--- kind: "section" citation: "16 U.S.C. § 460x–7" title: "16" title_heading: "Conservation" number: "460x–7" heading: "Acquisition of property" release: "119-102" date: "2026-07-12" url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/16/460x-7" units: - "Chapter 1 — National Parks, Military Parks, Monuments, and Seashores" - "Subchapter LXXXII — Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore" --- # §460x–7. Acquisition of property - (a) **Authority of Secretary; manner of acquisition; procedure for lands partly within designated area—** The [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) is authorized to [acquire](/usc/16/620e.md?p=1) by donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds, transfer funds, transfer from any Federal agency, or exchange lands and interests therein for the purposes of this subchapter. When an individual tract of land is only partly within the [area](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) designated, the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) may [acquire](/usc/16/620e.md?p=1) the entire tract by any of the above methods to avoid the payment of severance costs. Land so acquired outside the designated [area](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) may be exchanged by the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) for non-[Federal lands](/usc/16/620e.md?p=2) within such [area](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A), and any portion of the land not utilized for such exchanges may be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of chapters [1](/usc/40/chstI/ch1.md) to [11](/usc/40/chstI/ch11.md) of title 40 and division C (except sections [3302](/usc/16/3302.md), 3307(e), [3501(b)](/usc/16/3501.md?p=b), [3509](/usc/16/3509.md), 3906, 4710, and [4711](/usc/16/4711.md)) of subtitle I of title 41. - (b) **Sale offers; hardship from delay; time and manner of purchase—** In exercising his authority to [acquire](/usc/16/620e.md?p=1) property under this subchapter, the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) shall give immediate and careful consideration to any offer made by an individual owning property within the lakeshore to sell such property to the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1). An individual owning property within the lakeshore may notify the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) that the continued ownership by such individual of that property would result in hardship to him, and the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) shall immediately consider such evidence and shall within one year following the submission of such notice, subject to the availability of funds, purchase such property offered for a price which does not exceed its fair market value. - (c) **State donations; transfer from Federal agency to administrative jurisdiction of Secretary—** Any property or interests therein, owned by the [State](/usc/16/590q.md?p=a) of Michigan or any political [subdivisions](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=15) thereof, may be acquired only by donation. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any property owned by the United States on October 21, 1970, located within such [area](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) may, with the concurrence of the agency having custody thereof, be transferred without consideration to the administrative jurisdiction of the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) for use by him in carrying out the provisions of this subchapter. - (d) **Initiation of condemnation proceedings subsequent to failure of Secretary to negotiate for purchase of property; certificate of compliance with negotiation procedure—** With respect to that property which the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) is authorized to [acquire](/usc/16/620e.md?p=1) by condemnation under the terms of this subchapter, the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) shall initiate no condemnation proceedings until after he has made every reasonable effort to [acquire](/usc/16/620e.md?p=1) such property by negotiation and purchase. The certificate of the determination by the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) or his designated representative that there has been compliance with the provisions of this subsection and of [subsection (b)](#b) of this section shall be prima facie evidence of such compliance. - (e) **Condemnation to acquire clear, marketable, and encumbrance-free title—** Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to prohibit the use of condemnation as a means of acquiring a clear and marketable title, free of any and all encumbrances. ## Source credit (Pub. L. 91–479, § 8, Oct. 21, 1970, 84 Stat. 1077.) ## Notes ### Editorial Notes ### Codification In subsec. (a), “chapters 1 to 11 of title 40 and division C (except sections 3302, 3307(e), 3501(b), 3509, 3906, 4710, and 4711) of subtitle I of title 41” substituted for “the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (63 Stat. 377), as amended (40 U.S.C. 471 et seq.)” on authority of Pub. L. 107–217, § 5(c), Aug. 21, 2002, 116 Stat. 1303, which Act enacted Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and Works, and Pub. L. 111–350, § 6(c), Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3854, which Act enacted Title 41, Public Contracts. ### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries ### Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Pub. L. 108–229, May 28, 2004, 118 Stat. 645, provided that: EXPANSION OF SLEEPING BEAR DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE. In General.—When title to the land described in subsection (b) has vested in the United States in fee simple, the boundary of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is revised to include such land in that park. Land Described.—The land referred to in subsection (a) consists of approximately 104.45 acres of unimproved lands generally depicted on National Park Service map number 634/80078, entitled ‘Bayberry Mills, Inc. Crystal River, MI Proposed Expansion Unit to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’. The Secretary of the Interior shall keep such map on file and available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the National Park Service. Purchase of Lands Authorized.—The Secretary of the Interior may acquire the land described in subsection (b), only by purchase from a willing seller. LIMITATION ON ACQUISITION BY EXCHANGE OR CONVEYANCE. “The Secretary of the Interior may not acquire any of the land described in subsection (b) of section 1 through any exchange or conveyance of lands that are within the boundary of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as of the date of the enactment of this Act [May 28, 2004].”