
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 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 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.
    (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.
    (j) The State shall furnish the Secretary of Agriculture with such 
annual, periodic, or special reports as he may require respecting the 
State's operations under its agreement with him.
    (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.

(Aug. 29, 1935, ch. 808, Sec. 2, 49 Stat. 963.)

                       References in Text

    The National Forest Reservation Commission, referred to in subsecs. 
(d), (e), and (i), was created by section 4 of act Mar. 1, 1911 (16 
U.S.C. 513). Section 4 of the 1911 Act was repealed, and all functions 
of the National Forest Reservation Commission were transferred to the 
Secretary of Agriculture, by section 17(a)(1) of Pub. L. 94-588, Oct. 
22, 1976, 90 Stat. 2961.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 567a, 567c of this title.
