Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1898-03-12
FOREST RESERVES.
Rules and Regulations Governing, and
the Text Of the Law Under w hich
They are Prescribed.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.
GENERAL LAND OFFICE,

the Text of the Law Under Which
They are Prescribed.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
GENERAL LAND OFFICE,
WASHINGTON, ID. Z. June 80, 1897. J
| /. Under the authority vested in the
secretary of the Interior by the act of
Congress, approved June 4, 1897, entitled
An act making appropriations for sun
dry civil expenses Of the government
for the fiscal year ending June 80, 1898,
and for other purposes" to make such
rules and regulations and establish such
service as will insure the objects for
which forest reservations are created
under section "a of the act of March 8,
| 1891 (26 Stat, l0J5), the following rules
and regulations are hereby prescribed
and promulgated:
OBJECT OF FOREST RESERVATIONS
z. Public forest reservations are es
tablished TO protect and improve the
forests for the purpose of securing per-
manent supply OF timber for the people
and iBsuring conditions favorable to
continuous water flow.
3. 1t is the intention TO exclude from
these reservations, as far as possible,
lands that are more valuable for the
mineral therein, or for agriculture, than
for forest purposes and where such
lands are embraced within the bounda-
ries ofa reservation. they may be restor.
ed to settlement, location, and entry.
PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF LAW
AND REGULATIONS.
T. The law under which these reg.
ulations are made provides that any
violations Of the provisions thereof. or Of
any rule and regulations hereunder,
shall be punished as is provided for IL
the act of June 4, 1883 (25 Stat, l66),
amending section 1888 Of the Revised
Statutes. which reads as follows:
That section ffty-three hundred and eighty.
eight OF the Revised Statutes OF the United States
be amended so as 10 read as follows: Every
person who unlawiuly cuts, or aids or il eni-
ployed In unlawfully cutting, or wantony de-
sroys or procures TO be wantony destroyed,
any timber standing upon the land Of the United
states which, In pursuance of law. may be re.
served OF purchased for military or other pur- |
poses, or upon any Indian reservation, or lands
under authority Of the United States, shall pay
hne OF not more than fye hundred dollars or |
be imprisoned not more than twelve months. or
Doth, IN the discretion of the court"
This provision is additional TO the
penalties now existing in respect TO |
punishment for depredations on the |
public timber. The government has, !
also, all the common-law civil remedies. |
whether for the prevention or redress Of |
injuries, which individuals possess.
b. The act Of February "a, 1897, (29 |
Stat, 594). entitled "An act to prevent
forest fires on the public domain" pro-
yides,
That any person who shall wilfully or mahci- |
ously SET on hre, or cause TO be set on FIRE, any
timber, underbrush. or grass upon the public |
domain, or shall caTelessly or negligently leave
or suffer hre 70 burn unattended near any tim
ber or other lnfamable material, shall be DEEM
cd guilty OF misdemeanor, and upon conviction |
thereof In any district court OF the United States
having jurisdiction OF the same, shall be fined In
a sum not more than nve thousand dollars or I
be imprisoned for term OF not more than two |
years, or both.
camp FIRE, or other are in or near any iors.t
timber, or other infiamable materiai upon tine 4
leaving said fire, totally extinguish the same; |
ANY person falling 10 do so shall be deemed |
guilty OF misdemeanor, and upon conviction |
thereof In any district court OF the United states
having jurisdiction OF the same, shall be fined In
a sum not more than one Thousand dollars, or |
be imprisoned for term Of not more than one
See 8. That in all cases arising under this |
act the fines collected shall be paid into the
public school fund OF the county IN which the
lands where the offense was committed are
situate.
Large areas Of the public forests are
annually destroyed by fire, originating
in many instances through the careless
ness Of prospectors. campers. hun,ers,
sheep herders, and others, while in some
cases the fires are started with malicious
intent So great is the importance Of
protecting forests from fires, that this
department will make special effort for
the enforcement Of the law against all
persons guilty Of starting or causing the
spread of forest fires in the reservations
in violation of the above provisions.
6. The law Of June 4, 1897. for forest
reserve regulations also provides. that
The Jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, over
persons within such reservations shall not be
affected or changed by reason OF the existence
OF such reservations except so far as the punish
ment Of ofenses against the United States there
I'm is concerned: the intent and meaning Of this
provision being that the state wherein any such
reservation Is situated shall not, by reason OF
the establishment thereof, lose rs jurisdiction,
nor the inhabitants thereof their rights and
privileges as citizens. or be absolyed from their
duties "A citizens of the state.