§567c. Authorization of appropriation for cooperation in acquisition and management of State forests — Inbound Citations
16 U.S.C. § 567c
Cited by 11 provisions in release 119-102.
Citations to 16 U.S.C. § 567c as a whole
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For the purpose of stimulating the acquisition, development, and proper administration and management of State forests and of insuring coordinated effort by Federal and State agencies in carrying out a comprehensive national program of forest-land management, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to enter into cooperative agreements with appropriate officials of any State or States for acquiring in the name of the United States, by purchase or otherwise, such forest lands within the cooperating State as in his judgment the State is adequately prepared to administer, develop, and manage as State forests in accordance with the provisions of sections 567a to 567c of this title and with such other terms not inconsistent therewith as he shall prescribe, such acquisition to include the mapping, examination, appraisal, and surveying of such lands and the doing of all things necessary to perfect title thereto in the United States: Provided, That, since it is the declared policy of Congress to maintain and, where it is in the national interest to extend the national-forest system, nothing herein shall be construed to modify, limit, or change in any manner whatsoever the future ownership and administration by the United States of existing national forests and related facilities, or hereafter to restrict or prevent their extension through the acquisition by purchase or otherwise of additional lands for any national-forest purpose: Provided further, That sections 567a to 567c of this title shall not be construed to limit or repeal any legislation authorizing land exchanges by the Federal Government, and private lands acquired by exchange within the limits of any area subject to a cooperative agreement of the character herein authorized shall hereafter be subject to the provisions of sections 567a to 567c of this title.
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No cooperative agreement shall be entered into or continued in force under the authority of sections 567a to 567c of this title or any land acquired hereunder turned over to the cooperating State for administration, development, and management unless the State concerned, as a consideration for the benefits extended to it thereunder, complies in a manner satisfactory to the Secretary of Agriculture with the following conditions and requirements which shall constitute a part of every such agreement:
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(a) In order to reduce the need for public expenditures in the acquisition of lands which may be brought into public ownership through the enforcement of appropriate tax delinquency laws, and, by bringing about the handling of such lands upon a sound social and economic basis, to terminate a system of indeterminate and unsound ownership injurious to the private and public interest alike, no additional lands shall be acquired within any State by the United States under sections 567a to 567c of this title after June 30, 1942, unless the State concerned has prior thereto provided by law for the reversion of title to the State or a political unit thereof of tax-delinquent lands and for blocking into State or other public forests the areas which are more suitable for public than private ownership, and which in the public interest should be devoted primarily to the production of timber crops and/or the maintenance of forests for watershed protection, and for the enforcement of such law: Provided, That in the administration of sections 567a to 567c of this title prior to June 30, 1942, preference will be given to States applying for cooperation hereunder which provided by law for such reversion of title under tax delinquency laws.
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(d) No payment of Federal funds shall be made for land selected for purchase by the United States under sections 567a to 567c of this title until such proposed purchase has been submitted to and approved by the National Forest Reservation Commission created by section 513 of this title.
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(e) Subject to the approval of the National Forest Reservation Commission, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to pay out of any available money appropriated for carrying out the purposes of sections 567a to 567c of this title any State, county, and/or town taxes, exclusive of penalties, due or accrued on any forest lands acquired by the United States under donations from the owners thereof and which lands are to be included in a State or other public forest pursuant to said sections.
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(f) The State shall prepare such standards of forest administration, development, and management as are necessary to insure maximum feasible utility for timber production and watershed protection, and are acceptable to the Secretary of Agriculture and shall apply the same to lands acquired and placed under the jurisdiction of the State pursuant to sections 567a to 567c of this title.
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(g) That with the exception of such Federal expenditures as may be made for unemployment relief, the State shall pay without assistance from the Federal Government the entire future cost of administering, developing, and managing all forest lands acquired and over which it has been given jurisdiction under sections 567a to 567c of this title.
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(h) During the period any cooperative agreement made under sections 567a to 567c of this title remains in force, one-half of the gross proceeds from all lands covered by said agreement and to which the United States holds title shall be paid by the State to the United States and covered into the Treasury. All such payments shall be credited to the purchase price the State is to pay the United States for said land, such purchase price to be an amount equal to the total sum expended by the United States in acquiring said lands. Upon payments of the full purchase price, either as herein provided or otherwise, title to said lands shall be transferred from the Federal Government to the State, and the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to take such action and incur such expenditures, as may be necessary to effectuate such transfer.
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(i) Upon the request of the State concerned, any agreement made pursuant to sections 567a to 567c of this title may be terminated by the Secretary of Agriculture. The Secretary of Agriculture may, with the consent and approval of the National Forest Reservation Commission, after due notice given the State and an opportunity for hearing by said Commission, terminate any such agreement for violations of its terms and/or the provisions of said sections of this title. If such agreement is terminated, the United States shall reimburse the State for so much of the State funds as have been expended in the administration, development, and management of the lands involved as the Secretary of Agriculture may decide to be fair and equitable.
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(k) When a State or political unit thereof acquires under tax delinquency laws title to forest lands without cost to the United States and which lands are included within a State or other public forest, the Secretary of Agriculture, on behalf of the Federal Government, may contribute annually out of any funds made available under sections 567a to 567c of this title not to exceed one-half the cost of administering, developing, and managing said lands.