"The member of the North Idaho Chamber of Commerce, recognizing the problem which now faces the several counties of north Idaho with respect to cutover and burned-over forest lands, do hereby recommend that our Members in Congress propose and support all the necessary amendments to the Federal laws which will permit the extension, through presidential proclamation or otherwise, of national forest boundaries to include such forest lands which are not now in the national forest boundaries and which can be more adequately protected and administered as national forests than in their present status, and hereby indorse a bill making additions to the St. Joe and Coeur d'Alene National Forests extending to adjoining lands the provisions of the act of March 20, 1922." (Public 173.) COEUR D'ALENE TIMBER PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION, Hon. BURTON L. FRENCH, DEAR MR. FRENCH: I am to-day in receipt of a letter written by Mr. Robert M. Cummins, secretary of the Wallace Board of Trade, in which they are indorsing House bill 414 introduced by you, with a proviso that the bill is amended to make certain changes in the boundary of the proposed area which have been agreed upon by representatives of the mining and timber interests and officials of the State of Idaho and the Forest Service. Mr. McHarg, of the forestry board of the State of Idaho, and also with the Forest Service, and the writer are working up this detail and as soon as it is ready we will send it to you. This is only a minor change along the flats of the Coeur d'Alene River and will not materially effect the territory involved in your original bill. Very truly yours, C. O. Graue, Secretary. NORTH IDAHO FORESTRY ASSOCIATION, Hon. BURTON L. FRENCH, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, December 12, 1981. House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR Mr. FRENCH: Please find attached hereto copy of resolution passed by the North Idaho Forestry Association at its regular meeting held on October 20, 1931, which we earnestly urge upon you the importance of the matter treated in this resolution, and hope that you will do what you can in passing a bill to promote legislation along the lines of this resolution. Yours very truly, NORTH IDAHO FORESTRY ASSOCIATION, "The directors of the North Idaho Forestry Association indorse and recommend for early enactment the French bill as it appears in E. A. Sherman's letter of June 6, 1928, to Mr. Burton L. French, making additions to the St. Joe and Coeur d'Alene National Forests and extending to the adjoining lands the provisions of the act of March 20, 1922." The bill has had the consideration of the Agriculture and Interior Departments, and the amendments suggested by the Interior Department have been acted upon favorably. The bill as introduced was recommended by the Department of Agriculture, and aside from the suggestions hereto inserted the Interior Department has interposed no objection. For the information of the House the reports of the departments are hereto attached: Hon. JOHN M. EVANS, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Chairman Committee on the Public Lands, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. EVANS: Receipt is acknowledged of your letter of December 26, inclosing a copy of H. R. 6659, a bill for the inclusion of certain lands in the Coeur d'Alene and St. Joe National Forests, State of Idaho, and for other purposes, and asking for a report thereon. The proposed legislation would do two things: First, it would extend the socalled forest exchange act to certain privately owned lands lying adjacent to the St. Joe National Forest, in the State of Idaho, and thereby make it possible for those lands to be conveyed to the United States in exchange for national forest lands or timber in that State on the basis of equal value; second, it would give national forest status to all publicly owned lands lying within the area described in the bill and would make them a part of the adjacent national forest. The area described is a mountainous timbered region aggregating about 500,000 acres. Originally it was practically all heavily timbered excepting the more rocky and barren portions. It lies between the main body of the St. Joe National Forest on the east and the Palouse division of this forest and the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation on the west. Its extensive stands of very valuable white pine attracted early attention and resulted in most of the more desirable lands passing to patent. The presence of so large a percentage of patented land caused it to be omitted from reservation when the adjoining forest withdrawals were made. Since the construction of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific through this region in 1908 the timber has been heavily exploited. In addition, it has proven to be a region of heavy fire hazard and losses from that source have been extensive. The larger owners have organized a fire protective association covering the region. Contributions to fire protection are obligatory upon all large owners. Scattered through the region are tracts of public land aggregating between 10 and 20 per cent of the whole. Some of this contains good stands of thrifty young growth which in a short time will grow into substantial values. They should be protected for their own sake and this in turn will help lighten the load of protection costs which now threatens to cause the dissolution of the local association. It is believed that placing these lands in the national forest so that the fire protection forces will be under skilled leadership will hearten the association and preserve it from complete destruction. For this reason the department considers the enactment of this measure urgently necessary and recommends favorable action by your committee. Sincerely yours, ARTHUR M. HYDE, Secretary. