Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-03-20
MANY COAL LANDS IN WEST
Coal Tonnage Will Foot Up Into the
Billions of Tons.
SYSTEM OF SALE Is CHANGED
Some Land that Formerly Sold at Ten
and Twenty Dollars Now sold Up
to -Four and SIX Hundred
an Acre.

WASHINGTON. March P.-over 7o.OOo,-
OO0 acres Of coal la7 : in the west is stu
owned by Uncle SAM The coal tonnage
Of this land is rtupsssss ..lfsI. ~ can he rE-
ured only in hundreds OF billions Of tons.
Some tracts are Of immense value. con-
tanning beds of the highest grade coal,
thirty. forty. fifty and even eighty feet
OF more in thickness. The old way was
to sell the coal lsnd, regardless Of value,
at the absurd price Of SO an acre II it
was more than fifteen miles from a rail-
road or al so II within that limit The
present way is 10 measure up the coal in
an acre and sell the land on the cOal ton
nage basis. AS a result coal land has been
priced a. high as $500 an acre and in one
tract at even 500 an acre since March
4. 1893. the geological survey has classified
/ by individual forty-acre tracts S527 .l55
acres Of government coal lands with
total valuation Of S5sO,I5.OSl. and this,
added TO the results Of former work. gives
q total Of Is. $50 53S acres classified as coal
lands. at a valuation Of Ssg7. .6ls. as At the
SlO-S9o minimum rate these lands would
have a valuation Of Sis. .2ss si2. which
shows a net gain TO the government Of
nearly s430O Oo0Oo0. 1t may be noted that
the proceeds of coal land sales are all de-
lposited 10 the credit OF the Irrigation
reclamation fund
The scheme under which this geological
classification and tonnage valuation has
been worked out is remarkably accurate
and scientific. The " rk involved in the
classification Of the nations coal fields is
Immense. The best evidence Of its ade-
lQuacy Is the ready acceptance OF the ton
mage estimates and valuations by the coal
lland purchasers and the fact that the geo
logical survey is constantly receiving ap-
ipicauons and petitions 10 have various
coal tracts 50 classified. In addition this
administration has Withdrawn 62lS0 SIS
acres OF probable coal LAND as a result
iof geological field examinations and has
lrestOred 10 agricultural entry lsOJ5G
lscres found 10 be non-cosl in character
A single Montana withdrawal made Iasi
July. included q, 90. S65 acres. The Goa
tonnage Of this area is almost incredible
IA single forty-acre tract. for example
contains over 10000 tons OF coal The
present outstanding Withdrawals awaiting
geological classification aggregate sO,Og7 Ssi
lacres.
Large Oh Land Withdrawal
Another public fuel resource in who's,
conservation Uncle sam is taking an &C
tive interest Is oil Many Of the public Ian,
states are underlain with petroleum de
posits. natural gas also Is a frequent assO
ciate resource. The geological survey esti
mate reported two years ago 10 the Ma
/ tional Conservation commission Of the OF
: contained in the California deposits alone
places the figure as high as $500 OO0 90 bar
rels, although this is admittedly conserva
, tive Careful geological examination ha
been made Of the western oil fields. an,
, public examination has been made OF IN
western oil fields. and public oil-land with
! drawals nov aggregate 37ss.5.2 acres d
% California, Oreson, Wyoming, Utah, Ney
b Mexico Colorado and Louisiana. Thes
Withdrawals are made in aid Of propose
I legislation, the present gold-placer la'
under which of OF gas land must be GO
E Quired being absuTdly inadequate and ais
e providing no means for the government {
r retain an oil supply for the navy IN whic
r every new ship is nov equipped with of
burning furnaces
COnservinG Public water Powers.
o Wster-p0wer Withdrawals on public land
/, by the geological survey IN AID Of propose
! legislation have Included thousands, q
. power-sites Withdrawals made during N
! last Two years cover l6l streams in tWely
states and include Ls0264 acres.
Even the Classification Of agricultur,
land In the west has devolved upon n
geological survey. ana 1ss.ol6s5s acres nav
4 been designated during the last two yeaI
,contnusa On second PsssJ