U.S. CODE

U.S. Code

§ 484a. Exchange of lands in national forests; public schools; deposit of funds by school authority with insufficient exchange land; limitations on use

Whenever an exchange of land is proposed by a State, county, or municipal government or public school district or other public school authority under sections 485 and 486 of this title or other authority under which the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to exchange national forest lands or other lands administered by the Forest Service, if the State, county, or municipal government or public school authority proposing the exchange has insufficient land to offer, the exchange may be completed upon deposit with the Secretary of Agriculture of a portion or all of the value of the selected land. Any amount so deposited shall be covered into a special fund in the Treasury which when appropriated shall be available until expended by the Secretary of Agriculture for the acquisition of lands in the same State as the selected lands and which are determined by him to be suitable for the same purposes as the selected lands. Lands so acquired shall have the same status and shall be subject to the same laws, regulations, and rules as the selected lands.

The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to the conveyance in exchange of more than eighty acres to any one State, county, or municipal government or public school district or other public school authority. Lands may be conveyed to any State, county, or municipal government pursuant to this section only if the lands were being utilized by such entities on January 12, 1983. Lands so conveyed may be used only for the purposes for which they were being used prior to conveyance.

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