Crater Lake National Park: Administrative History by Harlan D. Unrau and Stephen Mark, 1987
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APPENDIX D5: General Regulations of March 30, 1912
By act of Congress approved May 22, 1902, the tract of land bounded north by the parallel forty-three degrees four minutes north latitude, south by forty-two degrees forty-eight minutes north latitude, east by the meridian one hundred and twenty-two degrees west longitude, and west by the meridian one hundred and twenty-two degrees sixteen minutes west longitude, having an area of two hundred and forty-nine square miles, in the State of Oregon, and including Crater Lake, has been reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and dedicated and set apart forever as a public park or pleasure ground for the benefit of the people of the United States, to be known as Crater Lake National Park.
The park by said act is placed under the exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior, and these rules and regulations are made and published in pursuance of the duty imposed on him in regard thereto.
1. It is forbidden to injure, or destroy in any manner, any of the natural curiosities or wonders within the park, or to disturb the mineral deposits in the reservation, except under the conditions pre scribed in paragraph 11 of these regulations.
2. It is forbidden to cut or injure any timber growing on the park lands, except for use in the construction of places of entertainment and in connection with the working of located mining claims, or to deface or injure any Government property. Camping parties and others on the reservation will be allowed to use dead or fallen timber for fuel in the discretion of the superintendent.
3. Fires should be lighted only when necessary and completely extinguished when not longer required. The utmost care must be exercised at all times to avoid setting fire to the timber and grass.
4. Hunting or killing, wounding or capturing any bird or wild animal on the park lands, except dangerous animals when necessary to prevent them from destroying life or inflicting an injury, is prohibited. The outfits, including guns, traps, teams, horses, or means of transportation used by persons engaged in hunting, killing, trap ping, ensnaring, or capturing such birds or wild animals, or in possession of game killed on the park lands under other circumstances than prescribed above, will be taken up by the superintendent and held subject to the order of the Secretary of the Interior, except in cases where it is shown by satisfactory evidence that the outfit is not the property of the person or persons violating this regulation and the actual owner thereof was not a party to such violation. Fire arms will only be permitted in the park on written permission from the superintendent thereof.
5. Fishing with nets, seines, traps, or by the use of drugs or explosives, or in any other way than with hook and line, is prohibited.
Fishing for purposes of merchandise or profit is forbidden. Fishing may be prohibited by order of the superintendent in any of the waters of the park, or limited therein to any specified season of the year, until otherwise ordered by the Secretary of the Interior.
All fish less than 8 inches in length should at once be returned to the water with the least damage possible to the fish. Fish that are to be retained must be at once killed by a blow on the back of the head or by thrusting a knife or other sharp instrument into the head.
6. No person will be permitted to reside permanently, engage in any business, or erect buildings, etc., upon the Government lands in the park without permission, in writing, from the Secretary of the Interior. The superintendent may grant authority to competent persons to act as guides and revoke the same in his discretion. No pack trains will be allowed in the park unless in charge of a duly registered guide.
7. Owners of patented lands within the park limits are entitled to the full use and enjoyment thereof; the boundaries of such lands, however, must be determined and marked and defined, so that they may be readily distinguished from the park lands. While no limitations or conditions are imposed upon the use of such private lands so long as such use does not interfere with or injure the park, private owners must provide against trespass by their stock or cattle, or otherwise, upon the park lands, an d all trespasses committed will be punished to the full extent of the law. Stock may be taken over the park lands to patented private lands with the written permission and under the supervision of the superintendent, but such permission and supervision are not required when access to such private lands is had wholly over roads or lands not owned or controlled by the United States.
8. Allowing the running at large, herding, or grazing of cattle or stock of any kind on the Government lands in the park, as well as the driving of such stock or cattle over same, is strictly forbidden, except where authority therefor has been granted by the superintendent. All cattle or stock found trespassing on the park lands will be impounded and disposed of as. directed in regulations approved March 30, 1912.
9. No drinking saloon or barroom will be permitted upon Government lands in the park.
10. Private notices or advertisements shall not be posted or displayed on the Government lands within the reservation except such as may be necessary for the convenience and guidance of the public.
11. The act provides that, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe, the reservation shall be open “to the location of mining claims and the working of the same.” It was not the purpose of this provision to extend the mining laws to the park without limitation, but only to authorize the location and working of mining claims thereon, under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and in such manner as not to interfere with or prejudicially affect the general purpose for which the reservation was established. It is therefore prescribed:
(a) That persons desiring to locate mining claims within the park shall enroll their names and addresses with the superintendent o the reservation and shall file with such superintendent a description, in writing, of the land desired to be located. They shall also file with the superintendent evidence that they are severally qualified to make locations under the mining laws, and before entering upon. the park for such purpose they must obtain from the Secretary of the Interior, through the superintendent, a written permit to do so. Such permit will be issued only upon condition that the applicant or applicants therefor, while upon the reservation, will not destroy or damage any game, fish, timber, or natural objects therein, and will strictly observe and comply with the requirements of the law and these regulations.
