Santa Barbara, in the State of California, which are chiefly valuable for agriculture, and which, in his opinion, may be occupied for agricultural purposes without injury to such national forests and which are not needed for public purposes, and may list and describe the same by metes and bounds, or otherwise, and file the lists and descriptions with the Secretary of the Interior, with the request that the said lands be opened to entry in accordance with the provisions of the homestead laws and sections 506-509 of this title.

Upon the filing of any such list or description the Secretary of the Interior shall declare the said lands open to homestead settlement and entry in tracts not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres in area and not exceeding one mile in length, at the expiration of sixty days from the filing of the list in the land office of the district within which the hands are located, during which period the said list or description shall be prominently posted in the land office and advertised for a period of not less than four weeks in one newspaper of general circulation published in the county in which the lands are situated. Any settler actually occupying and in good faith claiming such lands for agricultural purposes prior to January 1, 1906, and who shall not have abandoned the same, and the person, if qualified to make a homestead entry, upon whose application the land proposed to be entered was examined and listed, shall, each in the order named, have a preference right of settlement and entry. Any entryman desiring to obtain patent to any lands described by metes and bounds entered by him under the provisions of sections 506-509 of this title shall, within five years of the date of making settlement, file, with the required proof of residence and cultivation, a plat and field notes of the lands entered, made by or under the direction of the United States supervisor of surveys, showing accurately the boundaries of such lands, which shall be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground, and by posting a copy of such plat, together with a notice of the time and place of offering proof, in a conspicuous place on the land embraced in such plat during the period prescribed by law for the publication of his notice of intention to offer proof, and that a copy of such plat and field notes shall also be kept posted in the office of the register of the land office for the land district in which such lands are situated for a like period; and further, that any agricultural lands within forest reserves may, at the discretion of the Secretary, be surveyed by metes and bounds, and that no lands entered under the provisions of sections 506-509 of this title shall be patented under the commutation provisions of the homestead laws, but settlers, upon final proof, shall have credit for the period of their actual residence upon the lands covered by their entries. No land listed under the aforesaid sections shall pass from the forest until patent issues. (June 11, 1906, ch. 3074, § 1, 34 Stat. 233; May 30, 1908, ch. 233, 35 Stat. 554; Aug. 10, 1912, ch. 284, 37 Stat. 287; Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 462, 43 Stat. 1144.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Homestead entry denied in Custer National Forest, see section 510a of this title.

Lands added to Yellowstone National Park not subject to homestead entry, see section 40 of this title.

§ 507. Additional homestead right of entry to former settlers.Settlers upon lands chiefly valuable for agriculture within national forests on January 1, 1906, who had on that date exercised or lost their homestead privilege, but were otherwise competent to enter lands under the under the homestead laws, are granted an additional homestead right of entry for the purposes of sections 506-509 of this title only, and such settlers must otherwise comply with the provisions of the homestead law, and in addition thereto must pay $2.50 per acre for lands entered under the provisions of this section, such payment to be made at the time of making final proof on such lands. (June 11, 1906, ch. 3074, § 2, 34 Stat. 234.)

§ 508. Entries in Black Hills National Forest subject to mining laws and to appropriation of waters.-All entries under sections 506-509 of this title in the Black Hills National Forest shall be subject to the quartz or lode mining laws of the United States, and the laws and regulations permitting the location, appropriation, and use of the waters within the said national forest for mining, irrigation, and other purposes; and no titles acquired to agriculturual lands in said Black Hills National Forest under said sections shall vest in the patentee any riparian rights to any stream or streams of flowing water within said forest; and that such limitation of title shall be expressed in the patents for the lands covered by such entries. (June 11, 1906, ch. 3074; § 3, 34 Stat. 234.)

§ 508a. Black Hills National or Harney National Forest; exchange of lands.

Section, act Feb. 15, 1927, ch. 152, 44 Stat. 1099, is now covered by note under sections 486a-486w of this title.

§ 509. Future settlements on lands within reserves, and rights of former bona fide settlers.-Nothing contained within sections 506-509 of this title shall be held to authorize any future settlement on any lands within national forests until such lands have been opened to settlement as provided in said sections, or to in way impair the legal rights of any bona fide homestead settler who has or shall establish residence upon public lands prior to their inclusion within a national forest. (June 11, 1906, ch. 3074, § 5, 34 Stat. 234.)

