In order to understand the reason for a board of appeals, and something of its functions, it is essential to have a general idea of the system of handling and disposing of the public lands, their resources, and all other matters within the jurisdiction of the department of the interior.

It has been the wise policy of the United States so to dispose of its lands and resources as to encourage the establishment of homes and the extraction and use of minerals, rather than to seek to derive a revenue therefrom. The agricultural lands of the public domain are freely given to citizens who will establish their homes, erect improvements, and cultivate the soil. The taking of the minerals is permitted under what amounts to a gift, conditioned upon certain development work; so with the use of water for irrigation, for power, and for municipal and domestic purposes.