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§ 554a. Employees to be appointed without regard to political affiliations. Forest inspectors, superintendents, supervisors, surveyors, rangers, and fire patrol are to be hereafter appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture wholly with reference to their fitness and without regard for their political affiliations. (July 7, 1898, ch. 571, § 1, 30 Stat. 673; Feb. 1, 1905, ch. 288, § 1, 33 Stat. 628.)

TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS

The forest preserves were transferred from Secretary of the Interior to Secretary of Agriculture by act February 1, 1905, cited to text.

§ 554b. Medical care for employees engaged in hazardous work. -Appropriations for the Forest Service shall be available for medical supplies and services and other assistance necessary for the immediate relief of artisans, laborers, and other employees engaged in any hazardous work under the Forest Service. (Sept. 21, 1944, ch. 412, title II, § 202, 58 Stat. 736.)

CODIFICATION

This section was enacted as a part of the Department of Agriculture Organic Act of 1944.

§ 554c. Care of employees' graves.-Appropriations for the Forest Service shall be available within such limitations as may be prescribed therein for the expenses of properly caring for the graves of persons who have lost their lives as a result of fighting fires while employed by the Forest Service. (Sept. 21, 1944, ch. 412, title II, § 206, 58 Stat. 736.)

CODIFICATION

This section was enacted as a part of the Department of Agriculture Organic Act of 1944.

$555. Forest headquarters and ranger stations.-Where no suitable Government land is available for national forest headquarters or ranger stations, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to purchase such lands out of any funds appropriated for building improvements on the national forests, but not more than $2,500 shall be so expended in any one year; and to accept donations of land for any national forest purpose. (Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 457, § 5, 43 Stat. 1133.)

§ 556. Appropriations for Forest Service; use for transportation or traveling expenses; preparation or publication of newspaper or magazine articles.-No part of any funds appropriated for the Forest Service shall be used to pay the transportation or traveling expenses of any forest officer or agent except he be traveling on business directly connected with the Forest Service and in furtherance of the works, aims, and objects specified and authorized by law; nor shall any such funds be paid or used for the purpose of paying for, in whole or in part, the preparation or publication of any newspaper or magazine article, but this shall not prevent the giving out to all persons, without discrimination, including newspapers and magazine writers and publishers, of any facts or official information of value to the public. (May 11, 1922, ch. 185, 42 Stat. 521.)

§ 557. Employees of Forest Service; subsistence furnished to; personal equipment; supplies, and medical attention.-The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to furnish subsistence to employees of the Forest Service, to purchase personal equipment and supplies for them, and to make deductions therefor from moneys appropriated for salary payments or otherwise due such employees. He is also authorized, in his discretion, to provide out of moneys appropriated for the general expenses of the Forest Service medical attention for employees of the Forest Service located at isolated situations, including the moving of such employees to hospitals or other places where medical assistance is available, and in case of death to remove the bodies of deceased employees to the nearest place where they can be prepared for shipment or for burial. (Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 457, §§ 4, 6, 43 Stat. 1133.)

§ 557a. Field season contracts; authority to make prior to appropriation. The Secretary of Agriculture is hereafter authorized, in connection with the administration of the national forests, to enter into contracts for the procurement of services, materials, and supplies for the ensuing fiscal year, prior to the passage of an appropriation therefor: Provided, That such contracts shall aliquot the cost for such service by fiscal years and shall not be binding on the United States as to that part for the ensuing year unless and until an appropriation applicable to the payment thereof is made: And provided further, That all such contracts shall by their terms provide that the obligation of the United States is contingent upon the passage of an applicable appropriation and that no payment thereunder will be made until such appropriation becomes available for expenditure. (June 30, 1932, ch. 331, 47 Stat. 473.)

