SALE OF TIMBER IN FOREST RESERVES
GENERAL
1. Timber will be sold, both live and dead, wherever the removal of such material will be beneficial, or at least not detrimental, to the forest reserves.
2. In the disposition of this material the local demand will have preference, and, in localities where this local demand is so great that all available timber is likely to be needed, applications involving the export of the material to distant points will be refused.
HOW THE TIMBER MAY BE PURCHASED
1. The applicant who wishes to purchase timber will apply, in person or in writing, to the supervisor of the reserve, stating—
(a) How much timber he wishes to buy;
(b) The kind of material desired;
(c) Where the timber is located.
2. As soon as practicable the supervisor or his assistant will go over the ground with the applicant, and determine whether the timber may be sold, under what conditions, and at what price.
3. After an agreement is reached the applicant should sign a definite application, prepared on the regular form, with the assistance of the forest officer.
4. After this, the forest officer marks out the block or area where the timber may be cut, maps it, and estimates the amount of timber on the whole, and also the particular kind applied for. He also makes a general forest description of the tract, block, or quarter section.
5. Then the application, together with the forest officer's description and recommendation, is sent to the Department at Washington.
6. If approved, the timber will be advertised in a local paper for thirty days (sixty days in California). This advertisement will be waived only in cases where the amount involved in the sale is of $100 stumpage value, or less.
7. Bids on this timber will then be in order. These bids, together with a deposit (insuring the good faith of the bidder), should be sent by the bidders to the receiver of the local land office, and the bid will be forwarded from that office to the Department.
8. At the end of thirty days (sixty days in California), the timber will be awarded to the highest bidder; and if the applicant is the successful bidder, the deposit is credited on the sale; if not, the money will be refunded.
9. When the timber is awarded the applicant will sign a contract containing the specifications contained in the original application, as to manner of cutting, scaling, and cleaning up, etc., and, if the case seems to justify it, he will be asked to give a bond, usually in an amount double the value of the timber, to secure the proper fulfillment of the contract.
10. Cutting may then begin.
11. The material will be skidded or piled in the customary manner, and the purchaser is required to mark the tops of the logs to facilitate scaling.
12. The scaling will be done in the customary way by the old Scribner rule, by which the contents of a 16-foot log are as follows:
This rule applies to saw timber and mining timber. Logs of 24 feet and over in length, are scaled at more than one point; so that a log 24 feet long, for instance, is scaled at 16 feet and at the top. In other words, long pieces are treated as 16-foot logs and fractions thereof.
Square-hewed goods are measured like sawed timber, as solid pieces. Thus, an 8 by 12 inch 16-foot timber contains 128 feet B. M.
Railway ties are simply counted, and
30 ties, 8 feet in length, equal 1,000 feet B. M.
40 ties, 6 feet in length, equal 1,000 feet B. M.
Cordwood is measured in the ordinary way. Where green timber, 10 inches and over in diameter, is cut into cordwood, it is charged as timber, and two cords are considered equal to 1,000 feet B. M.
13. The scaling will be done according to the conditions of the case. If the cutting is on a sufficiently large scale, it will be done in such a way as to keep up with the work; otherwise, the scaling will be done at set times.
14. All timber must be marked with the United States stamp before it may be removed.
The following blank forms for application and contract, filled in as samples, will be used in all timber sales:
4—178
No. 123.
PUBLIC TIMBER SALE.
Black Hills Forest Reserve.
APPLICATION.
I hereby make application for the sale and purchase of timber located and described as follows: 100 M feet B. M., saw timber, green or dry; no M feet B. M., mining timber, green or dry; no railroad ties, ______ green, ______ dry; 250 cords cordwood, ______ green, and ______ dry; and is located SW. 1/4, SW. 1/4, S. 25, T. 3 N., R. 3 E. To be used at mines near Deadwood.
I promise to deposit with the receiver of public moneys at the United States land office at Rapid City, S. Dak., such sum as may be required at the time of filing my bid for the above-described timber, and I further promise that in case my application is favorably considered I will deposit with the said receiver such sum as may be required to cover the cost of advertising for bids for the purchase of this timber, and in the event that the timber is awarded to me as the successful bidder I promise to pay to the said receiver the amount covered by my bid. [Here insert the condition of payment, whether full cash payment or one-third down and the balance in thirty, sixty, and ninety days., as the case may be.] Cash in advance, at price of: $2.50 per M. ft. B. M. for timber; 30 cents per cord for cordwood of all kinds; credit being given for the sums heretofore deposited with the said receiver by me in connection with this sale and purchase; which, otherwise, will be refunded to me.
