Title 16ConservationRelease 119-73

§57 Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant National Parks; exclusive jurisdiction of United States; jurisdiction remaining in and taxation by California

Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 1— - NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER VI— - SEQUOIA AND YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARKS › § 57

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The United States government takes control of the land inside Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant National Parks. California can still serve civil or criminal legal papers there for rights, obligations, or crimes that arose outside the parks, tax people, businesses, franchises, and property in the parks, and set fishing license fees. Residents of the parks may vote in county elections.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §57

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Sole and exclusive jurisdiction is assumed by the United States over the territory embraced and included within the Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, and General Grant National Park, respectively, saving, however, to the State of California the right to serve civil or criminal process within the limits of the aforesaid parks or either of them in suits or prosecutions for or on account of rights acquired, obligations incurred, or crimes committed in said State outside of said parks; and saving further to the said State the right to tax persons and corporations, their franchises and property on the lands included in said parks, and the right to fix and collect license fees for fishing in said parks; and saving also to the persons residing in any of said parks now or hereafter the right to vote at all elections held within the county or counties in which said parks are situated.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification A provision accepting the act of the California Legislature which ceded to the United States exclusive jurisdiction over the territory referred to in this section has been omitted as executed.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

General Grant National Park AbolishedAct Mar. 4, 1940, ch. 40, § 2, 54 Stat. 43, set out as section 80a of this title, abolished the General Grant National Park and added the lands to the Kings Canyon National Park as the General Grant grove section.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 57

Title 16Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73