Report on the lands of the arid region of the United States, with a more detailed account of the lands of Utah

by John Wesley Powell; Willis Drummond; Clarence E. Dutton; Grove Karl Gilbert; A. H. Thompson

TIMBER LANDS.

The timber lands cannot be acquired by any of the methods provided in the preëmption, homestead, timber culture, and desert land laws, from the fact that they are not agricultural lands. Climatic conditions make these methods inoperative. Under these laws “dummy entries” are sometimes made. A man wishing to obtain the timber from a tract of land will make homestead or preëmption entries by himself or through his employés without intending to complete the titles, being able thus to hold these lands for a time sufficient to strip them of their timber.

This is thought to be excusable by the people of the country, as timber is necessary for their industries, and the timber lands cannot honestly be acquired by those who wish to engage in timber enterprises. Provision should be made by which the timber can be purchased by persons or companies desiring to engage in the lumber or wood business, and in such quantities as may be necessary to encourage the construction of mills, the erection of flumes, the making of roads, and other improvements necessary to the utilization of the timber for the industries of the country.