And I further agree and promise to conduct the work of cutting and removing said timber in accordance with the following specifications:
1. I will comply strictly with the laws and the regulations governing forest reserves.
2. Submit all timber and wood to measurement by the forest officer before the same is removed.
3. Pay in advance for all timber before cutting the same.
4. To cut only timber on the area agreed upon and blazed and marked, and not to cut any of the live trees bounding this area.
5. To leave no logs, ties, lagging, or other material in the woods, and to pay double the agreed price for any material thus left in the woods.
6. To pay for all material used in shanties or buildings of any kind; also for material used in the construction of skidways, corduroy, log roads, bridges, and other improvements.
7. To cut only marked timber, and to cut all marked timber.
8. To leave no trees lodged in process of felling.
9. That all material is marked on skidway or in pile, the amount to be placed in plain figures at top or on blaze near by, and that no material will be piled on such skidway or pile after the scaling has been finished.
10. All felling and cutting with saw, except firewood.
11. Stumps ______ high; none higher than 18 inches.
12. Shaft of tree to be used to diameter of 6 inches, ______.
13. Cordwood to be cut from all tops down to a diameter of 3 inches.
14. Tops to be dragged bodily into openings ready for burning. See 15.
15. Tops to be lopped and brush piled on entire area.
16. No hewing, except at skidways in openings ______.
17. No cutting of timber in summer season between month of ______ and ______. Waived in this case.
18. Cut all dead material sound enough for fuel ______.
19. Cut only standing dead material. See No. 18.
20. Cut only and all dead material. Dead and green allowed.
21. Build camps at place agreed upon, located at ______, as per map ______. No camps allowed in this case.
22. Construct dam at point agreed upon, located at ______, as per map ______. No dams allowed in this case.
23. To pile or skid all material before measuring ______.
24. Scaling to be done [once a week or month, continuously, to keep up with cutting] once a week, the maximum to be not over 20 M feet B. M., and 25 cords, ______ ties per day or week, per week.
I further agree that in case my bid for this timber is accepted I will execute a contract embodying the above provisions for the purchase of said timber, and deliver therewith a bond which shall be satisfactory to the forest officers for the faithful performance of the conditions imposed in said contract; and I further agree that in case of failure on my part to fulfill, all and singular, the requirements of said contract I will forfeit the said bond and all moneys paid to the receiver of public moneys herein mentioned.
JNO. DOE.
Dated at Hill City, S. Dak., Jan. 15, 1902.
4—179.
No. 123.
PUBLIC TIMBER SALE.
Black Hills Forest Reserve.
CONTRACT.
This contract is hereby entered into by and between Jno. Doe, party of the first part, and the Secretary of the Interior for the United States of America, party of the second part, for the purchase of certain public timber in the Black Hills Forest Reserve, based upon the bid of the said Jno. Doe for said timber, submitted in pursuance of a duly advertised proposal to sell said timber, which bid has been accepted by the Secretary of the Interior, said bid and advertisement being made a part of this contract.
Approximately 100 M feet B. M., saw timber, green or dry; no M feet B. M., mining timber, green or dry; no railroad ties, ______ green, ______ dry; 250 cords cordwood, ______ green, and ______ dry. All timber to be removed within one year from date of this contract, and is located SW. 1/4 of SW. 1/4, S. 25, T. 3 N. R. 2 E. To be used at mines near Deadwood.
In consideration of the sale of this timber to me I, Jno. Doe, promise to pay the Receiver of Public Moneys at the United States Land Office at Rapid City, S. Dak., the sum of three hundred and twenty-five dollars ($325), being at the rate of $2.50 per thousand for timber and 30 cents per cord for cordwood, entire sum cash in advance, credit being given for the sums heretofore deposited with the said Receiver by me in connection with this sale and purchase.
And I further agree and promise to conduct the work of cutting and removing said timber in accordance with the following specifications:
1. I will comply strictly with the laws and the regulations governing forest reserves.
2. Submit all timber and wood to measurement by the forest officer before the same is removed.
3. Pay in advance for all timber before cutting the same.
4. To cut only timber on the area agreed upon and blazed and marked, and not to cut any of the live trees bounding this area.
