DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Hon. SCOTT FERRIS, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. FERRIS: I am in receipt of your favor of the 11th instant, inclosing a letter addressed to you by Hon. F. W. Mondell, and asking that there be furnished your committee, as requested by him, a supplemental report on Senate act 733, showing the number of subsisting homestead entries on the ceded portion of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming which would be affected by the proposed legislation. In Secretary Lane's report to the Committee on Public Lands of the Senate on S. 733, he recommended its amendment so as to require of the homesteaders in question a showing of eight months' residence, the provisions being thus conformed to those of the act of April 27, 1912 (37 Stat., 91), for the relief of persons whose entries for these lands were made prior to December 16, 1911. However, the committee not having adopted that suggestion and the bill having passed the Senate in its original form, thus granting earlier entrymen easier terms than were accorded by the act mentioned, there must be considered the entries made before the date mentioned as well as those made thereafter. You are therefore advised that, according to the records of the General Land Office, there are now pending 92 of these entries, of which about 65 were made after December 16, 1911. Very respectfully, ANDRIEUS A. JONES, Acting Secretary. O 64TH CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 1st Session. ADDITION OF CERTAIN LANDS TO THE TETON NATIONAL FOREST, WYO. MAY 3, 1916.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. MCCLINTIC, from the Committee on the Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 12208.] The Committee on the Public Lands, to which was referred the bill (H. R. 12208) adding certain lands to the Teton National Forest, Wyo., having had the same under consideration, begs leave to report the same back to the House with the recommendation that it do pass. There is attached to and made a part of this report a letter from the Secretary of Agriculture to the chairman of the Committee on the Public Lands, setting forth the reasons for the addition of the lands described in the bill, 13,642 acres in all, to the Teton Forest Reserve. From that letter it seems that the bill is needed to protect the elk drifting from the Yellowstone National Park to their winter range within and adjacent to the Teton National Forest and to provide feeding grounds for them. The present boundary of the forest is located in a way which makes it necessary for the elk to pass outside of the forest in their movement between summer and winter range. Without control of the additional lands used by the elk (i. e., the lands referred to in the bill) it is very difficult for the Government to carry out plans for taking care of the herd which should be permanently maintained. During the summer months the elk are generally within the Yellowstone National Park and in the Wyoming State game preserve. The addition of the lands in question to the forest reserve will round out the reserve boundary and preserve for the elk these foothill lands which are now a part of their range when they come into the Jacksons Hole country in the winter. There is attached hereto and made a part of this report a copy of a letter from the Secretary of the Interior to Hon. F. W. Mondell, giving the area and status of the lands in question and explaining the importance of speedy action on the bill because of the fact that the Interior Department does not feel justified in withdrawing the lands from entry pending congressional action. H R-64-1-vol 2—52 Hon. SCOTT FERRIS, APRIL 12, 1916. Chairman Committee on Public Lands, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. FERRIS: I wish to acknowledge receipt of a copy of the bill (H. R. 12208) adding certain lands to the Teton National Forest, Wyo. As the result of a recent study of the elk within and adjacent to the Yellowstone National Park, made jointly by representatives of the Biological Survey and of the Forest Service, it has been found that the areas described in the bill and recommended for addition to the Teton National Forest are needed to protect the elk drifting from the Yellowstone National Park to their winter range within and adjacent to the Teton National Forest and to provide feeding grounds for them. The present boundary of the forest is located in a way which makes it necessary for the elk to pass outside of the forest in their movement between summer and winter range. Without control of the additional lands used by the elk, it is very difficult for the Government to carry out plans for taking care of the herd, which should be permanently maintained. During the summer months the elk are generally within the Yellowstone National Park and in the State game preserve. Their winter range is in and adjacent to the national forest. Hunting is not allowed upon either the national forest or the State game preserve in the Teton National Forest adjoining it. The Forest Service is, therefore, charged to a large extent with not only providing winter range for the elk, but also with cooperating with the State officials in the enforcement of the State game laws during the hunting season. These lands, if made a part of the forest, will provide an increased area of winter range and will materially assist in giving protection to the elk at present in that region. This department is keenly interested in the preservation of this herd. The addition of these lands to the Teton National Forest will not add appreciably to the expense of administering the present national forest area. For this reason this department would approve the passage of the bill. Very truly, yours, Hon. F. W. MONDELL, House of Representatives. D. F. HOUSTON, Secretary. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, April 15, 1916. MY DEAR MR. MONDELL: I am in receipt of your letter of March 25, 1916, inclosing copy of H. R. 12208, proposing to add certain lands to the Teton National Forest, Wyo., and suggesting withdrawal of such lands until the bill has been considered by Congress. The act of March 4, 1907 (34 Stat., 1271), prohibited the creation of a forest reserve or the enlargement of one theretofore established in Wyoming and certain other States except by act of Congress, and the act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat., 847), which authorizes the President to make withdrawals for public purposes, and that of August 24, 1912 (37 Stat., 497), amendatory thereof, each contain a similar provision. In view of such prohibition it is believed that withdrawals of lands in such States under the act of June 25, 1910, for forestry purposes or in aid of pending legislation to reserve lands therefor are not authorized. The noncontiguous tracts described in the bill have an aggregate area of approximately 13,642 acres, chiefly surveyed, and 8,803 acres thereof are now withdrawn under the said act of June 25, 1910, 7,563 acres in phosphate reserves and 1,240 acres in connection with the selection of lands by the Secretary of Agriculture as an elk refuge. The act of July 17, 1914 (38 Stat., 509), permits agricultural entries of lands in phosphate reservations under certain conditions; 1,460 acres of the unwithdrawn area are not now subject to entry, 1,340 acres being in surveyed school sections; 600 acres thereof have, however, been offered as base for pending indemnity selections, and 120 acres are embraced in an unperfected homestead entry. Section 13 of township 42 north, range 115 west, has been designated for entry under the enlarged homestead act. The areas described in the bill adjoin the national forest on the west and a portion of the land in township 41 north, range 116 west also adjoins the elk refuge established by Executive order of April 21, 1915, under the provisions of the act of March 4, 1913 (37 Stat., 847). Cordially, yours, FRANKLIN K. LANE, Secretary. O PATENT TO CERTAIN LAND OF CHIPPEWA INDIANS IN MINNESOTA TO VILLAGE OF WHITE EARTH. MAY 3, 1916.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed. Mr. STEPHENS of Texas, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 14533.] The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 14533) authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to issue a patent in fee simple to the district school board No. 112, of White Earth village, Becker County, Minn., for a certain tract of land upon payment therefor to the United States, in trust for the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota, having carefully considered the same, reports the bill back without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass. The purpose of the bill is to grant title in fee to 20 acres of land, now held in trust by the Government for the benefit of the Chippewa Indians in Minnesota, to the school board of the village of White Earth, Minn., located on the Indian reservation, for the purpose of acquiring a site for the erection of adequate school quarters by the school district for the education of Indian and other children residents of that village. The bill provides that the appraised value of the land shall be paid by the school board, and that the funds so derived shall be held in trust by the Government for the benefit of the tribe. It is estimated that the land is worth $40 per acre. The legislation has the approval of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as evidenced by the attached letter of the Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs, as follows: MARCH 27, 1916. MY DEAR MR. STEENERSON: Referring to your letter of February 3, 1916, and our reply of March 10, 1916, concerning the acquisition of title by the district school board at White Earth village of land needed as site for a new school building, the White Earth superintendent advises that block 17 in the town site, which was set apart for school purposes under the provisions of the act of March 1, 1907 (34 Stat. L., 1015-1032), is not suitable either in location or character for the present purpose; that |