
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC494]

 
                         TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
 
                       CHAPTER 2--NATIONAL FORESTS
 
             SUBCHAPTER I--ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
 
Sec. 494. Calaveras Bigtree National Forest

    The Secretary of Agriculture, to secure and protect for all time the 
big trees scientifically known as Sequoia washingtoniana, is empowered, 
in his discretion, to obtain for the United States the complete title to 
any or all of the following-described lands in the State of California: 
In township 4 north, range 15 east, Mount Diablo meridian, the northeast 
quarter of section 1; in township 4 north, range 16 east, Mount Diablo 
meridian, the north half of section 6; in township 5 north, range 15 
east, Mount Diablo meridian, the southwest quarter of section 14, south 
half of section 15, north half of section 22, northwest quarter of 
section 23, and southeast quarter of section 36, and in township 5 
north, range 16 east, Mount Diablo meridian, the west half of section 
28, the east half and southwest quarter of section 29, the southeast 
quarter of section 30, all of sections 31, 32, and the northwest quarter 
of section 33. And such area or areas, as fast as complete title is 
acquired, shall be permanently held by the United States and shall be 
known as the Calaveras Bigtree National Forest and shall be 
administered, and protected, by the Secretary of Agriculture from the 
funds appropriated for the administration of National Forest land to 
prolong the existence, growth, and promote the reproduction of said big 
trees. The owners of land acquired hereunder shall convey to the United 
States full title to any of the above-described areas approved for said 
national forest by the Secretary of Agriculture, the completeness of 
such title to be determined by the Secretary of the Interior in each 
case, and shall be reimbursed therefor only in one or both of the 
following ways: (1) They may be given the right to file with the 
Secretary of the Interior, within sixty days after such conveyance, 
selections of surveyed, unappropriated, nonmineral public lands or of 
nonmineral national forest lands, and if the lands so selected shall be 
found subject to selection and of the actual value in lands and stumpage 
substantially equal to that of the lands and stumpage conveyed they may 
be patented to said owners in lieu of the conveyed lands. In any case 
where any part of the lands selected is national forest land, the 
approval of the Secretary of Agriculture shall first be secured with 
respect to such part, or (2) the Secretary of Agriculture may grant to 
any such conveying owner the right to cut from national forest land an 
amount of timber and wood substantially equal to the amount of timber 
and wood on the land acquired by the United States under the provisions 
of this section.

(Feb. 18, 1909, ch. 143, 35 Stat. 626; May 7, 1912, ch. 105, Sec. 1, 37 
Stat. 108.)

                          Codification

    A proviso of the section as originally enacted ``That nothing 
contained in this Act shall warrant an appropriation from the Treasury 
to carry out the terms of this Act,'' was superseded by the 
appropriation of a sum for the purposes of the Act by section 2 of act 
May 7, 1912.


                               Amendments

    1912--Act May 7, 1912, changed provisions of original act as to 
modes of reimbursement of owners of lands taken.


  Transfer of Lands in Calaveras Big Trees National Forest to State of 
                               California

