---
kind: "section"
citation: "16 U.S.C. § 539m"
title: "16"
title_heading: "Conservation"
number: "539m"
heading: "Findings and purposes"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/16/539m"
units:
  - "Chapter 2 — National Forests"
  - "Subchapter I — Establishment and Administration"
---

# §539m. Findings and purposes

- (a) **Findings—** Congress finds that—
  - (1) in 1748, the [Pueblo](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=10) of Sandia received a grant from a representative of the King of Spain, which grant was recognized and confirmed by Congress in 1858 (11 Stat. 374); and
  - (2) in 1994, the [Pueblo](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=10) filed a civil action against the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) of the Interior and the [Secretary](/usc/16/410r–5.md?p=c-1) of Agriculture in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Civil No. 1:94CV02624), asserting that Federal surveys of the grant boundaries erroneously excluded certain land within the Cibola National Forest, including a portion of the Sandia Mountain [Wilderness](/usc/16/3102.md?p=13).
- (b) **Purposes—** The purposes of sections 539m to [539m–12](/usc/16/539m–12.md) of this title are—
  - (1) to establish the T’uf Shur Bien Preservation [Trust](/usc/16/450ss–1.md?p=4) [Area](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) in the Cibola National Forest;
  - (2) to confirm the status of national forest land and [wilderness](/usc/16/3102.md?p=13) land in the [Area](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=1-A) while resolving issues associated with the civil action referred to in [subsection (a)(2)](#a-2) and the opinions of the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior dated December 9, 1988 (M–36963; 96 I.D. 331) and January 19, 2001 (M–37002); and
  - (3) to provide the [Pueblo](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=10), the parties to the civil action, and the public with a fair and just settlement of the [Pueblo](/usc/16/539m–1.md?p=10)’s claim.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 108–7, div. F, title IV, § 402, Feb. 20, 2003, 117 Stat. 279.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

Sections 539m to 539m–12 of this title, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original “this title”, meaning title IV of div. F of Pub. L. 108–7, Feb. 20, 2003, 117 Stat. 279, which is classified generally to sections 539m to 539m–12 of this title. For complete classification of title IV to the Code, see Short Title note set out below and Tables.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Pub. L. 108–7, div. F, title IV, § 415, Feb. 20, 2003, 117 Stat. 294, provided that: “The provisions of this title [see Short Title note below] shall take effect immediately on enactment of this Act [Feb. 20, 2003].”

### Short Title of 2014 Amendment

Pub. L. 113–119, § 1, June 9, 2014, 128 Stat. 1185, provided that: “This Act [amending section 539m–11 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Sandia Pueblo Settlement Technical Amendment Act’.”

### Short Title

Pub. L. 108–7, div. F, title IV, § 401, Feb. 20, 2003, 117 Stat. 279, provided that: “This title [enacting this section and sections 539m–1 to 539m–12 of this title, amending section 1746 of Title 43, Public Lands, and enacting provisions set out as a note above] may be cited as the ‘T’uf Shur Bien Preservation Trust Area Act’.”