§ 510. Right of homstead entry extended to certain lands.The provisions of sections 506-509 of this title shall apply to all lands within the national forests in Lawrence and Pennington Counties in South Dakota. (Aug. 8, 1916, ch. 295, 39 Stat. 440.)

CROSS REFERENCE

Homestead entry rights denied to Custer National Forest, see section 510a of this title.

§ 510a. Right_of homestead entry denied to certain lands; Custer National Forest.-From and after June 13, 1930, no applications may be accepted by the Secretary of Agriculture for the classification and listing of any land in the Custer National Forest for homestead entry under the provisions of section 506 of this

title, nor shall any lands be so classified for entry under the provisions of the Act of August 10, 1912 (Thirty-seventh Statutes, pages 269-287): Provided, however, That the Secretary of Agriculture may, in his discretion, list limited tracts when in his opinion such action will be in the public. interest and will not be injurious to other settlers or users of the national forest. (June 13, 1930, ch. 481, 46 Stat. 583.)

§ 511. Reinstatement of entries canceled or relinquished. All homestead entries which have been canceled or relinquished, or are invalid solely because of the erroneous allowance of such entries after the withdrawal of lands for national-forest purposes, may be reinstated or allowed to remain intact, but in the case of entries canceled prior to March 3, 1911, applications for reinstatement must have been filed in the proper local land office prior to July 1, 1912. (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 225, § 1, 36 Stat. 1084.)

§ 512. Segregation of lands for homestead entry.—The Secretary of Agriculture is directed and required to select, classify, and segregate, as soon as practicable, all lands within the boundaries of national forests that may be opened to settlement and entry under the homestead laws applicable to the national forests. And after March 4, 1913, such surveys, and the plats and field notes thereof, shall be made by employees of the Forest Service, to be designated by the United States supervisor of surveys, and such surveys and the plats and field notes thereof shall be approved by the United States supervisor of surveys. (Mar. 4, 1913, ch. 145, 37 Stat. 842; Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 462, 43 Stat. 1144.)

§ 513. National Forest Reservation Commission; annual report to Congress.-The National Forest Reservation Commission shall consist of the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and two Members of the Senate, to be selected by the President of the Senate and two Members of the House of Representatives, to be selected by the Speaker, and is authorized to consider and pass upon such lands as may be recommended for purchase as provided in section 515 of this title, and to fix the price or prices at which such lands may be purchased, and no purchases shall be made of any lands until such lands have been duly approved for purchase by said commission. The members of the commission shall serve as such only during their incumbency in their respective official positions, and any vacancy on the commission shall be filed in the manner as the original appointment. It shall reort annually to Congress through its president, not later than the first Monday in December, its operations and expenditures in detail, during the preceding fiscal year. (Mar. 1, 1911, ch. 186, §§ 4, 5, 36 Stat. 962.)

§ 514. Appropriation for expense of commission; payments.— In lieu of the permanent appropriation, annual appropriations from the general fund of the Treasury of a sum sufficient to pay the necessary expenses of the commission and its members, not to exceed an annual expenditure of $25,000, are authorized. Said appropriations shall be immediately available, and shall be paid out on the audit and order of the president of the said commission, which audit and order shall be conclusive and binding upon all departments as to the correctness of the accounts

of said commission. (Mar. 1, 1911, ch. 186, § 14, 36 Stat. 963; June 26, 1934, ch. 756, § 2, 48 Stat. 1225.)

REPEAL

Effective July 1, 1935, the permanent appropriation provided for in this section was repealed by act June 26, 1934, cited to text, such act authorizing, in lieu thereof an annual appropriation from the general fund of the Treasury. See section 725a (b) of Title 31, Money and Finance.

§ 515. Examination, location, and recommendation for purchase of forested, cut-over, or denuded lands, and report by Secretary of Agriculture.-The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed to examine, locate, and recommend for purchase such forested, cut-over, or denuded lands within the watersheds of navigable streams as in his judgment may be necessary to the regulation of the flow of navigable streams or for the production of timber and to report to the National Forest Reservation Commission the results of such examination; but before any lands are purchased by the commission said lands shall be examined by the Secretary of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Director of the Geological Survey, and a report made by them to the commission showing that the control of such lands by the Federal Government will promote or protect the navigation of streams or by the Secretary of Agriculture showing that such control will promote the production of timber thereon. (Mar. 1, 1911, ch. 186, § 6, 36 Stat. 962; June 7, 1924, ch. 348, § 6, 43 Stat. 654.)

