§ 552a. — Restoration of withdrawn national forest lands to appropriation.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC552a]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 3--FORESTS; FOREST SERVICE; REFORESTATION; MANAGEMENT
SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 552a. Restoration of withdrawn national forest lands to
appropriation
The President, upon recommendation of the Secretaries of the
Interior and Agriculture, may, by Executive order, when in his judgment
the public interest would best be served thereby and after reasonable
notice has been given through the Department of the Interior, restore
any reserved national-forest lands covered by a cooperative agreement
with the Secretary of Agriculture for the protection of a watershed
within a national forest from which water is secured, to appropriation
under any applicable public-lands law.
(May 28, 1940, ch. 220, Sec. 1, 54 Stat. 224; Pub. L. 94-579, title VII,
Sec. 704(a), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2792.)
Codification
The words ``restore any of the lands so withdrawn'' have been
changed to ``restore any reserved national-forest lands covered by a
cooperative agreement with the Secretary of Agriculture for the
protection of a watershed within a national forest from which water is
secured'' to reflect the change made by Pub. L. 94-579. See 1976
Amendment note below.
Amendments
1976--Pub. L. 94-579 struck out everything preceding second proviso
which read: ``Whenever a municipality obtains its water supply from a
national forest and has entered into a cooperative agreement with the
Secretary of Agriculture for the protection of the watershed within the
national forest from which the water is secured, the President of the
United States may, and he is, authorized, upon application by said
municipality, and endorsed by the governing board of the county or
counties in which the lands concerned are located and approved by the
Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior, to reserve and set aside
from all forms of location, entry, or appropriation any national-forest
lands, which are covered by such cooperative agreement, subject,
however, to valid, existing rights and claims, and such reservation
shall remain in force until revoked by the President or by an Act of
Congress: Provided, That nothing herein shall affect the power of the
Secretary of the Interior to withdraw and utilize withdrawn lands under
the Federal reclamation laws''.
Effective Date of 1976 Amendment
Section 704(a) of Pub. L. 94-579 provided in part that this section
is amended effective on and after Oct. 21, 1976.
Savings Provision
Amendment by Pub. L. 94-579 not to be construed as terminating any
valid lease, permit, patent, etc., existing on Oct. 21, 1976, see note
set out under section 1701 of Title 43, Public Lands.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 552b, 552c, 552d of this
title.
