§302 Method of apportionment and selection; issuance of land scrip

Summary

After the land is surveyed, it must be divided among the States in parcels no smaller than one-quarter of a section. If a State has public land for sale at $1.25 per acre, the State’s share must come from those lands inside its borders. If a State does not have enough of that kind of land, the Secretary of the Interior must give the State land scrip equal to the missing acres. The State must sell that scrip and spend the money only for the specific purposes already set by law. The State itself cannot use the scrip to claim land in another State or Territory. People who buy the scrip can use it to claim unclaimed public land that is for sale at $1.25 per acre or less, but no buyer may claim more than one million acres in any one State. No scrip location may be made before July 2, 1863.