§ 516. Purchase of lands approved by commission; consent of State; exchange of lands; cutting and removing timber.-The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to purchase, in the name of the United States, such lands as have been approved for purchase by the National Forest Reservation Commission at the price or prices fixed by said commission. No deed or other instrument of conveyance shall be accepted or approved by the Secretary of of Agriculture under this section until the legislature of the State in which the land lies shall have consented to the acquisition of such land by the United States for the purpose of preserving the navigability of navigable streams. With the approval of the National Forest Reservation Commission as provided by this section and section 515 of this title, and when the public interests will be benefited thereby, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, in his discretion, to accept on behalf of the United States title to any lands within the exterior boundaries of national forests acquired under said sections which, in his opinion, are chiefly valuable for the purposes as therein stated, and in exchange therefor to convey by deed not to exceed an equal value of such national forest land in the same State, or he may authorize the grantor to cut and remove an equal value of timber within such national forests in the same State, the values in each case to be determined by him. Before any such exchange is effected notice of the contemplated exchange reciting the lands involved shall be published once each week for four successive weeks in some newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties in which may be situated the lands to be accepted, and in some like newspaper published in any county in which may be situated any lands or timber to be given in such exchange. Timber

650673°-46-49

given in such exchanges shall be cut and removed under the laws and regulations relating to such national forests, and under the direction and supervision and in accordance with the requirements of the Secretary of Agriculture. Lands so accepted by the Secretary of Agriculture shall, upon acceptance, become parts of the national forests within whose exterior boundaries they are located, and be subject to all the provisions of sections 480, 500, 513-519 and 521 of this title. (Mar. 1, 1911, ch. 186, § 7, 36 Stat. 962; Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 473, 43 Stat. 1215.)

§ 517. Title to lands to be acquired.-The Secretary of Agriculture may do all things necessary to secure the safe title in the United States to the lands to be acquired under sections 513-519 and 521 of this title, but no payment shall be made for any such lands until the title shall be satisfactory to the Attorney General and shall be vested in the United States. (Mar. 1, 1911, ch. 186, § 8, 36 Stat. 962.)

CROSS REFERENCE

Condemnation awards to be paid when Attorney General advises that proceedings and decree are regular, see section 517a of this title.

§ 517a. Payment of awards in condemnation proceedings.-In condenmnation proceedings, heretofore or hereafter prosecuted, for the acquisition of lands under sections 513-519 and 521 of this title, in which a decree is entered vesting title thereto in the United States upon payment of the award into the registry of the court, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to make such payment when advised by the Attorney General that the proceedings and the decree are regular. (Mar. 1, 1911, ch. 186, § 8, 36 Stat. 962; Dec. 11, 1926, ch. 5, 44 Stat. 919.)

§ 518. Acquisition of lands not defeated by rights-of-way, easements, and reservations.-Such acquisition by the United States shall in no case be defeated because of located or defined rights of way, easements, and reservations, which, from their nature will, in the opinion of the National Forest Reservation Commission and the Secretary of Agriculture, in no manner interfere with the use of the lands so encumbered, for the purposes of sections 480, 500, 513-519, and 521 of this title. Such rights of way, easements, and reservations retained by the owner from whom the United States receives title, shall be subject to the rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture for their occupation, use, operation, protection, and administration, and such rules and regulations shall be expressd in and made part of the written intrument conveying title to the lands to the United States; and the use, occupation, and operation of such rights of way, easements, and reservations shall be under, subject to, and in obedience with the rules and regulations so expressed. (Mar. 1, 1911, ch. 186, § 9, 36 Stat. 962; Mar. 4, 1913, ch. 145, 37 Stat. 855.)

§ 519. Agricultural lands included in tracts acquired; sale for homesteads. Inasmuch as small areas of land chiefly valuable for agriculture may of necessity or by inadvertence be included in tracts acquired under this section and sections 513-518 of this title, the Secretary of Agriculture may, in his discretion, and