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIor, Hon. JOHN M. EVANS, Chairman Committee on the Public Lands, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In compliance with your request of December 26, for a report on H. R. 6659, which is a bill for the inclusion of certain lands in the Coeur d'Alene and St. Joe National Forests, State of Idaho, and for other purposes, I transmit herewith a memorandum on the subject that has been submitted by the Commissioner of the General Land Office. After a review of the proposed measure, I agree with the commissioner. Memorandum for the Secretary. RAY LYMAN WILBUR, Secretary. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, I have by departmental reference request of on the Public Lands for report on H. R. 6659. in H. R. 5653 of the Seventy-first Congress. GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, January 15, 1932. the chairman of the Committee Similar legislation was proposed The bill would extend the provisions of the national forest consolidation law of March 20, 1922 (42 Stat. 465), over the therein described area in northern Idaho, and immediately reserve for national forest purposes the publicly owned lands within such area. This would permit private owners to exchange their lands within the area for an equal value of national forest timber or land in the State, including the public lands within the area. The described area contains approximately 578,420 acres, which is about 26,020 acres in addition to that described in said H. R. 5653, and has largely passed out of Government ownership under the public land laws. Practically the entire area is within the place or indemnity limits of the Northern Pacific Railroad Co., and the odd-numbered sections within such limits, except where classified as mineral, have either been patented to or are embraced in pending selections of said company. The areas patented to the railroad company under the grant embrace approximately 107,500 acres. The publicly owned lands involved are scattered tracts amounting to about 100,000 acres, a portion thereof being embraced in pending railroad selections and unperfected homestead entries. No provision is made in the bill for the protection of existing valid claims or entries. Of the public lands 6,498 acres are within that portion of the former Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation opened under the act of June 21, 1906 (34 Stat. 335), with provision that the proceeds from the disposition of the lands shall be credited to the Indians, such lands being situated in those parts of township 47 north, range 1 west, and townships 46 and 47 north, range 2 west, lying west of the east boundary of such former Indian reservation. These lands were offered for sale at public auction at not less than $1 per acre under departmental regulations of March 27, 1930, pursuant to the said act of June 21, 1906, but were not sold. The inclusion of these lands in a forest would deprive the Indians of the proceeds from the sale of the lands, amounting to about $6,498, and therefore form the possible basis of a claim against the Government by the Indians for payment for the lands. Available information indicates that generally the areas are or were timber covered. There is therefore no objection to the inclusion of the publicly owned lands in the forest in the manner proposed provided the bill be amended to protect. existing valid claims by inserting a comma and "subject to existing valid claims" after the word "States" in line 6, page 1. An enormous quantity of "scrip" or exchange rights in addition to those hereinbefore mentioned of railroad origin are authorized, but as such transactions are confined to forest lands or timber, the Department of Agriculture is primarily concerned therewith. Hon. BURTON L. FRENCH, C. C. MOORE, Commissioner. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, House of Representatives. GENERAL LAND OFFICE, Washington, February 5, 1932. MY DEAR MR. FRENCH: I have your letter of February 4, inclosing copy of H. R. 6659 amended in accordance with the memorandum report thereon under date of January 15, 1932, by inserting a clause to protect the valid claims, and requesting a further amendment to eliminate all the former Indian lands involved. I have to suggest that the amendment on page 1 of the bill be changed to read "subject to existing valid claims." In accordance with your request, the description given in the bill in township 46 north, range 2 east, and that given in the amended description on page 3 thereof in township 47 north, ranges 1 and 2 west, has been changed to exclude the former Coeur d'Alene Indian lands involved, and beginning with line 24 page 2, the corrected description of the remaining area is as follows: "Sections 13, 24, 25, 34, 35, and 36, and that portion of sections 1, 11, 12, the south half of section 27, and all of sections 28 and 33 east of the east boundary of the former Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation, township 46 north, range 2 west. "All of township 47 north, range 1 east. "All that portion of township 47 north, range 1 west, not included in the former Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation. "Sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33. 34 35, and 36, township 47 north, range 2 east. "Lot 2, section 36, township 47 north, range 2 west. "Sections 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36, township 48 north, range 1 west. "Sections 25 and 36, township 48 north, range 2 west. "Sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36, township 48 north, range 1 east." A carbon copy hereof is inclosed, together with a completed draft of the bill with the desired amendments, and the inclosure with your letter is herewith returned. Very respectfully, C. C. MOORE, Commissioner. О NORTHERN PACIFIC HALIBUT FISHERY FEBRUARY 9, 1932.