Glass Sl^ -4?^ 
Book^_Ai 



(^ 



(Issued March 27, 1911.) 

United States Department of Agriculture, 

^.1 FOREST SERVICE. 
HENRY S. GRAVES, Forester. 



PURCHASE OF LAND UNDER THE WEEKS LAW IN THE 
SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN AND WHITE MOUNTAINS. 



GENERAL INFORMATION. 

The act of Congress approved March 1, 1911 (Public, No. 435), 
created a National Forest Reservation Commission and authorizes 
the acquisition of lands on the watersheds of navigable streams for 
the purpose of conserving their navigability. The Secretary of 
Agriculture is authorized and directed to examine, locate, and recom- 
mend to the Commission for purchase such lands as in his judgment 
may be necessary to the regulation of the flow of navigable streams, 
and he is authorized to purchase, in the name of the United States, 
such lands as have been approved for purchase by the National 
Forest Reservation Commission at the price or prices fixed by said 
Commission. The full text of the law is to be found on page 7. 

The general purpose of this law is to secure the maintenance of a 

perpetual growth of forest on the watersheds of 

urpose navigable streams where such growth will materially 

aid in preventing floods, in improving low waters, in 

preventing erosion of steep slopes and the silting up of the river 

channels, and thereby improve the flow of water for navigation. 

While the improvement of the flow of navigable streams is the 
fundamental purpose, other benefits iucidental in 
- ' character but nevertheless important will be kept 

in view. Among these are (1) protection against 
disastrous erosion of the soil on mountain slopes and against the 
destruction of the soil and soil cover by forest fires; (2) preservation 
of water powers, since, like navigation, they depend for their value 
upon the evenness of streamflow; (3) preservation of the purity aijd 
regularity of flow of the mountain streams, with a view to their use 
for the water supply of to\^^ls and cities ; (4) preservation of a timber 
supply to meet the needs of the industries of the country; (5) pres- 
ervation of the beauty and attractiveness of the uplands for the 
recreation and pleasure of the people. 

85380°— 11 



Aside from its application to the watersheds of navigable streams, 
the law is not restricted to particular regions, except 

Restrictions. that lands may be purchased only in the States 
whose legislatures have consented to the acquisition 
of such land by the United States for the purpose of preserving the 
navigability of navigable streams. The States which have passed 
such legislation and in which purchases are now contemplated are: 
Maine, New Hampshire, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North 
Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia. 

The sources of the navigable streams which have their origin 
in the Rocky Mountains or the mountains nearer the Pacific coast 
are already to a large extent protected by National Forests. The 
Appalachian Mountains, including the White Mountains, are for the 
most part without such protection. Because of their altitude, 
steepness, and lack of protection they are in a class by themselves 
in their need for the action authorized under this law. 

The first lands to be examined for purchase will therefore be in 
this region. The area needing protection in the 

First examina- Appalachians is very large. It is far larger than 

tions to be limited , uiM.ii.iri • x i 

. , . . can be purchased with the runds appropriated 

to Appalachian , ,, • , nr i t/v • . i 

and White Moun- under this law. Much dinerence exists, however, 

tain regions. in the character of the lands in different parts of the 

region. Mountains are higher, slopes steeper, rain- 
fall heavier, and the soil more easily washed in some sections than 
in others. 

Careful examinations made during the past 10 years in practically 

all parts of the Appalachian region have proven 

Purchases to that the conditions which affect streamflow to an 

be recommended extreme extent are to be found in relatively limited 

on y in cer ain g^j.gg^g These areas are scattered more or less widely. 

By careful selection of the tracts it will be possible to 

do much for the permanent improvement of the watersheds by the 

purchase of only a part of the mountainous region. 

Within these areas not all, and in some cases not a very large 
proportion, of the land will be needed by the Government for the 
purpose in view. Just what lands should be purchased will be deter- 
mined in every case as a result of a careful examination. 

