SALE OF TIMBER.
22. The following provision is made for the sale of timber within forest reservations in limited quantaties:
For the purpose of preserving the living and growing timber and promoting the younger growth on forest reservations, the Secretary of the Interior, under such rules and regulations as he shall prescribe, may cause to be designated and appraised so much of the dead, matured, or large growth of trees found upon such forest reservations as may be compatible with the utilization of the forests thereon, and may sell the same, for not less than the appraised value, in such quantities to each purchaser as he shall prescribe, to be used in the State or Territory in which such timber reservation may he situated, respectively, but not for export therefrom. Before such sale shall take place, notice thereof shall be given by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, for not less than sixty days, by publication in a newspaper of general circulation, published in the county in which the timber is situated, if any is therein published, and, if not, then in a newspaper of general circulation published nearest to the reservation, and also in a newspaper of general circulation published at the capital of the State or Territory where such reservation exists; payments for such timber to be made to the receiver of the local land office of the district wherein said timber may be sold, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe; and the moneys arising therefrom shall be accounted for by the receiver of such land office to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, in a separate account, and shall be covered into the Treasury. Such timber, before being sold, shall be marked and designated, and shall be cut and removed under the supervision of some person appointed for that purpose by the Secretary of the Interior, not interested in the purchase or removal of such timber nor in the employment of the purchaser thereof. Such supervisor shall make a report in writing to the Commissioner of the General Land Office and to the receiver in the land office in which such reservation shall be located of his doings in the premises.
The sale of timber is optional, and the Secretary may exercise his discretion at all times as to the necessity or desirability of any sale.
23. While sales of timber may be directed by this Department without previous request from private individuals, petitions from responsible persons for the sale of timber in particular localities will be considered. Such petitions must describe the land upon which the timber stands, by legal subdivisions, if surveyed; if unsurveyed, as definitely as possible by natural landmarks; the character of the country, whether rough steep or mountainous, agricultural or mineral, or valuable chiefly for its forest growth; and state whether or not the removal of the timber would result injuriously to the objects of forest reservation. If any of the timber is dead, estimate the quantity in feet, board measure, with the value, and state whether killed by fire or other cause. Of the live timber, state the different kinds and estimate the quantity of each kind in trees per acre. Estimate the average diameter of each kind of timber, and estimate the number of trees of each kind per acre above the average diameter. State the number of trees of each kind above the average diameter it is desired to have offered for sale, with an estimate of the number of feet, board measure, therein, and an estimate of the value of the timber as it stands. These petitions must be filed in the proper local land office for transmission to the Commissioner of the General Land Office.
24. Before any sale is authorized the timber will be examined and appraised, and other questions involved duly investigated, by an official designated for the purpose; and upon his report action will be based.
25. When a sale is ordered, notice thereof will be given by publication by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, in accordance with the law above quieted; and if the timber to be sold stands in more than one county, published notice will be given in each of the counties, in addition to the required general publication.
