[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 43USC641]
TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS
CHAPTER 14--GRANTS OF DESERT LANDS TO STATES FOR RECLAMATION
Sec. 641. Grant of desert land to States authorized
To aid the public-land States in the reclamation of the desert lands
therein, and the settlement, cultivation and sale thereof in small
tracts to actual settlers, the Secretary of the Interior with the
approval of the President is, as of August 18, 1894, authorized and
empowered, upon proper application of the State to contract and agree,
from time to time, with each of the States in which there may be
situated desert lands as defined by the Act approved March 3, 1877, and
the Act amendatory thereof, approved March 3, 1891, binding the United
States to donate, grant, and patent to the State free of cost for survey
or price such desert lands, not exceeding one million acres in each
State, as the State may cause to be irrigated, reclaimed, occupied, and
not less than twenty acres of each one hundred and sixty acre tract
cultivated by actual settlers, as thoroughly as is required of citizens
who may enter under the desert-land law within ten years from the date
of approval by the Secretary of the Interior of the State's application
for the segregation of such lands; and if actual construction of
reclamation works is not begun within three years after the segregation
of the lands or within such further period not exceeding three years, as
shall be allowed by the Secretary of the Interior, the said Secretary of
the Interior, in his discretion, may restore such lands to the public
domain; and if the State fails, within ten years from the date of such
segregation, to cause the whole or any part of the lands so segregated
to be so irrigated and reclaimed, the Secretary of the Interior may, in
his discretion, continue said segregation for a period not exceeding
five years, or may, in his discretion, restore such lands not irrigated
and reclaimed to the public domain upon the expiration of the ten-year
period or of any extension thereof.
Before the application of any State is allowed or any contract or
agreement is executed or any segregation of any of the land from the
public domain is ordered by the Secretary of the Interior, the State
shall file a map of the said land proposed to be irrigated which shall
exhibit a plan showing the mode of the contemplated irrigation and which
plan shall be sufficient to thoroughly irrigate and reclaim said land
and prepare it to raise ordinary agricultural crops and shall also show
the source of the water to be used for irrigation and reclamation.
Any State contracting under this section is authorized to make all
necessary contracts to cause the said lands to be reclaimed, and to
induce their settlement and cultivation in accordance with and subject
to the provisions of this section; but the State shall not be authorized
to lease any of said lands or to use or dispose of the same in any way
whatever, except to secure their reclamation, cultivation, and
settlement.
As fast as any State may furnish satisfactory proof according to
such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the
Interior, that any of said lands are irrigated, reclaimed, and occupied
by actual settlers, patents shall be issued to the State or its assigns
for said lands so reclaimed and settled: Provided, That said States
shall not sell or dispose of more than one hundred and sixty acres of
said lands to any one person, and any surplus of money derived by any
State from the sale of said lands in excess of the cost of their
reclamation, shall be held as a trust fund for and be applied to the
reclamation of other desert lands in such State.
(Aug. 18, 1894, ch. 301, Sec. 4, 28 Stat. 422; Mar. 3, 1901, ch. 853,
Sec. 3, 31 Stat. 1188; Jan. 6, 1921, ch. 10, 41 Stat. 1085; Pub. L. 94-
579, title VII, Sec. 704(a), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2792.)
References in Text
Act approved March 3, 1877, referred to in text, is act Mar. 3,
1877, ch. 107, 19 Stat. 377, as amended, popularly known as the Desert
Lands Act, which is classified generally to sections 321 to 323, 325,
327 to 329 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the
Code, see Tables.
The Act amendatory thereof, approved March 3, 1891, referred to in
text, is act Mar. 3, 1891, ch. 561, 26 Stat. 1095, which enacted
sections 161, 162, 165, 173, 174, 185, 202, 212, 321, 323, 325, 327 to
329, 663, 671, 687a-6, 718, 728, 732, 893, 946 to 949, 989, 1165, 1166,
1181, and 1197 of this title, sections 471, 607, 611, 611a, and 613 of
Title 16, Conservation, section 495 of Title 25, Indians, and sections
30, 36, 44, 45, 48, and 52 of Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining. For
complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.
Amendments
1976--Pub. L. 94-579 struck out provisions authorizing Secretary of
the Interior to promulgate regulations for r