Some of the important areas are already known, and the purpose of 
this circular is to invite proposals for the sale of lands 

roposa s or .^^^j^^j^ them. A list of such areas is to be found on 
sale invited. 

page 4, and a blank form and an official envelope to 

be used in making proposal for sale accompany this circular. Addi- 
tional copies of the blank may be had upon application to the Forester, 
Forest Service, Washington, D. C. The blank should be accurately 
and fully filled out and mailed, securely sealed in the envelope. If 

'"' /Jif 11). 
(i^AVa7 1912 



'.} possible, a map showing the boundaries of the iract should be sub 

mitted with the proposal for sale. If the proposal is satisfactory, 

- the Secretary of Agriculture will expect the owner to execute to him 

S an option on the land for a reasonable length of time. 

t^ Lands of the following classes will be considered for pitrchase when 

4 they he within a designated area: (1) Timbered 

\'^ deske^d^^° ^ lands, including both land and timber; or the land, 

with the timber reserved to the owner under rules of 

cutting to be agreed upon at the time of sale; (2) cut-over or culled 

lands; (3) brush or burned land not bearing merchantable timber in 

quantity, but covered with a growth of brush which is useful for 

watershed protection, and burned land whether covered with young 

timber growth or not; (4) abandoned farm land, whether remaining 

cleared or partially covered by timber growth. Good agricultural 

lands will not be considered. 

Where valuable mineral deposits are known to exist, the right to 
remove such deposits may be reserved to the owner, under conditions 
to be agreed upon, such conditions to be incorporated in the written 
instrument of conveyance. 

Lands lying within the designated areas can not be recommended 
for purchase unless examination by the United States Geological 
Survey shows that their control will promote or protect the naviga- 
tion of streams on whose watersheds they lie. 

Lands proposed at exorbitant prices will not be considered. The 
Lands consid- holding of land at too high a price in any of the 
ered only when areas will prevent the Government from undertaking 
offered cheap. purchases within it. 

No limitation is put upon the size of tracts to be proposed for sale. 
. . Proposals will be received for small as well as for 
to si°zrof"rac°!^ *^ ^^^^^ tracts within the areas designated, but small 
tracts can only be examined when they lie adjacent 
to or near large tracts which are being examined or where the aggre- 
gate of all tracts offered for sale is sufficient to justify an examination. 
The right of any landowner to deal through an agent is, of course, 
Not necessary to recognized. The placing of lands in agents' hands, 
sell through an however, is unnecessary, as the owners themselves 
agent. may deal direct with the Government. 

The lands purchased by the Government under this law are to be 
included in National Forests. Such Forests will in 
by the Government. '^^ ^^^ interfere with hunting and fishing within the 
areas. The laws of the States in which the Forests 
are located will apply as at present and the Forests will be open to 
anyone and everyone. The use of the Forests for all reasonable 
purposes, including recreation, will be encouraged. 



4 

In general the procedure in making purchases will be as follows : 

(1) The filing of proposal for sale of land by the 
Procedure in 

, . ^ , owner or owners, 

making purchases. , , „ . . » , , mi • • • -n 

(2) Examination of lands. Ihis examination will 

usually include a careful estimate of whatever timber is standing 
upon the tract, an estimate of the value of the tract as a whole for 
the production of timber, and the determination of its importance in 
regulating the flow of navigable streams. 

(3) Approval of lands for purchase by the National Forest Reser- 
vation Commission and the fixing of the purchase price or prices. 
Approval for purchase is given only after recommendation has been 
made by the Secretary of Agriculture on the basis of the field exami- 
nations. 

(4) Final negotiations with the owner or owners of lands as to terms 
of sale. 

(5) Examination of title. 

(6) Actual conveyance of the title of the land by the owner to the 
Government and payment therefor by the Government to the owner. 

AREAS WITHIN WHICH PROPOSALS FOR SALE ARE INVITED. 

The areas roughly designated in the following descriptions have 
been selected as those within which proposals will first be invited. 
Lands chiefly valuable for agriculture are not desired, and where such 
lands occur within the areas described they will not be recommended 
for purchase, unless such lands occur in such small scattered areas that 
their exclusion would be impracticable. 

WHITE MOUNTAIN AREA, NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MAINE. 

Lands on the Carter-Moriah Range of Mountains in the townships 
of Shelburne and Gorham, on the Presidential Range in the town- 
ships of Gorham and Randolph, on Cherry Mountain and the Dart- 
mouth Range in the township of Carroll, and lands in the Low and 
Burbank Grant, Thompson and Meserve Purchase, Bean Purchase, 
Martin Location, Green Grant, Pinkham Grant, Bean Grant, Cutts 
Grant, Sargent Purchase, and Hadley Purchase, in the county of 
Coos in the State of New Hampshire ; lands on the Franconia Range of 
Mountains, the Little River Mountains and the Rosebrook Mountains 
in the township of Bethlehem, the Franconia Range of Mountains in 
the townships of Franconia and Easton, on Mount Mousilauke, Mount 
Kineo and Mount Carr, in the township of Warren, on Mount Carr in 
the townships of Wentworth and Rumney, and Black Hill and Mount 
Kineo in the township of Ellsworth; lands above an altitude of 1,000 
feet in the township of Woodstock; lands east of the Pemigewasset 
River in the township of Thornton; and lands in the townships of 
Benton, Waterville, Luicoln, and Livermore in the county of Grafton 



in the State of New Hampshire; lands above an elevation of 1,000 
feet in the townships of Chatham, Jackson, Bartlett, and Albany, and 
on the Sandwich Range of Mountains in the township of Sandwich in 
the county of Carroll in the State of New Hampshire; and lands in 
Batchelders Grant in the county of Oxford in the State of Maine. 

