(2) Calamity or disease causing wholesale destruction of or injury to livestock; or,

(3) Adverse livestock market conditions causing general distress in the stock-raising industry or any branch thereof, he may-grant an extension of time for making payment of any such grazing fee (under any contract or permit); reduce the amount of any such payment; or, release or discharge the grantee or permittee from making any such payment.

ASSIGNMENT OF CONTRACTS

SEC. 310. The grantee may, with the approval of the supervisor, assign in whole or in part any contract. The supervisor shall not withhold his approval except for good cause. Upon the death of the holder of any contract all rights under such contract shall inure to the benefit (1) of his devisee if he leaves a will, or (2) of his estate if he dies intestate.

REDUCTIONS ON GRAZING PRIVILEGES

SEC. 311. (a) The amount of reduction in grazing privileges that may be made for any purpose under any contract during the term thereof shall be stated in the contract, and no reduction in excess of such amount shall be made without the consent of the grantee.

(b) No reduction in the amount of grazing privileges granted by any contract shall be made during the term thereof for the purpose of redistributing or allotting to another person any portion of such grazing privilege.

IMPROVEMENTS

SEC. 312. (a) Then per centum of the receipts from grazing on the forest during each fiscal year, including the fiscal year ending June 30, 1926, shall be available at the end thereof for expenditure by the Secretary, within the States from which such receipts are derived, for the construction and maintenance of range improvements, the eradication of poisonous plants, predatory animals, and rodents.

(b) Under the direction of the Secretary the supervisor may authorize a grantee to construct and/or maintain and utilize upon any area included within the provisions of his contract any fence, building, corral, reservoir, well, or other range improvement for the exercise of the grazing pivileges of the grantee within such area. In respect of such improvements the supervisor is authorized to enter into agreements with the grantee whereby the improvements become the property of the United States and the grazing fees of the grantee are reduced to recompense him for the value of such improvements.

(c) The grantee shall be given 60 days from the date of termination of his contract for any cause to remove from the area included within the provisions of his contract any fence, building, corral, reservoir, or other removable range improvement owned or controlled by him.

(d) If any such improvement, the construction or maintenance of which has been authorized by the supervisor, remains on the land, no contract to another person in respect of grazing privileges for such land shall be granted until such person has paid to the person entitled thereto the value of all such improvements, except fences, as determined by the Secretary.

APPEALS TO BOARD

SEC. 313. (a) When the supervisor, without the consent of the grantee or permittee, determines

(1) To alter the grazing privileges of any grantee or permittee by reducing the permitted number or by changing the permitted kind of livestock or the area which has been allotted to him for grazing;

(2) To terminate any contract or permit before the expiration thereof; or (3) To refuse to regrant to any person grazing privileges in accordance with the provisions of section 307-he shall notify the grantee or permittee of such determination by registered letter. The letter shall contain a statement of the determination, the reasons therefor, and the right of the grantee or permittee to appeal to the board.

(b) The grantee or permittee may file with the supervisor an appeal to the board within sixty days from the date of mailing of the registered letter. If he files such appeal within such time, the supervisor shall suspend action pending the determination of the appeal. If he does not file such appeal within such time, the supervisor shall execute his determination.

(c) The supervisor shall record the filing of such appeal and shall transmit it to the board without delay.

IMPOUNDING

SEC. 314. The supervisor is authorized to impound domestic livestock found grazing in trespass in a forest, and, after due notice by publication for not less than 20 days in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality where the stock is impounded, to sell such stock at public sale, unless before such sale the owner establishes his ownership and pays for all damages caused by the trespass of the stock, and costs of impounding, caring for the stock, removing them from the forest, and advertising them for sale. The payment of such damages, and costs shall not release or absolve the owner of unpermitted stock from the provisions of section 56 of the act entitled "An act to codify, revise, and amend the penal laws of the United States," approved March 4, 1909. The money derived from any such payment by the owner shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States. In the event of sale as provided in this section, the proceeds in an amount sufficient to compensate the United States for the damages and costs herein mentioned shall be paid into the Treasury and the remainder, if any, refunded to the owner of the stock, if claimed within one year from the date of sale. This section does not authorize the impounding of any stock unless the presence of such stock within the forest would under similar circumstances have constituted a trespass if the stock had been taken into custody upon private lands in the same State in which such forest area is located.

STOCK DRIVEWAYS

SEC. 315. The Secretary is authorized to establish and maintain in the forests stock driveways, and to regulate the use thereof, including the authority to charge a fee for such use or to permit the free use thereof. The Secretary is authorized to permit grazing free of charge in the forests, to prospectors, settlers, campers, travelers, and to persons using the national forests in connection with timber sales or other permitted operations.

TITLE IV. STATE GRAZING Boards

ESTABLISHMENT

SEC. 401. There is hereby established for each of the States specified in either section 201 or 301 of this act a board to be known as a State Grazing Board.