5. To leave no logs, ties, lagging, or other material in the woods, and to pay double the agreed price for any material thus left in the woods.
6. To pay for all materials used in shanties or buildings of any kind; also for material used in the construction of skidways, corduroy, log roads, bridges, and other improvements.
7. To cut only marked timber, and to cut all marked timber.
8. To leave no trees lodged in process of felling.
9. That all material is marked on skidway or in pile, the amount to be placed in plain figures at the top or on the blaze near by, and that no material will be piled on such skidway or pile after the scaling has been finished.
10. All felling and cutting with saw, except firewood.
11. Stumps ______ high; none higher than 18".
12. Shaft of tree to be used to diameter of 6 inches, ______.
13. Cordwood to be cut from all tops down to a diameter of 3 inches.
14. Tops to be dragged bodily into openings ready for burning. See No. 15.
15. Tops to be lopped and brush piled on entire area.
16. No hewing, except at skidways in openings ______.
17. No cutting of timber in summer season between month of ______ and ______. Waived in this case.
18. Cut all dead material sound enough for fuel ______.
19. Cut only standing dead material. See No. 18.
20. Cut only and all dead material. Dead and green allowed.
21. Build camps at place agreed upon, located at ______, as per map ______. No camps allowed in this case.
22. Construct dam at point agreed upon, located at ______, as per map ______. No dams allowed in this case.
23. To pile or skid all material before measuring ______.
24. Scaling to be done [once a week or month, continuously, to keep up with cutting] once a week, the maximum to be not over 20 M feet B. M., and 25 cords, ______ ties per day or week, per week.
And as a further guarantee of a faithful performance of the conditions of this contract, I have executed and deliver herewith a bond in twice the amount of the purchase price named in this contract, which bond shall be forfeited, together with all moneys paid or promised under this contract, upon failure upon my part to fulfill, all and singular, the conditions and requirements herein set forth or made a part hereof.
Given under my hand at Lead, S. Dak., this 20 day of Feb., 1902.
JNO. DOE.
Given under my hand at Washington, D. C., this 15 day of March, 1902.
______ ______, Secretary of the Interior.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.
The following considerations are of special importance:
1. Applications will be considered and attended to in the order in which they are received; but exceptions to this rule will occur, with special local conditions, such as isolation of particular cutting, great distances, insufficient force of workers, etc.
2. All applications in any reserve will be held up and delayed whenever it becomes evident that the reserve force, for any reason whatever, fails to carry out the work according to the prescribed regulations.
3. The timber purchased is not in every case the amount called for in the application, but the amount actually found on the cutting area as located and marked out by the forest officer. If there is less timber on this area than the applicant desires he must make a new application, but is never allowed to cut over the original line as laid down for his case.
4. The following violations of the regulations will be regarded as trespass, and will lead to a suspension of all operations until the case is settled:
(a) Cutting across the line surrounding the cutting area;
(b) Cutting of unmarked timber;
(c) Removal of any material before it is properly scaled and stamped or marked.
5. Since a considerable time is necessarily required in attending to any case of timber sale, and the law positively forbids any short-cut methods, the public is earnestly requested not to delay applications of this kind.
6. When the applicant fails to hear of his application in a reasonable time, say thirty days, he should address letters both to the supervisor and to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, Washington, D. C.
7. Any incivilities, or evident neglect on the part of the forest officers which hinders the purchaser in his work or endangers his case by giving to it the appearance of willful or negligent trespass, should be reported to the supervisor, and, if not promptly corrected, should be reported to the Commissioner of the General Land Office.
8. Trespassers, in the absence of a proper settlement for the trespass. will not be awarded timber.
9. It is a common mistake on the part of applicants and forest officers, to suppose that any kind of timber under any circumstances must be sold whenever any one wishes to purchase. Such is not the case. Timber will be sold only—
(a) If it may be spared without injury to the reserve.
(b) If it is really in demand to supply local needs, either by being used in the vicinity or by maintaining local industries.
(c) If the demand is such that applicant can afford to and is willing to make clean work of his cutting, and thus leave the forest in a satisfactory condition, and not merely to pick out some particularly desirable material or to leave it a mere "slash."