YOTJGHIOGHENY AREA, MARYLAND. 

Lands in Garrett County, situated on the main watershed of the 
Youghiogheny River between the towns of Oakland and Friendsville, 
west of Hooppole Ridge and Negro Mountain. 

POTOMAC AREA, VIRGINIA AND WEST VIRGINIA. 

Lands in Virginia situated in Shenandoah County west of Stony 
Creek and Little North Mountain and south of Capola Mountain; 
lands in Rockingham County west of Little North Mountain and 
north of Slate Springs and Rawley Springs ; lands in West Virginia in 
Pendleton County east of Moorefield River and north of Little Fork; 
lands in Hardy County east of Moorefield River and south of North 
River. 

MONONGAHELA AREA, WEST VIRGINIA. 

Lands situated in Randolph County, on the watersheds of Dry 
Fork, Laurel Fork, Glady Fork, and Shavers Fork, and on the water- 
sheds of the eastern tributaries of Valley River south of the town of 
Elkins, and on the watershed of the West Fork of Greenbrier River; 
in northern Pocahontas County, lands situated on the watershed of 
Greenbrier River west of East Fork and Deer Creek, and north of the 
junction of the Greenbrier River and North Fork; and lands on the 
upper watershed of Shavers Fork of Cheat River. 

MASSANUTTEN MOUNTAIN AREA, VIRGINIA. 

Lands in Rockingham, Shenandoah, Warren, and Page Counties, 
situated between the North and South Forks of Shenandoah River, 
comprising in general Massanutten Mountain north of McGaheysviile 
post office and south of Waterlick post office. 

NATURAL BRIDGE AREA, VIRGINIA. 

Lands situated on the Blue Ridge and outlying mountains in 
Northern Bedford County; in Botetourt County east of Buchanan 
and south of the James River; and in Rockbridge County south of 
the James River. 

WHITE TOP AREA, TENNESSEE AND VIRGINIA. 

Lands comprising the main ranges of the Iron Mountains in 
northeastern Johnson County, Tenn., and eastward through Wash- 
ington, Smyth, Grayson, and Wythe Counties, Va. 



YADKIN AREA, NORTH CAROLINA. 

Lands in Wilkes, Caldwell, and Watauga Counties, situated on 
streams flowing into the Yadkin River from the north lying west 
of the post offices of Louis Fork, Purlear, Mulberry, and Hall Mills. 

MOUNT MITCHELL AREA, NORTH CAROLINA. 

Lands in Buncombe County situated on the Great Craggy Moun- 
tains; lands in Yancy County situated on the Black Mountains and 
South Toe River watershed south of the post office of Micaville; lands 
in McDowell County situated north of the main branch and west of 
the North Fork of the Catawba River; and lands in southwestern 
Mitchell County south of Brush Creek and west of Mica post office. 

SMOKY MOUNTAIN AREA, NORTH CAROLINA AND TENNESSEE. 

Lands in North Carolina situated in Haywood County north and 
west of Jonathan Creek and west of Pigeon River below the mouth 
of Jonathan Creek; in Swain County north of the Little Tennessee 
and Tuckasegee Rivers; lands in Tennessee in Cocke County south 
of Denny Mountain and the Big Pigeon River; in Sevier County 
south of Chest-nut Ridge, Galtinburg post office, and Cove Mountain; 
and in Blount County south of Roundtop Mountain and Tuckaleeche 
post office and east of Hesse Creek and Abram Creek. 

PISGAH AREA, NORTH CAROLINA. 

Lands situated in Jackson County north of Little Hogback Moun- 
tain, Laurel Mountain, Sheep Cliff, and ShortofF Mountain, and east 
of Buck Knob, East Laport post office, and Carver Mountain, and 
south of the Asheville and Murphy Branch of the Southern Railroad ; 
lands in Haywood County south of Pinnacle Knob, Snaggy Ridge, and 
the post offices of Three Forks, Cecil, Retreat, and Cruso; lands in 
Buncombe County south of Dunsmore post office and Stony Knob; 
lands in Henderson County west of Seniard Mountain and Buck 
Knob; and lands in Transylvania County north of the Henderson- 
ville and Lake Toxaway Branch of the Southern Railroad, and Lake 
Toxaway, and west of the Boylston Creek, 

NANTAHALA AREA, NORTH CAROLINA AND TENNESSEE. 

