Title 16ConservationRelease 119-73

§164 Eliminating private holdings of lands; timber or public lands of equal value in exchange

Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 1— - NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER XX— - GLACIER NATIONAL PARK › § 164

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior can get full ownership of private lands inside Glacier National Park in townships 32 and 33 north, ranges 18 and 19 west of the Montana principal meridian to keep private holdings out and protect the natural forest along scenic roads. He can do this in two ways. He can trade for private lands by giving timber of equal value that can be removed without harming the park’s scenic beauty. That timber may come from park lands or, if the Secretary of Agriculture approves, from Montana national forest lands. Or he can accept owners’ full relinquishment and give them public land of equal value in Montana. The proposed exchange must be published for at least 30 days in the counties where the lands are located.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §164

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Secretary of the Interior, for the purpose of eliminating private holdings within the Glacier National Park and the preservation intact of the natural forest along the roads in the scenic portions of the park, both on patented and park lands, is empowered, in his discretion: (1) To obtain for the United States the complete title to any or all of the lands held in private or State ownership within the boundaries of said park within townships 32 and 33 north, ranges 18 and 19 west of Montana principal meridian, by the exchange of dead, decadent, or matured timber of approximately equal values that can be removed from any part of the park without injuriously affecting the scenic beauty thereof; or, upon the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture, the timber to be selected or exchanged may be taken from the Government lands within the metes and bounds of the national forests within the State of Montana, or, (2) to obtain for the United States the complete title to any or all of the lands held in private ownership within the boundaries of said park by accepting from the owners of such privately owned lands complete relinquishment thereof and by granting and patenting to such owners, in exchange therefor, in each instance, like public land of equal value situate in the State of Montana, after due notice of the proposed exchange has been given by publication for not less than thirty days in the counties where the lands proposed to be exchanged or taken in exchange are located.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section is based on section 1 of act Mar. 3, 1917, and section 1 of act Feb. 23, 1923; subdivision (1) being from the former and subdivision (2) being from the latter act. Of the language preceding subdivision (1), that portion from the beginning of the section to the word “and” was common to both of the sections aforesaid, while the remaining portion was derived from section 1 of act Mar. 3, 1917.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 164

Title 16Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73