Chapter 268. Granting to certain claimants the preference right to purchase unappropriated public lands
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CHAP. 268.— An Act Granting to certain claimants the preference right to purchase unappropriated public lands. February 19, 1925.[[H. R. 9765](/us/bill/68/hr/9765).][[Public, No. 427](/us/pl/68/427).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, * That the SecretaryPublic lands.Sale authorized of. In Louisiana, erroneously surveyed as water-covered areas. of the Interior, in his judgment and discretion, is hereby authorized to sell, in the manner hereinafter provided, any of those lands situated in the State of Louisiana 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 lands laws.
That any citizen of the United States who, or whose ancestors inPreference right to settlors on, in good faith. title in good faith under color of title or claiming as a riparian owner has, prior to this Act, placed valuable improvements upon or reduced to cultivation any of the lands subject to the operation of this Act, shall have a preferred right to file in the office of the register and receiver of the United States land office of the district in which the lands are situated, an application to purchase the landsApplication to be filed. thus improved by them at any time within ninety days from the date of the passage of this Act if the lands have been surveyed and plats filed in the United States land office; otherwise within ninety days from official notice to such claimant of the filing of such plats.
Every such application must be accompanied with satisfactoryProof of possession. 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 or in the actual possession of a952 person or persons who have improved the property and who have attempted to enter same in compliance with the laws and regulations of the United States land office. Appraisal of lands.That upon the filing of an application to purchase any lands subject to the operation of this Act, 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 theValue of improvement by applicant excluded. 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.
Payment and issue of patents.That an applicant who applies to purchase lands under the provisions of this Act, in order to be entitled to receive a patent, must within six months from receipt of notice of appraisal by the Secretary of the Interior pay to the receiver 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 applicantProceeds. for such lands as the Secretary of the Interior shall determine that such applicant is entitled to purchase under this Act.
The proceeds derived by the Government from the sale of the 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. Regulations to be prescribed.That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to prescribe all necessary rules and regulations for administering the provisions of this Act and determining conflicting claims arising hereunder. Sec. 2. Reservation of mineral rights.
That all purchases made and patents issued under the provisions of this Act shall be subject to and contain a reservation to the United States of all the coal, oil, gas, and other minerals in the lands so purchased and patented, together with the right to prospect for, mine, and remove the same. Approved, February 19, 1925.