. 68. 1 Op. Att. Gen. 471, 475. Rogers v. Soggs, 22 Cal. 444. Cir. G. L. O., Aug. 15, 1878 (6 Copp's L. O. 21). SEC.257. It shall be the duty of the register and the receiver report upon un- of any local land office in whose district any mineral land authorized tak-may be situated to ascertain from time to time whether any timber is being cut or used upon any such lands, except for the purposes authorized in the preceding section, within their respective land districts; and, if so, they shall immediately notify the Commissioner of the General Land Office of that fact; and all necessary expenses incurred in making such proper examinations shall be paid and allowed such register and receiver in making up their next quarterly accounts. Penalty for unauthorized taking. Timber and stone lands in sold. Proviso. 20 Stat. 88. Cir. G. L. O., Aug. 15, 1878 (6 Copp's L. O. 21). SEC. 258. Any person or persons, who shall violate the provisions of the two next preceding sections, or any rules and regulations in pursuance thereof made by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be fined in any sum not exceed ing five hundred dollars, and to which may be added imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months. 20 Stat. 89. Cotton v. U. S., 11 How. 229; Hutchins v. King, 1 Wall. 53; Schulenberg v. Harriman, 21 id. 44. U. S. v. Nelson, 5 Saw. C. C. 68. 10p. Att. Gen. 194, 471, 475. Cir. G. L. O., Aug. 15, 1878 (6 Copp's L. Ö. 21). SEC. 259. Surveyed public lands of the United States California, Ore. Within the States of California, Oregon and Nevada and in gon, &c., to be Washington Territory, not included within military, Indian, or other reservations of the United States, valuable chiefly for timber, but unfit for cultivation, and which have not been offered at public sale according to law, may be sold to citizens of the United States, or persons who have declared their intention to become such, in quantities not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres to any one person or association of persons, at the minimum price of two dollars and fifty cents per acre; and lands valuable chiefly for stone may be sold on the same terms as timber lands: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall defeat or impair any bona-fide claim under any law of the United States, or authorize the sale of any mining claim, or the improvements of any bona-fide settler, or lands containing gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal, or lands selected by the said States under any law of the United States donating lands for internal improvements, education, or other purposes: And provided further, That none of the rights conferred by the act approved July twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and sixtysix, entitled "An act granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes," shall be abrogated by this act; and all patents granted shall be subject to any vested and accrued water rights, or rights to ditches and reservoirs used in connection with such water rights, as may have been acquired under and by the pro visions of said act; and such rights shall be expressly reserved in any patent issued under this act. 14 Stat. 251; 20 id. 89; R. S. 2339, 2340, 2341. McFarland v. Culbertson, 2 Nev. 280; Peck v. Brown, 5 id. 81; Eureka Mg. Co. v. Way, 11 id. 171. Decision Com. G. L. O., June 6, 1874 (1 Copp's L. O. 58). Cir. G. L. O., May 1, 1880 (7 Copp's L. O. 26). SEC. 260. Any person desiring to avail himself of the pro- Application for visions of this act shall file with the register of the proper purchase. district a written statement in duplicate, one of which is to be transmitted to the General Land Office, designating by legal subdivisions the particular tract of land he desires to purchase, setting forth that the same is unfit for cultivation, and valuable chiefly for its timber or stone; that it is uninhabited; contains no mining or other improvements, except for ditch or canal purposes, where any such do exist, save such as were made by or belong to the applicant, nor, as deponent verily believes, any valuable deposit of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal; that deponent has made no other application under this act; that he does not apply to purchase the same on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to his own exclusive use and benefit; and that he has not, directly or indirectly, made any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person or persons whatsoever, by which the title which he might acquire from the Government of the United States should inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person except himself; which statement must be verified by the oath of the applicant before the register or the receiver of the land office within the district where the land is situated; and if any person taking such oath shall swear falsely in the premises, he shall, False swearing be subject to all the pains and penalties of perjury, and shall forfeit the money which he may have paid for said lands, and all right and title to the same; and any grant or conveyance which he may have made, except in the hands of bona-fide purchasers, shall be null and void. 20 Stat. 89. Cir. G. O. L., May 1, 1880 (7 Copp's L. O. 26). in application. SEC. 261. Upon the filing of said statement, as provided Publication of in the preceding section, the register of the land office, application. shall post a notice of such application, embracing a description of the land by legal subdivisions, in his office, for a period of sixty days, and shall furnish the applicant a copy of the same for publication, at the expense of such applicant, in a newspaper published nearest the location of the premises, for a like period of time; and after the expiration of said sixty days, if no adverse claim shall have been filed, the person desiring to purchase shall furnish to the register Facts to be of the land office satisfactory evidence, first, that said notice of proved. the application prepared by the register as aforesaid was duly published in a newspaper as herein required; secondly, that the land is of the character contemplated in this act, unoccupied and without improvements, other than those excepted, either mining or agricultural, and that it apparently contains no valuable deposits of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal; and upon payment to the proper officer of the purchase money of said land, together with the fees of the register and the receiver, as provided for in case of mining claims in the one hundred and thirty-seventh section, the applicant may be permitted to enter said tract, and, on the transmission to the General Land Office of the papers and testimony in the case, a patent shall issue thereon: ProObjection to vided, That any person having a valid claim to any portion patent. of the land may object, in writing, to the issuance of a patent to lands so held by him, stating the nature of his claim thereto; and evidence shall be taken, and the merits of said objection shall be determined by the officers of the land office, subject to appeal, as in other land cases. Effect shall be given to the foregoing provisions of this act by regulations to be prescribed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office. Cutting timber unlawfully. Penalty. Proviso. Certain prosecutions, relief from. Proviso. 