Show demartin De department partin eat of agriculture washington april 20 1916 hon henry L myers chairman committee on public lands landd united states senate dear senator myers I 1 vish ush to acknowledge receipt rif of a copy of the bill s to add certain catain lands to the ashley national forest uta utah and for aither purposes with tho the request fir information n as lq to the law and facts in relation thereto and for ouch cuch s bugs as this department inay see fk fit to offer the bill proposes that all lands re icv 1 l by the proclamation of the pr president c ident dated july 14 1905 as grazing crazing lands under authority of the joint resolution cf f june 1 19 1902 32 stat and 1 I nd acts amendatory thereof be include d within and made a part lf cf flis th ashey national forest f object to all laws affecting national forest it is also provided that the indians fo for r whom ahse grazing lands are arc reserved shall hall continue to have the right of free grazing on areas not chiefly valuable for agriculture in 1902 when the national 1 forest orest than then called for foist tt re ite serves were administered by the secretary of the interior a very thorough field examination was made by an experienced forest officer for the purpose of deter mining what lands in the then indian reservation should be permanently reserved for forest and watershed protection tec tion the act of march 3 1905 1965 33 stat 1070 authorized theares the president to set aside and reserve such him lands p as an addition to the uintah abre forest zt Re seive zeive before cranin crt nin the indian reservation with the proviso that the proceeds from any timber sold from such reserved lands prior to fo ayi 30 1920 should be paid to the indians under this authority and before opening the reservation er the president reser reserved vea all lands valuable for national forest purposes it appears therefore that none of the remaining lands are such as should properly prop propel eily ly be in eluded within a national forest since they are neither valuable for timber nor for stream flow regulation re ulion this department could not therefore recommend their addition to a national forest on the presumption that they are properly forest lands on the other hand it is realized that adjacent to the national forests in that region are very valuable abIe grazing lands which might be economically and advantageously aa administered ministered in connection with the national eforest forest lands these lands were specifically reserved for grazing purposes by the indians and in accordance with joint congles Con gres sion dional I 1 11 I 1 resolution no 31 approve ed june 19 1902 32 stat as expressed in the following section in III addition to the allotments in severalty to the uintah and white river utes of the uintah indian reservation in the state of I 1 utah the secretary of the interior shall before any of said lands are opened to disposition under any public land law select and set apart for the use in III common of the indians of that reservation i such an amount of non irn gable grazing lands therein a at on once c e or more places as will s the reasonable requirements of said indians for the grazing of live stock upon informal inquiry at the general land office it is learned that there are between bet veen and acres of this reserved grazing land which would be affected by the passage of the bill if Con giess gless prefer to have this department administer the grazing area for the indians in connection the ad of the ashley national forest no objection would be made if your committee should recommend that the arza aroa be designated as a grazing ruz i reserve this could be bb accomplished by striking out of the bill all after the comma in line 8 flown down to and including the word forests in line 10 and inserting hs hi lieu thereof established a as s a grazing reserve subject to the brov provisions inions of the act of june 11 1906 34 stat to be administered by the secretary of agriculture ri in connection with the ashley nati national L onal forest and any appropriation available for the administration protection and improvement of said national forest shall be available for the administration protection and improvement of said national forest shall be available for the administration protection and improvement of such grazing reservation er and the said secretary is hereby authorized to make such rules and regulations and establish such service as will insure the object of much such reserva tion and regulate its occupancy and use and any violation of such rules and regulations shall be as is provided for in section 56 of the federal penal code of march 4 1909 if the bill were thus amended i this department would have no objections to its passage but would suggest that the secretary of the interior be baked to report upon it since the reservation of the grazing lands was made by his department and he has charge of the administration of affairs of the indians very truly yours signed D F HOUSTON secretary |