Bureaucratic Blow to Kaniksu Homesteaders
A sudden reversal in federal policy by Secretary of the Interior R.A. Ballinger threatens the residency claims of forty settlers in the Kaniksu National Forest.
The office of the Kaniksu National Forest at Newport is notifying settlers that on Jan. 12, the Secretary of the Interior, R. A. Ballinger, decided that until he declares land in National Forests open to homestead settlement and entry, no settlement or residence prior to the restoration of such land to entry will be counted as residence when final proof is offered. This is in direct opposition to a former decision of the secretary, in accordance with which the Forest Service had issued many special use permits, under which preferred applicants for forest homesteads had settled on and cultivated their land. All persons who have made settlement under such free agricultural special use permits are therefore notified that their time spent on the land will not apply toward their final proof. This ruling will cause trouble for settlers in the Kaniksu who have neglected to have their lands listed and classified. About 40 settlers in the Kaniksu are affected by this decision.
“This is in direct opposition to a former decision of the secretary of the interior, in accordance with which the Forest Service has issued many special use permits.”
This story captures the volatile nature of federal land management in the early 20th century, where settlers were often caught between shifting bureaucratic mandates. It mirrors modern-day tensions regarding public land use and the rights of those living on the rural-forest interface.
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