6. What authority does the Forest Service have to enforce laws and make arrests? back to top
Forest Service law enforcement authority derives directly from the Constitution of the United States and several laws enacted by Congress.
Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2, commonly referred to as the “property clause” of the Constitution, allows the federal government to own and protect certain properties not belonging to the individual states… “The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States …”
The United States Code contains numerous laws pertaining to the National Forests. The principal laws relating the law enforcement authority are—
The Act of June 4, 1897 , as amended; codified at 16 United States Code, section 551, states “ The Secretary of Agriculture shall make provisions for the protection against destruction by fire and depredations upon the public forests and national forests which may have been set aside…; and he may make such rules and regulations and establish such service as will insure the objects of such reservations, namely, to regulate their occupancy and use and to preserve the forests thereon from destruction; and any violation of the provisions of this section… shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. Any person charged with the violation of such rules and regulations may be tried and sentenced by any United States magistrate judge specially designated for that purpose by the court by which he was appointed, in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as provided for in section 3401(b) to (e) of title 18.” (16 usc 551-PDF) The Act of March 3, 1905 , as amended; codified at 16 United States Code, section 559, states “All persons employed in the Forest Service of the United States shall have authority to make arrests for the violation of the laws and regulations relating to the national forests, and any person so arrested shall be taken before the nearest United States magistrate judge, within whose jurisdiction the forest is located, for trial; and upon sworn information by any competent person any United States magistrate judge in the proper jurisdiction shall issue process for the arrest of any person charged with the violation of said laws and regulations; but nothing herein contained shall be construed as preventing the arrest by any officer of the United States, without process, of any person taken in the act of violating said laws and regulations.” (16 usc 559-PDF) The Act of May 23, 1908 , as amended; codified at 16 United States Code, section 553, states “Officials of the Forest Service designated by the Secretary of Agriculture shall, in all ways that are practicable, aid in the enforcement of the laws of the States or Territories with regard to stock, for the prevention and extinguishment of forest fires, and for the protection of fish and game, and with respect to national forests, shall aid the other Federal bureaus and departments on request from them, in the performance of the duties imposed on them by law.” (16 usc 553-PDF) Public Law 92-82, as amended; codified at 16 United States Code, section 551a, states “The Secretary of Agriculture, in connection with the administration and regulation of the use and occupancy of the national forests and national grasslands, is authorized to cooperate with any State or political subdivision thereof, on lands which are within or part of any unit of the national forest system, in the enforcement or supervision of the laws or ordinances of a State or subdivision thereof. Such cooperation may include the reimbursement of a State or its subdivision for expenditures incurred in connection with activities on national forest system lands. This section shall not deprive any State or political subdivision thereof of its right to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction, within or on lands which are a part of the national forest system.” (16 usc 551a-PDF) And finally, The National Forest System Drug Control Act of 1986, Public Law 99-570, codified at 16 United States Code, sections 559b-559g, establishes that “The purpose of this title is to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to take action necessary, in connection with the administration and use of the National Forest System, to prevent the manufacture, distribution, or dispensing of marijuana and other controlled substances.” (16 usc 559b-PDF)