ORDER OF WITHDRAWAL. NAVAL PETROLEUM RESERVE NO. 2. It is hereby ordered that all lands included in the following list and heretofore forming a part of Petroleum Reserve No. 2, California No. 1, withdrawn on July 2, 1910,1 from settlement, location, sale, or entry and reserved for classification and in aid of legislation under the authority of the act of Congress entitled: An act to authorize the President of the United States to make withdrawals of public lands in certain cases (36 Stat., 847), shall hereafter, subject to valid existing rights, constitute Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 2 and shall be held for the exclusive use or benefit of the United States Navy until this order is revoked by the President or by act of Congress. To this end and for this public purpose, the order of July 2, 1910, is modified and the withdrawal of that date is continued and extended in so far as it affects these lands. Field investigations by the Geological Survey indicate that the following lands are valuable for oil, and I therefore recommend the submission of the following order of withdrawal to the President for appropriate action. The area involved in this order is 87,990 acres. MAY-3 1913 Respectfully referred to the President with favorable recommendation. FRANKLIN K LANE 1 See p. 183. Respectfully, GEO. H. ASHLEY Acting Director. ORDER OF WITHDRAWAL. PETROLEUM RESERVE NO. 28, WYOMING NO. 7. It is hereby ordered that all public lands included in the following list be, and the same are hereby withdrawn from settlement, location, sale, or entry, and reserved for classification and in aid of legislation affecting the use and disposal of petroleum lands belonging to the United States, subject to all of the limitations, provisions, exceptions and conditions contained in the act of Congress entitled "An act to authorize the President of the United States to make withdrawals of public lands in certain cases," approved June 25, 1910: On June 19, 1909, the lands in southeastern Oregon listed below were withdrawn upon a petition submitted by the Mammoth Oil & Gas Company of Vale, Oregon, and other corporations and individuals, to the Secretary of the Interior, representing that the lands were believed to contain valuable deposits of oil or gas, and requesting their withdrawal. The withdrawal of June 19, 1909, was ratified, confirmed, and continued by Executive Order of July 2, 1910,2 as Petroleum Reserve No. 6. Subsequent investigations of the oil and gas possibilities of this region indicate that although small quantities of natural gas are found, accumulations of sufficient quantity and value to warrant a continuation of the withdrawal are not likely to be present. The following order of restoration, which involves 74,849 acres, is therefore recommended for submission to the President for appropriate action. None of these lands are included in coal, phosphate, or public water reserves, and none are within national forests. Respectfully, GEO. H. ASHLEY Acting Director. MAY 17 1913 Respectfully referred to the President with favorable recommendation. FRANKLIN K LANE ORDER OF RESTORATION PETROLEUM RESTORATION NO. 13, OREGON NO. 1. So much of the order of withdrawal made heretofore for classification and in aid of legislation affecting the use and disposition of petroleum lands, namely Reserve No. 6, Oregon No. 1, as affects the lands hereinafter described is hereby revoked for the reason that the Director of the Geological Survey reports that the lands are not valuable for the purpose for which withdrawn. And it is further ordered that all such lands not otherwise reserved or withdrawn, are hereby restored to the public domain and shall become subject to disposition under the laws applicable thereto upon such date and after such notice as may be determined upon by the Secretary of the Interior. LETTER OF JUNE 7, 1913, FROM WYOMING DELEGATION TO SECRETARY. Hon. FRANKLIN K. LANE, Secretary of the Interior. JUNE 7, 1913. SIR: We are enclosing herewith petitions signed by good and representative citizens of Basin and Greybull, Wyoming, requesting the restoration to entry of lands in the vicinity of these towns now withdrawn as oil and gas lands. The situation briefly is as follows: A number of years ago, after considerable drilling in the locality, a gas well was developed near the town of Greybull. After many vicissitudes and much delay capital was secured and a considerable number of wells were drilled and pipe lines were laid to supply Basin, ten miles distant, and Greybull, with gas. Last year the supply from these wells proving inadequate, further wells were drilled on patented lands but they have not materially added to the supply. The company operating in this field has, we are informed, found it difficult to secure funds for further drilling on lands on which they applied for patent several years ago and now await action on the third inspection of the said lands which has been ordered by the General Land Office. Some time since, all public lands in the vicinity which gave promise of yielding oil or gas were withdrawn from all forms of entry, and it is the restoration of these lands which is now sought. We cannot urge too strongly upon you the importance, to the people of the towns of Basin and Greybull and the surrounding country, of having an opportunity given for the further development of this gas and oil field. The people have discarded their stoves and furnaces for gas ranges and heaters, and now find the gas supply wholly inadequate for their needs, with every prospect of a complete failure of supply unless more territory is opened to exploration. Those who have, with great courage, made large investments to prove the extent and value of the field are threatened with a total loss of all investment, while a very considerable area of lands believed to be oil and gas producing—mostly barren hills having no other value whatever-are tied up by withdrawal. We most earnestly urge that relief be granted at once in order that drilling may be speedily undertaken, as the region is one in which it is practically impossible to drill after winter sets in. Very truly yours, F. W. MONDell MODIFICATION OF JUNE 9, 1913. MODIFICATION Order. Petroleum Reserve No. 8 (Wyoming), created by Executive Order of July 2, 1910,1 and Wyoming Coal Land Withdrawal No. 1, created by Executive Order of July 13, 1910, are hereby modified to permit the approval by the Secretary of the Interior of the application of the Natrona Pipe Line and Refinery Company for the amended right of way from a point in Sec. 1, T. 40 N., R. 79 W., to a point in Sec. 11, T. 33 N., R. 79 W., and for branch lines in Tps. 39 and 40 N., R. 79 W., Douglas, Wyoming, land district, as shown by map of amended location on file in the General Land Office. 9 June, 1913. WOODROW WILSON President. MODIFICATION OF JUNE 11, 1913. JUNE 7, 1913. The Honorable, SIR: The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. In drafting the order for Petroleum Reserve No. 2, California No. 1, approved by the President July 2, 1910,2 the latest survey of T. 29 S., R. 20 E., Mt. Diablo Meridian, was not used. In order, therefore, to conform the withdrawal order to the official survey, the following order of modification is recommended for submission to the President. PETROLEUM RESERVE NO. 2-CALIFORNIA NO. 1. It is hereby ordered that so much of the order of withdrawal of July 2, 1910, creating Petroleum Reserve No. 2—California No. 1,2 as described lands in T. 29 S., R. 20 E., Mt. Diablo Meridian, be, and hereby is modified to conform to the latest official survey, and to describe said lands in the terms of said survey as follows: |