---
kind: "section"
citation: "16 U.S.C. § 521d"
title: "16"
title_heading: "Conservation"
number: "521d"
heading: "Sale, exchange, or interchange of National Forest System land"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/16/521d"
units:
  - "Chapter 2 — National Forests"
  - "Subchapter I — Establishment and Administration"
---

# §521d. Sale, exchange, or interchange of National Forest System land

- (a) **Conveyance authority; consideration—** The [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) is authorized, when the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) determines it to be in the public interest—
  - (1) to sell, exchange, or [interchange](/usc/16/521c.md?p=2) by quitclaim deed, all right, title, and interest, including the mineral estate, of the United States in and to National Forest System lands described in [section 521e of this title](/usc/16/521e.md); and
  - (2) to accept as consideration for the lands sold, exchanged, or interchanged other lands, interests in lands, or cash payment, or any combination of such forms of consideration, which, in the case of conveyance by sale or exchange, is at least equal in value, including the mineral estate, or, in the case of conveyance by [interchange](/usc/16/521c.md?p=2), is of approximately equal value, including the mineral estate, to the lands being conveyed by the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1).
- (b) **Inclusion of terms, covenants, conditions, and reservations—**
  - (1) **In general—** The [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) shall insert in any such quitclaim deed such terms, covenants, conditions, and reservations as the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) deems necessary to ensure protection of the public interest, including protection of the scenic, wildlife, and recreation values of the National Forest System and provision for appropriate public access to and use of lands within the System.
  - (2) **Limitation—** [Paragraph (1)](#b-1) shall not be applicable to deeds issued by the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) to lands outside the boundary of [units](/usc/16/430f–7.md?p=4) of the National Forest System.
- (c) **Disposition of proceeds—**
  - (1) **Deposit in Sisk fund—** The net proceeds derived from any sale or exchange conducted under paragraph (4), (5), or (6) of [section 521e of this title](/usc/16/521e.md) shall be deposited in the fund established under [section 484a of this title](/usc/16/484a.md).
  - (2) **Use—** Amounts deposited under [paragraph (1)](#c-1) shall be available to the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) until expended for—
    - (A) the [acquisition](/usc/16/620e.md?p=1) of land or interests in land for administrative sites for the National Forest System in the [State](/usc/16/590q.md?p=a) from which the amounts were derived;
    - (B) the [acquisition](/usc/16/620e.md?p=1) of land or interests in land for inclusion in the National Forest System in that [State](/usc/16/590q.md?p=a), including land or interests in land that enhance opportunities for recreational access; or
    - (C) the reimbursement of the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) for costs incurred in preparing a sale conducted under the authority of [section 521e of this title](/usc/16/521e.md) if the sale is a competitive sale.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 97–465, § 2, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2535; Pub. L. 115–334, title VIII, § 8621(c), Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 4852.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–334, § 8621(c)(1)–(3), designated first sentence as subsec. (a) and inserted subsec. heading, designated second sentence as par. (1) of subsec. (b), inserted subsec. and par. headings, and substituted “covenants” for “convenants”, and designated third sentence as par. (2) of subsec. (b), inserted par. heading, and substituted “Paragraph (1) shall not” for “The preceding sentence shall not”.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 115–334, § 8621(c)(4), added subsec. (c).