1878 Timber Land Act Opens 160-Acre Sales
A new federal law promises to open up public forests in Washington Territory to private ownership, setting the stage for decades of industrial exploitation.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
An Act to provide for the sale of timber and stone lands in California, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington Territory. The Act states that surveyed public lands of the United States in these areas, valuable chiefly for timber but unfit for cultivation, may be sold to citizens or those declaring intent to become such, in quantities not exceeding 160 acres to any one person or association at the minimum price of $2.50 per acre. Applicants must submit a written statement under oath declaring they are not purchasing for speculation but for their own exclusive use and benefit. The Act further stipulates that it is unlawful to cut or wantonly destroy timber on public lands with intent to export it, with fines ranging from $100 to $1,000 for violators. However, individuals already prosecuted for previous timber cutting may find relief by paying the $2.50 per acre fee into the court, effectively legitimizing past illegal logging activities.
“That I should be thinking right there, of some one who on ‘nigh winter, and swam the north fork... just to dance with old Ironsides’ daughter, the lily of Poverty Flat.”
This 1878 legislation, known as the Timber and Stone Act, was a watershed moment for the Pacific Northwest, facilitating the transfer of massive swaths of public forest into the hands of timber barons. Today, this legacy persists in the fragmented ownership patterns of our woodlands and the ongoing, modern-day legal debates surrounding sustainable forestry and the public's right to federal lands.
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