§ 992. — Sale of erroneously designated watercovered areas in Arkansas.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 43USC992]
TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS
CHAPTER 23--GRANTS OF SWAMP AND OVERFLOWED LANDS
Sec. 992. Sale of erroneously designated water-covered areas in
Arkansas
The Secretary of the Interior, in his judgment and discretion, is
authorized to sell, in the manner hereinafter provided in this section,
any of those public lands situated in the State of Arkansas which were
originally erroneously meandered and shown upon the official plats as
water-covered areas, and which are not lawfully appropriated by a
qualified settler or entryman claiming under the public land laws.
Any citizen of the United States who in good faith under color of
title or claiming as a riparian owner, prior to September 21, 1922,
placed valuable improvements upon or reduced to cultivation any of the
lands subject to the operation of this section, shall have a preferred
right to file in the office of the officer, as the Secretary of the
Interior may designate, of the United States land office of the district
in which the lands are situated, an application to purchase the lands
thus improved by them at any time within ninety days from September 21,
1922, if the lands have been surveyed and plats filed in the United
States land office; otherwise within ninety days from the filing of such
plats. Every such application must be accompanied with satisfactory
proof that the applicant is entitled to such preference right and that
the lands which he applies to purchase are not in the legal possession
of an adverse claimant.
Upon the filing of an application to purchase any lands subject to
the operation of this section, together with the required proof, the
Secretary of the Interior shall cause the lands described in said
application to be appraised, said appraisal to be on the basis of the
value of such lands at the date of appraisal, exclusive of any increased
value resulting from the development or improvement thereof for
agricultural purposes by the applicant or his predecessor in interest,
but inclusive of the stumpage value of any timber cut or removed by the
applicant or his predecessor in interest.
An applicant who applies to purchase lands under the provisions of
this section, in order to be entitled to receive a patent must within
thirty days from receipt of notice of appraisal by the Secretary of the
Interior pay to the officer, as the Secretary of the Interior may
designate, of the United States land office of the district in which the
lands are situated the appraised price of the lands, and thereupon a
patent shall issue to said applicant for such lands as the Secretary of
the Interior shall determine that such applicant is entitled to purchase
under this section. The proceeds derived by the Government from the sale
of lands hereunder shall be covered into the United States Treasury and
applied as provided by law for the disposal of the proceeds from the
sale of public lands.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe all
necessary rules and regulations for administering the provisions of this
section and determining conflicting claims arising hereunder.
(Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 362, Secs. 1-5, 42 Stat. 992; 1946 Reorg. Plan No.
3, Sec. 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100.)
References in Text
The public land laws, referred to in text, are classified generally
to this title.
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies
of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of
the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950,
Secs. 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out
under section 1451 of this title.
``Officer, as the Secretary of the Interior may designate''
substituted for ``register'' on authority of section 403 of Reorg. Plan
No. 3 of 1946, which abolished all registers of district land offices
and transferred functions of register of district land office to
Secretary of the Interior. See section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946,
set out as a note under section 1 of this title.
