Title 43Public LandsRelease 119-73

§983 Lists and plats of lands, for governors of States

Title 43 › Chapter CHAPTER 23— - GRANTS OF SWAMP AND OVERFLOWED LANDS › § 983

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Secretary must make lists and maps of swamp lands and send them to governors. If a governor asks, the Secretary must issue deeds giving the state full ownership, and proceeds must be used only to reclaim the lands with levees and drains.

Full Legal Text

Title 43, §983

Public Lands — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior, to make accurate lists and plats of all such lands, and transmit the same to the governors of the several States in which such lands may lie, and at the request of the governor of any State in which said swamp and overflowed lands may be, to cause patents to be issued to said State therefor, conveying to said State the fee simple of said land. The proceeds of said lands, whether from sale or by direct appropriation in kind, shall be applied exclusively, as far as necessary, to the reclaiming said lands, by means of levees and drains.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification R.S. § 2480 derived from act Sept. 28, 1850, ch. 84, § 2, 9 Stat. 519.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

43 U.S.C. § 983

Title 43Public Lands

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73