The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-05-03
PROTESTS OF FOREST SERVICE
AGAINST MINERAL PATENTS.

Applicants for patent 10 ihihera'
claims situated on forest reserves
have much to encourage them IN the
decision of the commissioner of the
general land office on the Columbus
group, published in the last issue OF
The Miner As is usually the case,
the protest against patent was based
on an investigation and report by the
EXPERT engineers and biologists of the
forest service, men without practical
mining experience, fresh from college,
and unfortunately generally Impress
cd with an exaggerated idea of their
own Importance and superior WIS
dom. To them the boundary line or
forest reserves encloses a sacred pre-
cinct which must never be mutilated
or despoiled by tunnels and shafts
The mineral wealth under ground Is
as nothing compared with the trees
on the surface, or as matter or fact
the surface without trees, for the west
is dotted with forest reserves with
out forests. When one considers the
vast areas in the mining states COW
cred by forest reserves, and that most
OF them are necessarily composed
nd hat tho
policy that creates and maintains
them Is based to a great extent on
hostility to the mining industry, 1t is
easy to understand why the pros
rector and miner have been handi-
capped and harrassed in their efforts
to discover and develop mines within
forest reserves.
The attitude of the forest service
was strikingly disclosed in the Column
bus case. The fact that the Columbus
group of claims had been held for
years by experienced mining men;
that the value of the ground was so
apparent that the question of owner
ship had been tried out in the dis
trict and supreme court of Idaho;
that more than $4,000 had been spent
in development work, and that the
showing, in the opinion of local min
ing engineers and biologists of high
standing, justified further expend-
ture, carried no weight with the min
ing experts of the forest service.
They asserted that after all these
years of development and large ex-
penditure, the owners had not even
made a valid mineral discovery, and
that on at least one claim the requis-
tie $500 had not been expended. In
plicant, the absurdity of the conten-
ton of the forest service must have
been apparent to the commissioner
when he penned this paragraph:
"rhe preponderance of testimony,
not only as to number of witnesses,
but especially as to experience in that
particular district, is strongly in IA
Nor of the validity of the locations in
Nolved. This is region where deep
mining is the rule and in which COM
mercial ore is not often found out
cropping at the surface. 1t is the
consensus Of opinion of the witnesses
for defendant that the comparatively |
small veins shown in the several dis
covery cuts of the disputed claims
have direct communication and con-
nection with commercial ore at depth |
and are such indications as would in |
that locality, warrant a man of or !
binary prudence to expend further |
time and money, with a reasonable |
expectation of developing paying |
mine"
Although it was shown that the |
Columbus people had spent $1,000 in |
making a grade for flume in order |
TO utilize water power in the develop
nent of the property, the forest SER
vice objected to allowing credit for
the amount as not a proper expendi-
ture in the proceedings for patent.
The commissioner was equally ex-
plicit in overruling this objection. He
says:
No reason is apparent why the
iiame grade valued at $1,000, claimed J.