FREE USE OF TIMBER AND STONE.
The law gives the Secretary of Agriculture discretion to allow or refuse the free use of forest reserve timber and stone, under such regulations as he may prescribe, by "bona fide settlers, miners, residents, and prospectors for minerals, for firewood, fencing, building, mining, prospecting, and other domestic purposes as may be needed by such persons for such purposes; such timber to be used within the State or Territory, respectively, where such reservations may be located, and by the United States."
(p. 17)
REG. 4. The free use privilege may be granted to settlers, farmers, prospectors, or similar persons who may not reasonably be required to purchase, and who have not on their own lands or claims, or on lands controlled by them, a sufficient or practically accessible supply of timber or stone for the purposes named in the law. It may also be granted to school and road districts, churches, or cooperative organizations of settlers desiring to construct roads, ditches, reservoirs, or similar improvements for mutual or public benefit. Free use of material to be employed in any business will be refused, as, for example, to sawmill proprietors, owners of large establishments or commercial enterprises, and companies and corporations. The free use privilege will not be given to any trespasser.
Whether an applicant is entitled to free use or not must be decided by the forest officer who receives the application. In all cases not clearly covered by the letter of the regulations he should be guided by their spirit, especially as expressed by the term "those who may not reasonably be required to purchase," and by the distinction between personal and commercial use. A member of a corporation is not necessarily debarred from free use of fuel for his own home, although his ability to secure it from another source should be considered if the reserve supply is limited and in demand by more needy applicants. On the other hand, although a settler may receive a liberal allowance for his own use, he is not entitled to free material for sale or profit. There is no more reason for giving a hotel keeper or a merchant timber without charge, solely to build or warm his hotel or store, than for giving him a stock of goods, yet it need not be refused the proprietor of a small establishment when it will be used chiefly by himself and his family. Prospectors should be assisted to develop their properties, but owners of revenue-producing mines should be required to buy.
REG. 5. Except in cases of great and unusual need, no applicant will be given more than two free use permits in one year, nor may the aggregate amount of material granted in the two permits exceed $20 in value, except in the case of schools or road districts, churches, and noncommercial cooperative organizations, when the supervisor may, in his discretion, extend the amount to any value not exceeding $100. The duration of any permit will be fixed by the issuing of officer, and will not exceed six months. In cases of unusual emergency, however, it may be extended by the supervisor, or, if for $20 or less, by a ranger authorized to grant free use.
REG. 6. All supervisors, all forest rangers and deputy forest rangers, and such other forest officers as the supervisor may designate, are authorized to grant or refuse free use permits up to $20 in value under these regulations, and to make such restrictions as to quality, amount, location, and removal as they deem necessary to protect the reserves. It is their duty to furnish cheerful assistance to applicants, to act promptly upon all applications, and, in general, to follow as liberal a policy in the matter of free use as the interests of the reserves and the proper performance of their other work will allow.
The free use business of forest reserves may be conducted mainly by the rangers. Subject only to general restrictions, instructions, and supervision, they will decide the rights of applicants to the privilege, assign and direct the removal of material, and be responsible for results.
REG. 7. No free use material may be taken without a permit. Application for a permit may be made verbally or in writing to any officer authorized to grant it. If it receives his approval he will see that the applicant understands the regulations governing the privilege, and will fix the amount, kind, and location of the material, and the terms under which it must be taken.
Both the forest officer and the applicant will sign an agreement to these conditions upon the prescribed form, which will be forwarded at once to the supervisor as a part of the records of his office. The permit will be filled out, signed, and delivered to the applicant by the forest officer, who will also record it upon the form in his notebook.
No map, estimate sheet, forest description, or report need be made unless desired by the forest officer for his own use. The agreement forwarded to the supervisor should contain sufficient information to enable the latter to record the case properly. Any additional facts may be stated in a letter. The forest officer issuing the permit, unless he should be the supervisor, who may instruct a ranger to do so, should designate the timber to be cut, by the most practicable means, not necessarily uniform in every case. Living timber must be marked. Dead timber may be marked or, if practicable, an area may be blazed or defined by natural boundaries, and the class of trees to be taken specified. The procedure should be made as simple and economical for both the user and the forest officer as is possible without danger to reserve interests.
Although simple methods and the exercise of judgement are encouraged, there should nevertheless be no tendency to underrate the importance of free use business or the necessity of considering the good of the reserve. The use of dead material should be encouraged, and the assignment of green timber, when really necessary, must be where it can best be spared. Low stumps and full use of all trees cut must be required, as well as careful disposal of refuse. Officers in charge of cutting will be held responsible if unnecessary damage is done to young growth or standing timber, or if the reproduction of the forest is not properly considered. The violation of any of the regulations governing free use or of the terms of permit constitutes trespass and should be dealt with accordingly; but there should be no failure on the part of the forest officer to make all points clear to the applicant before the permit is granted.
REG. 8. Timber granted under a free use permit may be cut by an agent or may be sawed by a local sawmill, but the work so done must not be paid for by a share of the material.
Moreover, the cutting, sawing, and hauling must
be done as required by the forest officer, so that he may be assured the
timber is used for the proper purpose.
This page created by Arleen Fields
USDA Forest Service History Collection