APPOINTMENT AND QUALIFICATION OF MEMBERS

SEC. 402. (a) A board shall be composed of three members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, solely on the grounds of fitness to perform the duties of the office. Members of a board may be removed by the President, after notice and opportunity for public hearing, for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause.

(b) The terms of office of the members first taking office after the enactment of this act shall expire, as designated by the President, one at the end of the second year, one at the end of the third year, and one at the end of the fourth year after the date of the enactment of this act. The terms of office of all successors shall expire three years after the expiration of the terms for which their predecessors were appointed; but any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for the unexpired term of his predecessor. Any member in office at the expiration of the term for which he was appointed may continue in office until his successor takes office.

(c) Each member of a board shall be a resident of the State in which such board is established and shall have practical knowledge of the range livestock industry.

(d) Each member shall receive no salary for his services, but shall receive a per diem compensation of $ for attending meetings and otherwise executing the functions of the board. In addition, each member shall receive actual and necessary traveling and subsistence expenses while away from his official residence in the performance of duties required by this act.

MEETINGS

SEC. 403. (a) Each board shall at least annually elect a member to act as chairman.

(b) Each board shall meet upon the call of the chairman or a majority of its members, and the board or a member designated by the chairman for the purpose may hear, investigate, and decide appeals at any place within the State.

(c) The times and places of the meetings of each board and of any member shall be prescribed by the chairman with a view to allowing reasonable opportunity to any person entitled thereto to appear at any such meeting with as little inconvenience and expense to such person as is practicable.

SEC. 404. (a) Vacancies in a board shall not impair the powers of the remaining members to execute the functions of the board, and a major ty of the members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of the business of the board.

(b) The chairman may at any time designate a member of the board to hear, investigate, and decide any matter before the board; but the action taken by such member, including any decision and findings of fact, shall not become the action, decision, or findings of the board until and as reviewed by the board.

APPEALS TO THE BOARD

SEC. 405. (a) A board shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine only such appeals as are made to it in accordance with Title II or III of this act and as relate to grazing privileges upon lands of the State for which such board was established.

(b) Opportunity to be heard upon any such appeal and notice thereof shall be given by a board to any party entitled thereto. The hearings of a board shall be public and proceedings before the board shall be conducted in accordance with such rules of evidence and procedure as the board may prescribe.

(c) A board shall in each case make a report in writing of its findings of fact, its decision, or any other action taken upon such case. A copy of its report shall be made of record by it and a copy shall be furnished to each party to the appeal; except that the board may omit the making of findings of fact if the appeal is dismissed by the board on its own motion or on the motion of any party to the appeal.

(d) Where appeal is taken from a decision of a board, as hereinafter provided, a copy of such report shall be submitted by the board to the Secretary to whom the appeal is taken.

SEC. 406. (a) Any member of a board may administer oaths, examine witnesses, and require, by subpoena ordered by the board or a member, thereof, and signed by a member (1) the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books, papers, documents, correspondence, and other evidence from any place within the United States at any designated place of hearing, (2) the taking of a deposition before any designated individual competent to administer oaths, (3) the answer in writing under oath to any question of fact submitted by the board or a member. In case of a deposition, the testimony shall be reduced to writing by the individual taking the deposition or under his direction and shall then be subscribed to by the deponent.

(b) In case of failure to comply with any such subpoena or make any such written answer, or in case of the contumacy of any witness before a board or any member thereof, the board may invoke the aid of any court of competent jurisdiction having the power of a United States district court. The court may thereupon order the witness to comply with the requirements of such subpœna, to give evidence touching the matter in question, or to make answer in writing under oath. Any failure to obey the order may be punished by the court as a contempt thereof.

(e) Any witness summoned or whose deposition is taken under this section, shall receive the same fees and mileage as witnesses in courts of the United

States. Such fees and mileage and the expense of taking any such deposition shall be paid as follows:

(1) In the case of witnesses for the board or a member thereof, such payments shall be allowed and paid upon presentation of an itemized voucher therefor signed by the chairman.

(2) In case of any other witnesses, such payments shall be made, subject to rules prescribed by the board, by the party at whose instance the witness appears or the deposition is taken.

APPEALS FROM THE BOARD

SEC. 407. (a) An appeal from a decision of the board rendered upon an appeal made to the board under Title II may be had to the Secretary of the Interior, and under Title III, to the Secretary of Agriculture. The Secretary to whom such appeal is had may affirm, reverse, or modify such decision or remand the proceeding to the board for such action as such Secretary may direct.

(b) The action of the board under authority of Title II in respect of the approval of any contract shall be final and no appeal shall be had.

(c) The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall each by regulation prescribe the rules of evidence and procedure in respect of an appeal to him from a decision of the board.

(d) In any such appeal the findings of fact of the board, as set forth in the report of the board in such case, shall be prima facie evidence of the correctness of the facts so set forth.

