Volume 50 · 874
Public Law 75–876
Relating to the revested Oregon and California Railroad and reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands situated in the State of Oregon.
Approved August 28, 1937
Statutory text
AN ACT
Relating to the revested Oregon and California Railroad and reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands situated in the State of Oregon.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That notwithstanding any provisions in the Acts of June 9, 1916 (39 Stat. 218), and February 26, 1919 (40 Stat. 1179), as amended, such portions of the revested Oregon and California Railroad and reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands as are or may hereafter come under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior, which have heretofore or may hereafter be classified as timberlands, and power-site lands valuable for timber, shall be managed, except as provided in section 3 hereof, for permanent forest production, and the timber thereon shall be sold, cut, and removed in conformity with the principal 11 So in original. of sustained yield for the purpose of providing a permanent source of timber supply, protecting watersheds, regulating stream flow, and contributing to the economic stability of local communities
Proviso.
Power sites.
and industries, and providing recreational facilities 11 So in original.: Provided That nothing herein shall be construed to interfere with the use and development of power sites as may be authorized by law.
Annual cut pending determination of productive capacity.
The annual productive capacity for such lands shall be determined and declared as promptly as possible after the passage of this Act, but until such determination and declaration are made the average annual cut therefrom shall not exceed one-half billion feet
Proviso.
Sales.
board measure: Provided, That timber from said lands in an amount not less than one-half billion feet board measure, or not less than the annual sustained yield capacity when the same has been determined and declared, shall be. sold annually, or so much thereof as can be sold at reasonable prices on a normal market.
Forest units.
If the Secretary of the Interior determines that such action will facilitate sustained-yield management, he may subdivide such revested lands into sustained-yield forest units, the boundary lines of which shall be so established that a forest unit will provide, insofar as practicable, a permanent source of raw materials for the support of dependent communities and local industries of the region; but until such subdivision is made the land shall be treated as a single
Proviso.
Hearings before establishment of boundaries.
unit in applying the principle of sustained yield: Provided, That before the boundary lines of such forest units are established, the Department, after published notice thereof, shall hold a hearing thereon in the vicinity of such lands open to the attendance of State and local officers, representatives of dependent industries, residents, and other persons interested in the use of such lands. Due consideration shall be given to established lumbering operations in subdividing such lands when necessary to protect the economic stability
Sales limited to productive capacity.
of dependent communities. Timber sales from a forest unit shall be limited to the productive capacity of such unit and the Secretary is authorized, in his discretion, to reject any bids which may interfere with the sustained-yield management plan of any unit.
Sec. 2.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in his discretion, to make cooperative agreements with other Federal or State forest administrative agencies or with private forest owners or operators for the coordinated administration, with respect to time, rate, method of cutting, and sustained yield, of forest units comprising parts of revested or reconveyed lands, together with lands m private ownership or under the administration of other public agencies, when by such agreements he may be aided in accomplishing the purposes hereinbefore mentioned.
Sec. 3.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to classify,
Classification, etc., of lands suitable for agricultural purposes.
either on application or otherwise, and restore to homestead entry, or purchase under the provisions of section 14 of the Act of June 28, 1934 (48 Stat. 1269), any of such revested or reconveyed land which, in his judgment, is more suitable for agricultural use than for afforestation, reforestation, stream-flow protection, recreation, or other public purposes.
Any of said lands heretofore classified as agricultural may be
Reclassification of, as timberlands.
reclassified as timber lands, if found, upon examination, to be more suitable for the production of trees than agricultural use, such reclassified timber lands to be managed for permanent forest production as herein provided.
Sec. 4.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in his discretion,
Leasing for grazing.
to lease for grazing any of said revested or reconveyed lands which may be so used without interfering with the production of timber or other purposes of this Act as stated in section 1: Provided,
Provisos.
Use of receipts.
That all the moneys received on account of grazing leases shall be covered either into the “Oregon and California land-grant fund” or the “Coos Bay Wagon Road grant fund” in the Treasury as the location of the leased lands shall determine, and be subject to distribution as other moneys in such funds: Provided further, That
Rules and regulations.
the Secretary is also authorized to formulate rules and regulations for the use, protection, improvement, and rehabilitation of such grazing lands.
Sec. 5.
The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to perform
Secretary of the Interior; powers and duties.
any and all acts and to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this Act into full force and effect. The Secretary of the
Consultation with Oregon State Board of Forestry.
Interior is further authorized, in formulating forest-practice rules and regulations, to consult with the Oregon State Board of Forestry, representatives of timber owners and operators on or contiguous to said revested and reconveyed lands, and other persons or agencies interested in the use of such lands.
In formulating regulations for the protection of such timberlands
With other agencies.
against fire, the. Secretary is authorized, in his discretion, to consult and advise with Federal, State, and county agencies engaged in forest-fire-protection work, and to make agreements with such agencies for the cooperative administration of fire regulations therein: Provided, That rules and regulations for the protection of
Proviso.
Fire protection provisions.
the revested lands from fire shall conform with the requirements and practices of the State of Oregon insofar as the same are consistent with the interests of the United States.
TITLE II
That on and after March 1, 1938, all moneys deposited in the
Oregon and California land-grant fund.
Treasury of the United States in the special fund designated the “Oregon and California land-grant fund” shall be distributed annually as follows:
Fifty per centum to the counties in which the lands revested
Payments to counties.
under the Act of June 9, 1916 (39 Stat. 218), are situated, to be payable on or after June 30, 1938, and each year thereafter to each of said counties in the proportion that the total assessed value of the Oregon and California grant lands in each of said counties for the year 1915 bears to the total assessed value of all of said lands in the State of Oregon for said year, such moneys to be used as other county funds.
Twenty-five per centum to said counties as money in lieu of taxes accrued or which shall accrue to them prior to March 1, 1938, under the provisions of the Act of July 13, 1926 (44 Stat. 915), and which taxes are unpaid on said date, such moneys to be paid to said counties severally by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, upon certification by the Secretary of the Interior, until such tax indebtedness as shall have accrued prior to March 1, 1938, is extinguished.
Amount to satisfy reimbursable charges Against fund.
From and after payment of the above accrued taxes said 25 per centum shall be accredited annually to the general fund in the Treasury of the United States until all reimbursable charges against the Oregon and California land-grant fund owing to the general fund
Proviso.
Paying deficiencies in county payments.
in the Treasury have been paid: Provided, That if for any year after the extinguishment of the tax indebtedness accruing to the counties prior to March 1, 1938, under the provisions of Forty-fourth Statutes, page 915, the total amount payable under subsection (a) of this title is less than 78 per centum of the aggregate amount of tax claims which accrued to said counties under said Act for the year 1934, there shall be additionally payable for such year such portion of said 25 per centum (but not in excess of three-fifths of said 25 per centum),
Payments to counties after charges reimbursed.
as may be necessary to make up the deficiency. When the general fund in the Treasury has been fully reimbursed for the expenditures which were made charges against the Oregon and California land-grant fund said 25 per centum shall be paid annually, on or after June 30, to the several counties in the manner provided in subsection (a) hereof.
Twenty-five per centum to be available for the administration of this Act, in such annual amounts as the Congress shall from time to time determine. Any part of such per centum not used for administrative purposes shall be covered into the general fund of the
Proviso.
Use of moneys covered in.
Treasury of the United States: Provided, That moneys covered into the Treasury in such manner shall be used to satisfy the reimbursable charges against the Oregon and California land-grant fund mentioned in subsection (b) so long as any such charges shall exist.
Conflicting laws repealed.
All Acts or parts of Acts in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed to the extent necessary to give full force and effect to this Act.
Approved, August 28, 1937.