(b) Lands in the park upon which valuable deposits of mineral shall have been or may be found may be located under the mining laws by any person or persons duly qualified and holding a permit such as is described in the preceding paragraph, and such person or persons, his or their successor or successors in interest, may work the claim or claims so located; but in carrying on the work he or they shall in all respects observe and comply with the provisions of the statute creating the park and with these regulations: Provided, That such person or persons may, as the proper working of such mining claim or claims shall require, be permitted to use for mining purposes such timber or stone found upon the land located as in the judgment of the superintendent may be so used without injury or damage to the reservation “as a public p ark or pleasure ground”: And provided further, That within thirty days after the location of any mining claim within the park, and before development work thereon shall be commenced, a copy of the notice of location shall be filed with the superintendent, together with proof satisfactorily showing that discovery of a valuable mineral deposit has been made within the limits of the location, and, if it be a placer location, that every ten-acre tract embraced therein has been found to contain valuable deposits of mineral.
(c) The statute does not authorize the purchase of or the acquisition of the legal. title to lands located as mining claims within the park. The rights of the locator or locators, therefore, will be at all times subject to forfeiture upon breach of any of the conditions mentioned in the permit herein provided for, or upon refusal or failure to comply with any of the provisions of the statute or of these regulations.
(d) Upon breach of any such conditions, or upon refusal or failure to comply in all respects with the provisions of the statute and of these regulations, or where locators of mining claims do not appear to be acting in good faith, or who after location do not work their claims in such manner as to show good faith in the assertion thereof, the superintendent will revoke their permits, forthwith remove them from the park, and report the facts to the Secretary of the Interior.
12. Persons who render themselves obnoxious by disorderly conduct or bad behavior, or who violate any of the foregoing rules, will be summarily removed from the park and will not be allowed to return without permission, in writing, from the Secretary of the Interior or the superintendent of the park.
No lessee or licensee shall retain in his employ any person whose presence in the park shall be deemed and declared by the superintendent to be subversive of the good order and management of the reservation.
13. Any person who violates any of the foregoing regulations will be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned not more than one year, and shall be liable for any loss sustained by the United States as a result of such violation, as provided by the act creating the park.
14. The superintendent designated by the Secretary is hereby authorized and directed to remove all trespassers from the Government lands in the park and enforce these rules and regulations and all the provisions of the act of Congress aforesaid.
REGULATIONS OF MARCH 30, 1912, GOVERNING THE IMPOUNDING AND DISPOSITION OF LOOSE LIVE STOCK.
Horses, cattle, or other domestic live stock running at large or being herded or grazed in the Crater Lake National Park without authority from the Secretary of the Interior will be taken up and impounded by the superintendent, who’ will at once give notice thereof to the owner, if known. If the owner is not known, notice of such impounding, giving a description of the animal or animals, with the brands thereon, will be posted in six public places inside the park and in two public places outside the park. Any owner of an animal thus impounded may, at any time before the sale thereof, re claim the same upon proving ownership and paying the cost of notice and all expenses incident to the taking up and detention of such animal, including the cost of feeding and caring for the same. If any animal thus impounded shall not be reclaimed within 30 days from notice to the owner or from the date of posting notices, it shall be sold at public auction at such time and place as may be fixed by the superintendent, after 10 days’ notice, to be given by posting notices in six public p laces in the park and two public places outside the park, and by mailing to the owner, if known, a copy thereof.
All money received from the sale of such animals and remaining after the payment of all expenses incident to the taking up, impounding, and selling thereof, shall be carefully retained by the superintendent in a separate fund for a period of six months, during which time the net proceeds from the sale of any animal may be claimed by and paid to the owner upon the presentation of satisfactory proof of ownership, and if not so claimed within six months from the date of sale such proceeds shall be turned into the. Crater Lake National Park fund.
The superintendent shall keep a record, in which shall be set down a description of all animals impounded, giving the brands found on them, the date and locality of the taking up, the date of all notices and manner in which they were given, the date of sale, the name and address of the purchaser, the amount for which each animal was sold and the cost incurred in connection therewith, and the disposition of the proceeds.
The superintendent will, in each instance, make every reasonable effort to ascertain the owner of animals impounded and to give actual notice thereof to such owner.
Report of the Superintendent of Crater Lake National Park, 1912, in Annual Report of the Department of the Interior, 1912, I, 730-33.
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