17 Stat. 95; 20 id. 89. R. S. 2238. McFarland v. Culbertson, 2 Nev. 280; Peck v. Brown, 5 id. 81. Cir. G. L. O., May 1, 1880 (7 Copp's L. O. 26). SEC. 262. After the passage of this act it shall be unlawful to cut, or cause or procure to be cut, or wantonly destroy, any timber growing on any lands of the United States, in said States and Territory, or remove, or cause to be removed, any timber from said public lands, with intent to export or dispose of the same; and no owner, master, or consignee of any vessel, or owner, director, or agent of any railroad, shall knowingly transport the same, or any lumber manufactured therefrom; and any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction, shall be fined for every such offense a sum not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall prevent any miner or agriculturalist from clearing his land in the ordinary working of his mining claim, or preparing his farm for tillage, or from taking the timber necessary to support his improvements, or the taking of timber for the use of the United States; and the penalties herein provided shall not take effect until ninety days after the passage of this act. 20 Stat. 90. Cotton v. U. S., 11 How. 229. U. S. v. McEntee, U. S. Dist. Ct. Minn., Oct. 1877. Decision Com. G. L. O., Dec. 11, 1878, (6 Copp's L. 0.76). Cir. G. L. O., Aug.15, 1878 (6 Copp's L. Ó. 21); May 1, 1880 (7 ið. 26). SEC. 263. Any person prosecuted in said States and Territory for violating section two hundred and sixty-eight, who is not prosecuted for cutting timber for export from the United States, may be relieved from further prosecution and liability therefor upon payment, into the court wherein said action is pending, of the sum of two dollars and fifty çents per acre for all lauds on which he shall have cut or caused to be cut timber, or removed or caused to be removed the same: Provided, That nothing contained in this section shall be construed as granting to the person hereby relieved the title to said lands for said payment; but he shall have the right to purchase the same upon the same terms and conditions as other persons, as provided herein before in this act: And further provided, That all moneys collected under this act shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States. And section four thousand seven hun dred and fifty-one of the Revised Statutes is hereby repealed, so far as it relates to the States and Territory herein named. 20 Stat. 90, 91. U. S. v. Nelson, 5 Saw. C. C. 68. Cir. G. L. O., Aug. 15, 1878 (6 Copp's L. O. 21). SEC. 264. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the Repeals. provisions of the five preceding sections are repealed. 20 Stat. 90, 91. red-cedar lands. SEC. 265. The Secretary of the Navy is authorized, under Live-oak and the direction of the President, to cause such vacant and unappropriated lands of the United States as produce the liveoak and red-cedar timbers to be explored, and selection to be made of such tracts or portions thereof, where the principal growth is of either of such timbers, as in his judgment may be necessary to furnish for the Navy a sufficient supply of the same. Selection of live 3 Stat. 347, 607; 4 id. 242; R. S. 2458. U. S. v. Briggs, 9 How. 351. Cir. G. L. O., Aug. 8, 1831, (2 Laws, Instructions, and Opinions, 455). SEC. 266. The President is authorized to appoint survey- oak and red-cedar ors of public lands, who shall perform the duties prescribed tracts. in the preceding section, and report to him the tracts by them selected, with the boundaries ascertained and accurately designated by actual survey or water-courses; and the tracts of land thus selected with the approbation of the President shall be reserved, unless otherwise directed by law, from any future sale of the public lands, and be appropriated to the sole purpose of supplying timber for the Navy of the United States; but nothing in this section contained shall be construed to prejudice the prior rights of any person claiming lands, which may be reserved in the manner herein provided. 3 Stat. 347; R. S. 2459. U. S. v. Briggs, 9 How. 351. 2 Op. Att. Gen. 524. Cir. G. L. O., Aug. 8, 1831 (2 Laws, Instructions, and Opinions, 455). live-oak and-red SEC. 267. The President is authorized to employ so much, Protection of of the land and naval forces of the United States as may cedar timber. be necessary effectually to prevent the felling, cutting down, or other destruction of the timber of the United States in Florida, and to prevent the transportation or carrying away any such timber as may be already felled or cut down; and to take such other and further measures as may be deemed advisable for the preservation of the timber of the United States in Florida. struction of live 3 Stat. 651; R. S. 2460. Schulenberg v. Harriman, 21 Wall. 44. SEC. 268. If any person shall cut, or cause or procure to Cutting or debe cut, or aid, assist, or be employed in cutting, or shall oak or red-cedar; wantonly destroy, or cause or procure to be wantonly de- penalty. stroyed, or aid, assist, or be employed in wantonly destroying any live-oak or red-cedar trees, or other timber standing, growing, or being on any lands of the United States, which, in pursuance of any law passed, or hereafter to be passed, have been reserved or purchased for the use of the United States, for supplying or furnishing therefrom timber for the Navy of the United States; or if any person shall remove, or cause or procure to be removed, or aid, or assist, or bé |
