[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC567b]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 3--FORESTS; FOREST SERVICE; REFORESTATION; MANAGEMENT
SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 567b. Conditions and requirements for cooperation in
acquisition and management of State forests
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:
(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.
(b) In order to insure a stable and efficient organization for the
development and administration of the lands acquired under sections 567a
to 567c of this title, the State shall provide for the employment of a
State forester, who shall be a trained forester of recognized standing.
(c) The Secretary of Agriculture and the appropriate authorities of
each cooperating State shall work out a mutually satisfactory plan
defining forest areas within the State which can be most effectively and
economically administered by said State, which plan shall constitute a
part of the cooperative agreement between the United States and the
State concerned: Provided, That nothing herein shall be held to prevent
the Secretary of Agriculture from later agreeing with the proper State
authorities to desirable modifications in such plan.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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 pay
