§1721 Conveyances of public lands to States, local governments, etc.

Summary

The Secretary may give islands that are federal public land to States or their local governments under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act, and the usual size limits do not apply. Those islands can be transferred without a land survey unless the State asks for one and gives money or services for it, which the Secretary accepts. If a survey is done, it must meet rules set by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management and be approved by the Secretary before the transfer. The Secretary can also transfer other lands that were left out of the original surveys, but those transfers must be based on a survey. A person who occupied and improved such an omitted parcel for five years before January 1, 1975 may get the land if the Secretary finds it clearly in the public interest; they must pay at least the fair market value and cover administrative costs (survey, appraisal, conveyance). No transfer can happen until State, local, and the designated areawide planning agency confirm it fits local plans. Transfers under this rule do not apply to lands in the National Forest System (Act of August 17, 1974), the National Park System, the National Wildlife Refuge System, or the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and do not override the Acts of December 22, 1928 or May 31, 1962 or other laws that authorize sales of specific omitted lands. Transfers under this rule also cannot be used to set Federal-State ownership baselines, State submerged-land boundaries, or similar jurisdictional lines. Other rules in section 1720 also apply, and one sentence of the Recreation and Public Purposes Act (section 1(c)) does not apply here.