§ 558. Leaves of absence to employees of Forest Service in Alaska.-Employees of the Forest Service who are assigned to permanent duty in Alaska may, in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, without additional expense to the Government, be granted leave of absence not to exceed thirty days in any one year, which leave may, in exceptional and meritorious cases, where such an employee is ill, be extended in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, not to exceed thirty days additional in any one year. (Mar. 4, 1913, ch. 145, 37 Stat. 843.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Leave of absence of employee of Department of Agriculture in Alaska, see section 535 of Title 5, Executive Departments and Government Officers and Employees.

Reduction of annual leave of Government employees not to apply to employees in Alaska, see section 30a of Title 5, Executive Departments and Government Officers and Employees.

§ 559. Arrests for violations of laws and regulations by employees of Forest Service. All persons employed in the Forest Service of the United States shall have authority to make arrests for the violation of the laws and regulations relating to the national forests and national parks, and any person so arrested shall be taken before the nearest United States commissioner, within whose jurisdiction the forest or national park is located, for trial;

and upon sworn information by any competent person any United States commissioner in the proper jurisdiction shall issue process for the arrest of any person charged with the violation of said laws and regulations; but nothing herein contained shall be construed as preventing the arrest by any officer of the United States, without process, of any person taken in the act of violating said laws and regulations. (Mar. 1905, ch. 1405, 33 Stat. 873.)

§ 559a. Reward for information leading to arrest and conviction for violating laws and regulations.-The Secretary of Agriculture may pay rewards from appropriations available for the protection and management of the national forests, under such regulations as he may prescribe, for information leading to the arrest and conviction for violation of the laws and regulations relating to fires in or near national forests, or for the unlawful taking of, or injury to, Government property. (Sept. 21, 1944, ch. 412, title II, § 201, 58 Stat. 736.)

CODIFICATION

This section was enacted as a part of the Department of Agriculture Organic Act of 1944.

§ 560. Use of timber for telephone lines for fire protection.— The Secretary of Agriculture, whenever he may deem it necessary for the protection of the national forests from fire, may permit the use of timber free of charge for the construction of telephone lines. (Mar. 4, 1913, ch. 145, 37 Stat. 843.)

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§ 562. Forest experiment station in California. In order to determine and demonstrate the best methods for the conservative management of forest and forest lands and the protection of timber and other forest products, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed (1) to establish and maintain, in cooperation with the State of California and with the surrounding States, a forest experimental station at such place or places as he may determine to be most suitable, and (2) to conduct, independently or in cooperation with other branches of the Federal Government, the States, universities, colleges, county and municipal agencies, business organizations, and individuals, such silvicultural, dendrological, forest fire, economic, and other experiments and investigations as may be necessary. (Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 424, § 1, 43 Stat. 1108.)

§ 562a. Forest experiment station in Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to establish and maintain a forest experiment station in the States of the Ohio Valley and central Mississippi Valley, at such a place or places as may be selected by him, and he is hereby authorized and directed to conduct silvicultural, forest-fire, dendrological, and other experiments and investigations, independently or in cooperation with other branches of the Federal Government, and with States, universities, colleges, county and municipal agencies, associations, and individuals, to determine the best methods for the_growing, management, and protection of timber crops on forest lands and farm wood lots. Such annual appropriations as may thereafter be necessary for its maintenance and operation are hereby authorized. (July 3, 1926, ch. 767, §§ 1, 2, 44 Stat. 838.)

CROSS REFERENCE

Enumeration of forest experiment stations authorized, see section 581a of this title.

§ 562b. Forest experiment station in Pennsylvania.-In order to determine and demonstrate the best methods for the growing, management, and protection of timber crops on forest lands and farm wood lots, the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized and directed to establish and maintain a forest experiment station at such place or places as may be determined as most suitable by him, in cooperation with the State of Pennsylvania and with the neighboring States, and to conduct such silvicultural and other forest experiments and investigations as may be necessary, either independently or in cooperation with other organizations, institutions, or individuals, and to carry out the purposes of this section an appropriation in the amount of $30,000 is hereby authorized. (July 3, 1926, ch. 770, 44 Stat. 840.)

CROSS REFERENCE

Enumeration of forest experiment stations authorized, see section 581a of this title.

