§83 — Title 30 Mineral Lands and Mining | U.S. Code

§83 Homestead or desert-land and other entries

Title 30 › Chapter CHAPTER 3— - LANDS CONTAINING COAL, OIL, GAS, SALTS, ASPHALTIC MATERIALS, SODIUM, SULPHUR, AND BUILDING STONE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - COAL LAND ENTRIES UNDER NONMINERAL LAND LAWS WITH RESERVATION OF COAL TO UNITED STATES › § 83

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Public lands of the United States, except Alaska, that have been set aside or are valuable for coal can still be claimed by people only as actual homesteads, under the desert-land law, by certain land selections, or by withdrawal under the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902 — but only when the claim is made to get or pass title. The United States keeps ownership of the coal and keeps the right to look for, mine, and remove it. Homestead claims must follow the usual residence and farming rules. People who began nonmineral claims or selections in good faith before June 22, 1910 may finish those claims under the original laws, but will receive the limited patent required by these rules.

Title 30, §83

Mineral Lands and Mining — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Unreserved public lands of the United States exclusive of Alaska which have been withdrawn or classified as coal lands, or are valuable for coal, shall be subject to appropriate entry under the homestead laws by actual settlers only, the desert-land law, to selection under section 641 of title 43, and to withdrawal under the Act approved June seventeenth, nineteen hundred and two, known as the Reclamation Act, whenever such entry, selection, or withdrawal shall be made with a view of obtaining or passing title, with a reservation to the United States of the coal in such lands and of the right to prospect for, mine, and remove the same. But all homestead entries made hereunder shall be subject to the conditions, as to residence and cultivation, of entries under section 218 of title 43. Those who have initiated nonmineral entries, selections, or locations in good faith, prior to June 22, 1910, on lands withdrawn or classified as coal lands may perfect the same under the provisions of the laws under which said entries were made, but shall receive the limited patent provided for in sections 83 to 85 of this title.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Act approved June seventeenth, nineteen hundred and two, referred to in text, is act June 17, 1902, ch. 1093, 32 Stat. 388, popularly known as the Reclamation Act, which is classified generally to chapter 12 (§ 371 et seq.) of Title 43, Public Lands. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 371 of Title 43 and Tables.

Amendments

1955—Act June 16, 1955, removed 160-acre limitation on desert entry.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Additional Desert-Land EntryAct

June 16, 1955, ch. 145, § 3, 69 Stat. 138, as amended by Pub. L. 85–641, § 2, Aug. 14, 1958, 72 Stat. 596, provided that: “Any person who, prior to

June 16, 1955, made a valid desert-land entry on lands subject to such Act of

June 22, 1910 [sections 83 to 85 of this title], or of

July 17, 1914 [sections 121 to 123 of this title], may, if otherwise qualified, make one additional entry, as a personal privilege, not assignable, upon one or more tracts of desert land subject to the provisions of such Acts, as hereby amended, and section 7 of the Act entitled ‘An Act to stop injury to the public grazing lands by preventing overgrazing and soil deterioration, to provide for their orderly use, improvement, and development to stabilize the livestock industry dependent upon the public range, and for other purposes’, approved

June 28, 1934, as amended (48 Stat. 1269, 1272; 43 U.S.C. 315f). The additional land entered by any person pursuant to this section shall not, together with his original entry, exceed three hundred and twenty acres, and all the tracts included within the additional entry authorized by this section shall be sufficiently close to each other to be managed satisfactorily as an economic unit, as determined under

Rules and Regulations

issued by the Secretary of the Interior. Additional entries authorized by this section shall be subject to all the requirements of the desert-land law.” Supplemental Provisions section 90 of this title, act Apr. 30, 1912, ch. 99, 37 Stat. 105, supplements this section by making provisions for the selection of coal lands by the several States, and for their sale under the laws providing for the sale of isolated or disconnected tracts of public lands.