Title 16 — ConservationRelease 119-73

§410n Drainage of lands; right-of-way

Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 1— - NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER LIV— - EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK › § 410n

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must allow drainage through the park’s natural waterways and the construction and use of water works to reclaim lands east of the park in township 54 south (ranges 31 and 32 east), township 55 south (ranges 32 and 33 east), and township 56 south (range 33 east), unless, after notice and a hearing, he finds it would seriously harm the park’s plants or animals. Permission only follows a State-approved master drainage plan that the Secretary finds engineering-feasible and designed to minimize park disruption. Any right-of-way can be revoked for breaking its conditions, and if revoked the holder must remove improvements and restore the land.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §410n

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Unless the Secretary, after notice and opportunity for hearing, shall find that the same is seriously detrimental to the preservation and propagation of the flora or fauna of Everglades National Park, he shall permit such drainage through the natural waterways of the park and the construction, operation, and maintenance of artificial works for conducting water thereto as is required for the reclamation by the State of Florida or any political subdivision thereof or any drainage district organized under its laws of lands lying easterly of the eastern boundary of the park in township 54 south, ranges 31 and 32 east, township 55 south, ranges 32 and 33 east, and township 56 south, range 33 east. He shall grant said permission, however, only after a master plan for the drainage of said lands has been approved by the State of Florida and after finding that the approved plan has engineering feasibility and is so designed as to minimize disruptions of the natural state of the park. Any right-of-way granted pursuant to this section shall be revocable upon breach of the conditions upon which it is granted, which conditions shall also be enforcible in any other appropriate manner, and the grantee shall be obligated to remove its improvements and to restore the land occupied by it to its previous condition in the event of such revocation.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 410n

Title 16 — Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73