§ 563. Cooperation with States for fire protection on private or State forest lands upon the watersheds of navigable rivers.The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, and on such conditions as he deems wise, to stipulate and agree with any State or group of States to cooperate in the organization and maintenance of a system of fire protection on any private or State forest lands within such State or States and situated upon the watershed of a navigable river. No such stipulation or agreement shall be made with any State which has not provided by law for a system of forest-fire protection. In no case 'shall the amount expended in any State exceed in any fiscal year the amount appropriated by that State for the same purpose during the same fiscal year. (Mar. 1, 1911, ch. 186, § 2, 36 Stat. 961.)

§ 564. Cooperation by Secretary of Agriculture with State officials as to recommendations of systems of forest fire prevention and suppression. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed in cooperation with appropriate officials of the various States or other suitable agencies, to recommend for each forest region of the United States such systems of forest-fire prevention and suppression as will adequately protect the timbered and cutover lands therein with a view to the protection of forest and water resources and the continuous production of timber on lands chiefly suitable therefor. (June 7, 1924, ch. 348, § 1, 43 Stat. 653.) § 565. Cooperation by Secretary of Agriculture with State officials in protection of timbered and forest-producing lands from fire; limitation on amount of expenditures by United States.—If the Secretary of Agriculture shall find that the system and practice of forest-fire prevention and suppression provided by any State substantially promotes the objects described in section 564 of this title, he is hereby authorized and directed, under such conditions as he may determine to be fair and equitable in each State, to cooperate with appropriate officials of each State, and through them with private and other agencies therein, in the protection of

timbered and forest-producing lands from fire. In no case other than for preliminary investigation shall the amount expended by the Federal Government in any State during any fiscal year, under this section, exceed the amount expended by the State for the same purpose during the same fiscal year, including the expenditures of forest owners or operators which are required by State law or which are made in pursuance of the forest-protection system of the State under State supervision, and the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to make expenditures on the certificate of the State forester, the State director of extension, or similar State official having charge of the cooperative work for the State, that State and private expenditures as provided for in this section have been made. In the cooperation extended to the several States due consideration shall be given to the protection of watersheds of navigable streams, but such cooperation may, in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, be extended to any timbered or forest-producing lands or watersheds from which water is secured for domestic use or irrigation within the cooperative States. Provided, That for each fiscal year during the existing emergency the Secretary of Agriculture may authorize expenditures not to exceed $1,000,000 from appropriations made pursuant to sections 471, 515, 564, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, and 570 of this title for preventing and suppressing forest fires on critical areas of national importance without requiring an equal expenditure by the State and private owners. (June 7, 1924, ch. 348, § 2, 43 Stat. 653; Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 447, 43 Stat. 1127; Ápr. 13, 1926, ch. 119, 44 Stat. 242; Sept. 21, 1944, ch. 412, title II, § 207, 58 Stat. 736.)

CODIFICATION

This section was amended by the Department of Agriculture Organic Act of 1944.

§ 565a. Cooperation by Secretary of Agriculture with Territories. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to cooperate with the Territories of the United States on the same terms and conditions as with States under sections 564 and 565 of this title. (Feb. 20, 1931, ch. 249, 46 Stat. 1200.)

§ 566. Expenditure by Secretary of Agriculture for study of effects of tax laws, and so forth, upon forest perpetuation, and so forth; appropriation.-The Secretary of Agriculture shall expend such portions of the appropriations authorized herein as he deems advisable to study the effects of tax laws, methods, and practices upon forest perpetuation, to cooperate with appropriate officials of the various States or other suitable agencies in such investigations and in devising tax laws designed to encourage the conservation and growing of timber, and to investigate and promote practical methods of insuring standing timber on growing forests from losses by fire. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated annually, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, not more than $9,000,000 to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out the provisions of this section and sections 564 and 565 of this title: Provided, That the appropriation under this authorization shall not exceed $6,300,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1945, $7,300,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30,

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