§329. Issue of patent on final proof; citizenship requirement as to patentee; limit as to amount of holding — Inbound Citations
43 U.S.C. § 329
Cited by 7 provisions in release 119-102.
Citations to 43 U.S.C. § 329 as a whole
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It shall be lawful for any citizen of the United States, or any person of requisite age “who may be entitled to become a citizen, and who has filed his declaration to become such” and upon payment of 25 cents per acre—to file a declaration under oath with the officer designated by the Secretary of the Interior of the land district in which any desert land is situated, that he intends to reclaim a tract of desert land not exceeding one-half section, by conducting water upon the same, within the period of three years thereafter: Provided, however, That the right to the use of water by the person so conducting the same, on or to any tract of desert land of three hundred and twenty acres shall depend upon bona fide prior appropriation; and such right shall not exceed the amount of water actually appropriated, and necessarily used for the purpose of irrigation and reclamation; and all surplus water over and above such actual appropriation and use, together with the water of all lakes, rivers, and other sources of water supply upon the public lands and not navigable, shall remain and be held free for the appropriation and use of the public for irrigation, mining, and manufacturing purposes subject to existing rights. Said declaration shall describe particularly said one-half section of land if surveyed, and, if unsurveyed, shall describe the same as nearly as possible without a survey. At any time within the period of three years after filing said declaration, upon making satisfactory proof to the officer designated by the Secretary of the Interior of the reclamation of said tract of land in the manner aforesaid, and upon the payment to such officer of the additional sum of $1 per acre for a tract of land not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres to any one person, a patent for the same shall be issued to him. Except as provided in section 3 of the Act of June 16, 1955, as amended, no person may make more than one entry under sections 321 to 323, 325, and 327 to 329 of this title. However, in that entry one or more tracts may be included, and the tracts so entered need not be contiguous. The aggregate acreage of desert land which may be entered by any one person under this section shall not exceed three hundred and twenty acres, and all the tracts entered by one person shall be sufficiently close to each other to be managed satisfactorily as an economic unit, as determined under rules and regulations issued by the Secretary of the Interior.
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All lands exclusive of timber lands and mineral lands which will not, without irrigation, produce some agricultural crop, shall be deemed desert lands, within the meaning of sections 321 to 323, 325, and 327 to 329 of this title, which fact shall be ascertained by proof of two or more credible witnesses under oath, whose affidavits shall be filed in the land office in which said tract of land may be situated.
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No assignment after March 28, 1908, of an entry made under sections 321 to 323, 325, and 327 to 329 of this title shall be allowed or recognized, except it be to an individual who is shown to be qualified to make entry under said sections of the land covered by the assigned entry, and such assignments may include all or part of an entry; but no assignment to or for the benefit of any corporation or association shall be authorized or recognized.
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From and after March 28, 1908, the right to make entry of desert lands under the provisions of sections 321 to 323, 325, and 327 to 329 of this title, shall be restricted to surveyed public lands of the character contemplated by said sections, and no such entries of unsurveyed lands shall be allowed or made of record: Provided, however, That any individual qualified to make entry of desert lands under said sections who has, prior to survey, taken possession of a tract of unsurveyed desert land not exceeding in area three hundred and twenty acres in compact form, and has reclaimed or has in good faith commenced the work of reclaiming the same, shall have the preference right to make entry of such tract under said sections, in conformity with the public land surveys, within ninety days after the filing of the approved plat of survey in the district land office.
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No land shall be patented to any person under sections 321 to 323, 325, and 327 to 329 of this title unless he or his assignors shall have expended in the necessary irrigation, reclamation, and cultivation thereof, by means of main canals and branch ditches, and in permanent improvements upon the land, and in the purchase of water rights for the irrigation of the same, at least $3 per acre of whole tract reclaimed and patented in the manner following: Within one year after making entry for such tract of desert land as aforesaid the party so entering shall expend not less than $1 per acre for the purposes aforesaid; and he shall in like manner expend the sum of $1 per acre during the second and also during the third year thereafter, until the full sum of $3 per acre is so expended. Said party shall file during each year with the officer designated by the Secretary of the Interior proof, by the affidavits of two or more credible witnesses, that the full sum of $1 per acre has been expended in such necessary improvements during such year, and the manner in which expended, and at the expiration of the third year a map or plan showing the character and extent of such improvements. If any party who has made such application shall fail during any year to file the testimony aforesaid the lands shall revert to the United States, and the 25 cents advanced payment shall be forfeited to the United States, and the entry shall be canceled. Nothing herein contained shall prevent a claimant from making his final entry and receiving his patent at an earlier date than hereinbefore prescribed, provided that he then makes the required proof of reclamation to the aggregate extent of $3 per acre: Provided, That proof be further required of the cultivation of one-eighth of the land.
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Any entryman under sections 321 to 323, 325, and 327 to 329 of this title who shall show to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate that he has in good faith complied with the terms, requirements, and provisions of said sections, but that because of some unavoidable delay in the construction of the irrigating works intended to convey water to the said lands, he is, without fault on his part, unable to make proof of the reclamation and cultivation of said land, as required by said sections, shall, upon filing his corroborated affidavit with the land office in which said land is located, setting forth said facts, be allowed an additional period of not to exceed three years, within the discretion of the Secretary or such officer, within which to furnish proof as required by said sections of the completion of said work.