Title 43 — Public LandsRelease 119-73
§766 Geological surveys, extension of public surveys, expenses of subdividing
Title 43 › Chapter CHAPTER 18— - SURVEY OF PUBLIC LANDS › § 766
Summary
Government cannot do more geological surveys unless a law allows it. Public surveys must include lands with minerals. County and local surveyors can split surveyed tracts under 160 acres, and the claimants must pay; waste or useless lands do not have to be surveyed.
Full Legal Text
Title 43, §766
Public Lands — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
There shall be no further geological survey by the Government, unless authorized by law. The public surveys shall extend over all mineral lands; and all subdividing of surveyed lands into lots less than one hundred and sixty acres may be done by county and local surveyors at the expense of claimants; but nothing in this section contained shall require the survey of waste or useless lands.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification R.S. § 2406 derived from acts
July 21, 1852, ch. 66, § 1, 10 Stat. 15, 21;
July 9, 1870, ch. 235, § 16, 16 Stat. 218.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Section as Unaffected by Submerged Lands ActProvisions of this section as not amended, modified or repealed by the Submerged Lands Act, see section 1303 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
43 U.S.C. § 766
Title 43 — Public Lands
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73