PLATE I. Map of United States, showing areas covered by geologic surveys... Page. 26 64 THIRTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. GEORGE OTIS SMITH, Director. The appropriations for the work of the United States Geological Survey for the fiscal year 1909-10 comprised items amounting to $1,497,815. The plan of operations was approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and a detailed statement of the work of the several branches and divisions of the Survey is presented on later pages of this report. SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE WORK. PROGRESS IN LAND CLASSIFICATION. OUTLINE OF WORK. The work of the land-classification board is for the most part based on field investigations made by other sections, divisions, and branches of the Survey, as well as by the General Land Office. The land-classification work during the year has included 1. The preparation of withdrawals covering power sites and coal, oil, gas, and phosphate lands. 2. The classification and restoration of withdrawn lands and the classification of certain mineral claims in national forests. 3. The designation of lands under the enlarged-homestead act and the consideration of petitions for such designation. 4. The consideration of applications for the reclassification of lands classified as coal land and of referred reports of special agents of the General Land Office with respect to the mineral character of classified, withdrawn, and other lands. 5. Reports to the Secretary, Land Office, and Indian Office regarding the possibility of developing power on lands involved in applications under the right-of-way acts and regarding the feasibility of proposed irrigation enterprises under the Carey Act. PHOSPHATE LANDS. Withdrawals of public phosphate lands have been made in aid of proposed legislation, for the reason that many conflicting claims have arisen through efforts to locate and acquire title to such lands under existing laws and for the further reason that the maintenance of the agricultural wealth of the country requires that the exportation of these supplies of valuable plant food be prevented by some effective method. The field examination of these withdrawn lands is being energetically pushed, so that all lands which are in fact not underlain by phosphate deposits may be promptly released from these withdrawals and new phosphate territory may be included. During the fiscal year areas aggregating 2,322,416 acres, which had been included in phosphate withdrawals, have been restored to entry as the result of field work showing that they are not valuable for phosphate, and 401,954 acres of new phosphate territory found by these examinations have been included in the withdrawals. The withdrawals by States are tabulated elsewhere (p. 47). POWER SITES. The policy of withdrawing lands in aid of proposed legislation affecting the use and disposition of water-power sites was actively continued during the year at the rate of about 100,000 acres a month, the total withdrawals for the year amounting to 1,219,818 acres. As a result of field work showing the lands not to be valuable for power 45,189 acres were released from existing withdrawals and restored to the public domain. The areas covered by withdrawals in the several States, as well as the total area covered by outstanding withdrawals on July 1, 1910, are given in the table on page 48. COAL LANDS. The energies of the coal-land classification board have been directed toward the completion and systematization of the records of past investigations and actions; the classification and appraisement of the large areas which had been examined in previous years but on which no classification had been reported; the reclassification, under the new regulations of April 10, 1909, of all areas previously classified; and the withdrawal of areas which by these former examinations were indicated to contain valuable deposits of coal but with regard to which the information at hand was not sufficient for a complete classification and appraisement. Classifications and valuations.-The board has during the year classified and appraised, with respect to coal value, 14,512,932 acres which had not previously been classified, of which 587,306 acres were required to offset the amount lost by rewithdrawals where new data indicated the existing classifications to be erroneous. It has reclassified 4,206,528 acres covered by former classifications. These, with the areas restored without appraisal because they are private lands, or without classification because of their doubtful value as to coal, amounting to 2,602,215 acres, make a total of 21,321,675 acres acted on during the year. The total value of the 5,618,769 acres appraised as coal land during the year, at the minimum price fixed by law, is $87,816,599; the value fixed by the board is $380,955,646, an increase of approximately $300,000,000. The total area on June 30, 1910, covered with classification and appraisement as coal land, under both the old and the new regulations, is 10,031,390 acres, and the total appraised value of those lands is $449,876,208. The progress of coal-land classifications and the net areas covered by existing classifications under the old and new regulations on July 1, 1909, and July 1, 1910, exclusive of restorations without classification and of classifications as coal land without appraisement, are shown in the table on page 45. Withdrawals. The coal-land withdrawals have been extended during the year to cover the principal remaining areas of the extensive coal fields in eastern Montana and Wyoming, only portions of which had been previously withdrawn. These withdrawals, together with those covering newly discovered coal fields in Utah and Arizona and the rewithdrawal of 587,306 acres where new data indicated the existing classifications to be erroneous, make a total withdrawal for the year of 20,425,728 acres. Recommendations for withdrawal covering the very extensive area of low-grade coal lands in North Dakota and South Dakota were prepared during the fiscal year, but the withdrawals were not made until the early part of July, 1910. Although these lands had been known for many years to contain coal, inclusive withdrawals had not been made for the reason that the agricultural value of the land was almost everywhere greater than the coal value, and the value of the coal was not deemed sufficient to warrant the great retardation of development which would follow withdrawal. With the passage of the law making it possible to obtain patent to the surface of coal lands under the agricultural-land laws, this objection to withdrawal no longer existed. It is believed that with these new withdrawals in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, North Dakota, and South Dakota only small areas of public lands will be found to contain coal in amounts which will make additional withdrawals necessary, except in coal fields in existing Indian reservations. The outstanding withdrawals on July 1, 1909, and July 1, 1910, together with a summary statement of new withdrawals and actions which have tended to reduce existing withdrawals, are given by States in the table on page 46. OIL LANDS. At the beginning of the fiscal year oil-land withdrawals from agricultural entry included 2,270,144 acres in California and 173,530 |