Lands in North Carolina in Swain County west of Little Tennessee 
River; lands in Macon County on the Nantahala Mountains and the 
watershed of the Nantahala River; lands in Clay County on Valley 
River Mountains, Tusquitee Mountain, Vineyard Mountain, and 
Chunky Gal Mountain; lands in Cherokee County on Valley River 
Mountains, Snowbird Mountains, and Unaka Mountains; lands in 
Graham County south of the Little Tennessee River; lands in 



Tennessee in Monroe County south and east of Salt Spring Mountain, 
Sassafras Mountain, and on the watershed of Tellico River above 
the mouth of Wild Cat Creek. 

SAVANNAH AREA, GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Lands situated in Rabun and Habersham Counties, Ga., and in 
Oconee County, S. C, on the watershed of the Chattooga River 
above Ramsey Ferry; in Oconee County, S. C, on the watershed of 
the Chauga River; in Rabun County, Ga., on the watershed of th/e 
Tallulah River, south of Plumorchard Creek; in Habersham and 
White Counties, Ga., on the watersheds of Soque and Chattahoo- 
chee Rivers north of Pinnacle Mountain, Grimes Nose, and Yellow 
Mountain. 

[Public— No. 435.] 

[H. R. 11798.] 

AN ACT To enable any State to cooperate with any other State or States, or with the United States, for 
the protection of the watersheds of navigable streams, and to appoint a commission for the acquisition of 
lands for the purpose of conserving the navigablity of navigable rivers. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled, That the consent of the Congress of the United States is hereby- 
given to each of the several States of the Union to enter into any agreement or com- 
pact, not in conflict with any law of the United States, with any other State or States 
for the purpose of conserving the forests and the water supply of the States entering 
into such agreement or compact. 

Sec. 2. That the sum of two hundred thousand dollars is hereby appropriated and 
made available until expended, out of any moneys in the National Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated, to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to cooperate with any 
State or group of States, when requested to do so, in the protection from fire of the 
forested watersheds of navigable streams; and the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby 
authorized, and on such conditions as he deems wise, to stipulate and agree with any 
State or group of States to cooperate in the organization and maintenance of a system 
of fire protection on any private or state forest lands within such State or States and 
situated upon the watershed of a navigable river: Provided, That no such stipulation 
or agreement shall be made with any State which has not provided by law for a sys- 
tem of forest-fire protection: Provided further. That in no case shall the amount expended 
in any State exceed in any fiscal year the amount appropriated by that State for the 
same purpose during the same fiscal year. 

Sec. 3. That there is hereby appropriated, for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, 
nineteen hundred and ten, the sum of one million dollars, and for each fiscal year 
thereafter a sum not to exceed two million dollars for use in the examination, survey, 
and acquirement of lands located on the headwaters of navigable streams or those 
which are being or which may be developed for navigable purposes: Provided, That 
the provisions of this section shall expire by limitation on the thirtieth day of June, 
nineteen hundred and fifteen. 

Sec. 4. That a commission, to be known as the National Forest Reservation Com- 
mission, consisting of the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary 
of Agriculture, and two members of the Senate, to be selected by the President of the 
Senate, and two members of the House of Representatives, to be selected by the 
Speaker, is hereby created and authorized to consider and pass upon such lands as may 
be recommended for purchase as provided in section six of this Act. and to fix the price 



8 

or prices at which such lands may be purchased, and no purchases shall be made of 
any lands until such lauds have been duly approved for purchase by said commission: 
Provided, That the members of the commission herein created shall serve as si^ch 
only during their incumbency in their respective official positions, and any vacancy 
on the commission shall be filled in the manner as the original appointment. 

Sec. 5. That the commission hereby appointed shall, through its president, annually 
report to Congress, not later than the first Monday in December, the operations and 
expenditures of the commission, in detail, during the preceding fiscal year. 

Sec. 6. That the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized and directed to 
examine, locate, and recommend for purchase such lands as in his judgment may be 
necessary to the regulation of the flow of navigable streams, and to report to the National 
Forest Reservation Commission the results of such examinations: Provided, That 
before any lands are purchased by the National Forest Reservation Commission said 
lands shall be examined by the Geological Survey and a report made to the Secretary 
of Agriculture, showing that the control of such lands will promote or protect the 
navigation of streams on whose watersheds they lie. 