SEC. 408. When a decision of the board has become final the board shall take such action as it deems necessary to execute such decision, and for such purpose it may direct the proper grazing officer, and it shall be the duty of such grazing officer so directed, to execute such decision.

TITLE V.-MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

LAWS APPLICABLE

SEC. 501. Any person may under any law in respect of public lands, other than this act, acquire right, title, or interest in any land within any grazing district or forest to the same extent and in the same manner after the enactment of this act as before except that the act entitled "An act to provide for stock-raising homesteads, and for other purposes," approved December 29, 1916, as amended, shall not be applicable to any lands within a grazing district.

SUPPLIES AND ASSISTANCE FOR BOARD

SEC. 502. The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall furnish each board with such clerical assistance, quarters, stationery, furniture, office equipment, and other supplies as are necessary for the efficient execution of the functions vested in such board by this act.

SEC. 503. (a) The Secretary of the Interior may for the purposes of Title II and the Secretary of Agriculture may for the purposes of Title III or for the execution of the functions of the boards under Title IV, (1) in accordance with the civil service laws, appoint such employees, an in accordance with the classification act of 1923. fix the compensation, and (2) make such expenditures (including expenditures for personal services and rent at the seat of government and elsewhere, and for law books, books of reference, periodicals, and for printing and binding) as may be necessary efficiently to execute the provisions of each such title.

(b) All expenditures of the Secretary of Agriculture on behalf of a board shall be allowed and paid upon presentation of itemized vouchers therefor signed by the chairman of the board and approved by the Secretary of Agriculture.

SHORT TITLE

SEC. 504. This act may be cited as the grazing act of 1926.

On December 18, 1925, Senator Phipps, of Colorado, introduced S. 752, as follows:

[S. 752, Sixty-ninth Congress, first session]

A BILL To provide for the establishment of grazing districts on the public lands of the United States and Alaska, and to regulate their beneficial use by livestock, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States, in order to promote the highest use of the public lands which, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior, are valuable for the production of livestock, is hereby authorized to establish from time to time, by proclamation, grazing districts or additions thereto from any part of the public lands of the United States and Alaska not in substantial part irrigable at a reasonable cost from any known source of water supply, or suitable in their present condition for the production of crops other than native grasses and forage plants. Such grazing districts may be established upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior, or when such action is formally requested by petitioners found by the Secretary to constitute a majority of the livestock growers who use for grazing purposes the public lands therein, but no grazing district shall be established until notice thereof has been published for thirty days in a paper of general circulation in the county or counties in which the lands are situated. SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Interior shall execute, or cause to be executed, the provisions of this act under rules and regulations to be prescribed by him, shall appoint all officers necessary for the administration and protection of grazing districts established under the authority herein provided, and shall issue, or cause to be issued, permits to graze livestock thereon, which permits shall be for appropriate seasons for use within a period of not more than ten years, upon the payment annually of reasonable fees based upon the actual cost of administration, plus a margin of 25 per centum for such permits: Provided, That in the award of grazing privileges preference shall be given, when practicable, to homesteaders and to present occupants of the range who own improved ranches or who have provided water for livestock grazed upon the public lands: Provided further, That no permits shall be issued which shall entitle the permittee to the use of any buildings, corrals, reservoirs, or other improvements owned or controlled by a prior occupant until he has paid such prior occupant a reasonable pro rata value for the use of such improvements. If the parties interested can not agree, then the amount of such payment shall be determined under the rules and regulations of the Secretary of the Interior. Fences, wells, and other improvements necessary to the care and management of the permitted livestock may be constructed on the public lands under permit issued by authority of the Secretary.

SEC. 3. The Secretary of the Interior may permit, under regulations to be prescribed by him, the free grazing of domestic stock, and provide, so far as authorized by existing law or laws hereinafter enacted, for the use of timber. stone, gravel, clay, coal, and other deposits by bona fide settlers, miners, residents, and prospectors for mineral, for firewood, fencing buildings, mining prospecting, and other domestic purposes within areas subject to the provisions of this act.

SEC. 4. Twenty per centum of the moneys received from each grazing district during any fiscal year shall be paid at the end thereof by the Secretary of the Treasury to the State or Territory in which said grazing district is situated, to be expended as the State or Territorial legislature may prescribe for the benefit of public schools and maintenance work on public roads of the county or counties in which the grazing district is situated: Provided, That if any grazing district is in more than one State or Territory or county the distributive share to each from the proceeds of said district shall be proportional to its area therein; and that the remainder of all moneys received under the authority of this act on account of the disposal of resources from such grazing districts shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts.

SEC. 5. Under the rules and regulations prescribed by him, the Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements with any State, corporation, or individual owning private lands lying adjacent to or included within the grazing districts authorized to be established by this act, to undertake the grazing administration of such areas and their improvement as in his judgment may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this act, which rules and regulations shall have the same force and effect as other rules and regulations prescribed by him for the control of the grazing districts hereby established.