    Pub. L. 101-436, Oct. 17, 1990, 104 Stat. 993, provided that:
``SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
    ``(a) Findings.--The Congress finds and declares that--
        ``(1) in order to protect certain outstanding examples of 
    ponderosa pine, sugar pine, and giant sequoia trees located in the 
    North and South Calaveras Groves, on the western slope of the Sierra 
    Nevada Mountains, the State of California has established the 
    Calaveras Big Trees State Park;
        ``(2) for similar purposes, the United States has designated 
    certain adjacent Federal lands, amounting to approximately 379 
    acres, as the Calaveras Big Trees National Forest; and
        ``(3) this National Forest (managed as part of the Stanislaus 
    National Forest) is the smallest National Forest in the United 
    States and could be more appropriately and efficiently managed as 
    part of the Calaveras Big Trees State Park.
    ``(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to improve the management 
of the lands located in the Calaveras Big Trees National Forest, and to 
protect certain examples of ponderosa pine, sugar pine, and giant 
sequoia trees, by unifying the management of the lands in such National 
Forest and in the California Calaveras Big Trees State Park.
``SEC. 2. LAND CONVEYANCE.
    ``(a) Conveyance.--Subject to valid existing rights and the 
provisions of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter in 
this Act referred to as the `Secretary') is authorized and directed to 
convey all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to 
lands and interests therein within the Calaveras Big Trees National 
Forest, as generally depicted on a map numbered 20435 and dated June 5, 
1989, prepared by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, to 
the State of California for inclusion within the Calaveras Big Trees 
State Park.
    ``(b) Map and Description.--As soon as practicable after the 
enactment of this Act [Oct. 17, 1990], the Secretary shall submit a map 
and legal description of the lands referred to in subsection (a) to the 
Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs [now Committee on Natural 
Resources] of the United States House of Representatives, and the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate. Such map and 
legal description shall have the same force and effect as if included in 
this Act, except that any clerical or typographical errors in such map 
or legal description may be corrected. The Secretary shall place such 
map and legal description on file, and make them available for public 
inspection, in the Office of the Chief of the Forest Service.
    ``(c) Conditions of Conveyance.--Conveyance of the lands and 
interests described in subsection (a) of this section shall be subject 
to the following conditions:
        ``(1) The conveyance shall take place only if within two years 
    after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 17, 1990], there is 
    concluded an agreement between the State of California and the 
    Secretary whereby the State of California agrees to provide to the 
    United States, in exchange for the lands described in subsection (a) 
    and pursuant to terms and conditions which the Secretary finds 
    acceptable, consideration of approximately equal value. Such 
    consideration shall include either lands in California that the 
    Secretary finds suitable for addition to, and are contiguous to, one 
    or more units of the National Forest System, cash payment, or 
    monetary grants awarded to the United States after June 1, 1990, or 
    any combination thereof.
        ``(2) No harvest of timber (except as may be necessary for the 
    control of fire, insects, or disease) and no mining, mineral 
    leasing, or geothermal exploration or development shall be permitted 
    on such lands;
        ``(3) Any action by the State of California to convey any 
    portion of such lands or interests to any entity other than the 
    United States shall be void ab initio and shall result in the 
    reversion to the United States of all right, title, and interest in 
    such lands;
        ``(4) Any action by the State of California to permit the use of 
    any portion of such lands for any purpose prohibited by this 
    subsection or any purpose incompatible with the continued ability of 
    such lands to support ponderosa pine, sugar pine, or giant sequoia 
    trees, shall result in the reversion of all right, title, and 
    interest in such lands to the United States. Any such lands which 
    revert to the United States shall be incorporated into the 
    Stanislaus National Forest and managed to preserve and protect the 
    stands of ponderosa pine, sugar pine, and giant sequoia trees 
    located on such lands.
        ``(5) The Secretary, acting through the Forest Service, shall be 
    afforded by appropriate officials of the State of California 
    reasonable opportunities to collect seeds from trees located on such 
    lands for scientific or silvicultural purposes.
        ``(6) The Secretary, upon prior notification to the State of 
    California, shall be entitled at any time to enter upon such lands 
    for the purpose of monitoring the management of such lands and the 
    compliance of the State of California with the provisions of this 
    subsection.
        ``(7) The conveyance shall be subject to the following 
    reservations or exceptions:
            ``(A) existing ditches and canals as authorized by the Act 
        of August 30, 1890 (43 U.S.C. 945); and
            ``(B) any existing rights-of-way to provide the United 
        States and its assigns access to federally owned lands.
    ``(d) Enforcement.--Upon the request of the Secretary, the Attorney 
General shall bring any action or take any other steps necessary to 
enforce the provisions of subsection (c) of this section.
    ``(e) Timing, Value, and Status.--(1) Conveyance of lands to the 
State of California pursuant to this Act shall occur when the agreement 
described in paragraph (1) of subsection (c) has been reached. The 
restrictions and conditions specified in paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5), 
(6), and (7) of subsection (c) shall be included in the instruments of 
conveyance of lands to the State of California.
    ``(2) Effective upon the conveyance to the State of California of 
lands described in subsection (a) of this section, or two years after 
the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 17, 1990], whichever is sooner, 
the National Forest designation of such lands shall terminate. Any such 
lands not conveyed to the State of California shall thereupon be 
incorporated into the Stanislaus National Forest and managed to preserve 
and protect the stands of ponderosa pine, sugar pine, and giant sequoia 
trees located on such lands.
    ``(3) Any lands conveyed to the United States pursuant to this Act 
shall be deemed national forest lands and managed according to the laws 
governing the management of the National Forest System. If any such 
lands are outside existing boundaries of one or more National Forests, 
the Secretary shall modify such boundaries as he deems appropriate to 
include such lands.
    ``(4) Values of the respective lands exchanged between the United 
States and the State of California pursuant to this Act shall be of 
`approximately equal value' as that term is defined by regulations 
implementing the Act of January 12, 1983, known as the Small Tracts Act 
(16 U.S.C. 521c-521i).''