Sec. 7. That the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized to purchase, in the 
name of the United States, such lands as have been approved for purchase by the 
National Forest Reservation Commission at the price or prices fixed by said commis- 
sion: Provided, That no deed or othejf instrument of conveyance shall be accepted or 
approved by the Secretary of Agriculture under this Act until the legislature of the 
State in which the land lies shall have consented to the acquisition of such land by 
the United States for the purpose of preserving the navigability of navigable streams. 

Sec. 8. That the Secretary of Agriculture may do all things necessary to secure the 
safe title in the United States to the lands to be acquired under this Act, but no pay- 
ment shall be made for any such lands until the title shall be satisfactory to the Attor- 
ney-General and shall be vested in the United States. 

Sec 9. That such acquisition may in any case be conditioned upon the exception 
and reservation to the owner from whom title passes to the United States of the min- 
erals and of the merchantable timber, or either or any part of therp, within or upon 
such lands at the date of the conveyance, but in every case such exception and reser- 
vation and the time within which such timber shall be removed and the rules and 
regulations under which the cutting and removal of such timber and the mining and 
removal of such minerals shall be done shall be expressed in the written instrument 
of conveyance, and thereafter the mining,*cutting, and removal of the minerals and 
timber so excepted and reserved shall be done only under and in obedience to the 
rules and regulations so expressed. 

Sec 10. That inasmuch as small areas of land chiefly valuable for agriculture may 
of necessity or by inadvertence be included in tracts acquired under this Act, the 
Secretary of Agriculture may, in his discretion, and he is hereby authorized, upon 
application or otherwise, to examine and ascertain the location and extent of such 
areas as in his opinion may be occupied for agricultural purposes without injin-y to 
the forests or to stream flow and which are not needed for public purposes, and may 
list and describe the same by metes and bounds, or otherwise, and offer them for sale 
as homesteads at their true value, to be fixed by him, to actual settlers, in tracts not 
exceeding eighty acres in area, under such joint rules and regulations as the Secretary 
of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe; and in case of such 
sale the jurisdiction over the lands sold shall, ipso facto, revert to the State in which 
the lands sold lie. And no right, title, interest, or claim in or to any lands acquired 
under this Act, or the waters thereon, or the products, resources, or use thereof after 
such lands shall have been so acquired, shall be initiated or perfected, except as in 
this section provided. 

Sec. 11. That, subject to the provisions of the last preceding section, the lands 
acquired under this Act shall be permanently reserved, held, and administered as 



national forest lands under the provisions of section twenty-four of the Act approved 
March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one (volume twenty-six, Statutes at 
Large, page eleven hundred and three), and Acts supplemental to and amendatory 
thereof. And the Secretary of Agriculture may from time' to time divide the lands 
acquired under this Act into such specific national forests and so designate the same 
as he may deem best for administrative purposes. 

Sec. 12. That the jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, over persons upon the 
lands acquired under this act shall not be affected or changed by their permanent 
reservation and administration as national forest lands, except so far as the punish- 
ment of offenses against the United States is concerned, the intent and meaning of 
this section being that the State wherein such land is situated shall not, by reason of 
such reservation and administration, lose its jurisdiction nor the inhabitants thereof 
their rights and privileges as citizens or be absolved from their duties as citizens of 
the State. 

Sec 13. That five per centum of all moneys received during any fiscal year from 
each national forest into which the lands acquired under this act may from time to 
time be di\'ided shall be paid, at the end of such year, by the Secretary of the Treasury 
to the State in which such national forest is situated, to be expended as the state 
legislature may prescribe for the benefit of the public schools and public roads of the 
county or counties in which such national forest is situated: Provided, That when any 
national forest is in more than one State or county the distributive share to each from 
the proceeds of such forest shall be proportional to its area therein: Provided further. 
That there shall not be paid to any State for any county an amount equal to more than 
forty per centum of the total income of such county from all other sources. 

Sec. 14. That a sum sufficient to pay the necessary expenses of the commission 
and its members, not to exceed an annual expenditure of twenty-five thousand 
dollars, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise ap- 
propriated. Said appropriation shall be immediately available, and shall be paid 
out on the audit and order of the president of the said commission, which audit and 
order shall be conclusive and binding upon all departments as to the correctness of 
the accounts of said commission. 

Approved, March 1, 1911. 

o