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. DAVIS, from the Committee on Merchant Marine, Radio, and Fisheries, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 8084] The Committee on Merchant Marine, Radio, and Fisheries, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 8084) for the protection of the northern Pacific halibut fishery, having considered the same, report thereon with an amendment, and as so amended recommend that the bill do pass. The amendment proposed by your committee is as follows: Page 6, lines 9 and 10, strike out the words "any court of the United States in Alaska, California, Oregon, or Washington" and insert in lieu thereof the following: the district court of the United States, including the United States district courts of Alaska, in the judicial district in which the violation is alleged to have occurred; or in the United States district court in the nearest judicial district within the United States, if the violation is alleged to have occurred outside the territorial waters of the United States The bill has the approval of the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Fisheries, as will appear from the letters and report herein incorporated, which explain the occasion for and the effect of the bill. Hon. EwIN L. DAVIS, House of Representatives. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, January 19, 1932. SIR: The department is herewith inclosing a copy of a proposed bill which it is desired to have enacted in support of the convention between the United States and the Dominion of Canada for the preservation of the halibut fishery of the northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, signed May 9, 1930, which came into force on the exchange of ratifications on May 9, 1931. A copy of the convention is also inclosed. By the provisions of Article IV of the convention, it is agreed that the United States and Canada will enact and enforce such legislation as may be necessary to make effective the provisions of the convention and any regulation adopted thereunder, with appropriate penalties for violations. The proposed bill has received the approval of the Department of Commerce and is approved by the Department of State. It follows in general the form of the northern Pacific halibut act, approved June 7, 1924 (43 Stat. 649), enacted to give effect to the provisions of the convention between the United States and Canada, for the preservation of the halibut fishery, signed on March 2, 1923, which has been superseded by the present convention. A new act is required, particularly with reference to penalties, the authorization for a patrol and the prohibition against the use of American ports in the violation of the convention because the duration of the act of 1924 was limited by its own section 14 to the life of the convention of 1923. I would appreciate your cooperation in introducing the bill which, from the nature of its subject matter, would appear likely to be referred to the Committee on Merchant Marine, Radio, and Fisheries, and in endeavoring to have it given consideration at the present session of Congress. Very truly yours, HENRY L. STIMSON. PRESERVATION OF HALIBUT FISHERY OF NORTHERN PACIFIC OCEAN AND BERING SEA [Convention between the United States of America and the Dominion of Canada, signed at Ottawa, May 9, 1930. Ratification advised by the Senate of the United States, February 24, 1931 (legislative day of February 17, 1931). Ratified by the President of the United States, March 4, 1931. Ratified by His Majesty in respect of Canada, March 20, 1931. Ratifications exchanged at Ottawa, May 9, 1931. Proclaimed by the President of the United States, May 14, 1931] BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION WHEREAS & Convention between the United States of America and His Majesty the King of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, in respect of the Dominion of Canada, for the preservation of the halibut fishery of the northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, was concluded and signed by their respective Plenipotentiaries at Ottawa on the ninth day of May, one thousand nine hundred and thirty, the original of which Convention is word for word as follows: The President of the United States of America, And His Majesty the King of Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, in respect of the Dominion of Canada, Being equally desirous of securing the preservation of the halibut fishery of the Northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, have resolved to conclude a Convention for this purpose, and have named as their plenipotentiaries: The President of the United States of America: Mr. B. Reath Riggs, Chargé d'Affaires of the United States of America in Canada; and His Majesty, for the Dominion of Canada: The Right Honourable William Lyon Mackenzie King, Prime Minister and Secretary of State for External Affairs; Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following articles: ARTICLE I The nationals and inhabitants and fishing vessels and boats of the United States of America and of the Dominion of Canada, respectively, are hereby prohibited from fishing for halibut (Hippoglossus) both in the territorial waters and in the high seas off the western coasts of the United States of America, including the southern as well as the western coasts of Alaska, and of the Dominion of Canada, from the first day of November next after the date of the exchange of ratifications of this Convention to the fifteenth day of the following February, both days inclusive, and within the same period yearly thereafter. The International Fisheries Commission provided for by Article III is hereby empowered, subject to the approval of the President of the United States of America and of the Governor General of the Dominion of Canada, to suspend or modify the closed season provided for by this article, as to part or all of the convention waters, when it finds after investigation such changes are necessary. It is understood that nothing contained in this convention shall prohibit the nationals or inhabitants or the fishing vessels or boats of the United States of America or of the Dominion of Canada, from fishing in the waters hereinbefore |