Title 25, Public Lands

(1) Jurisdiction for review of actions and proposed actions of the commission which are claimed to be in violation of any provision of ORS 273.553 or 273.554 is conferred upon the State Land Board. Proceedings for review of such actions may be instituted by filing a request for r…

(1) Violation of a rule adopted under ORS 273.553 (4) is a Class D violation for each day of violation. (2) In addition to all other remedies, when it appears to the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve Management Commission that a person has engaged in, or is engagin…

As used in ORS 273.563 to 273.591, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) “Agency” means a local, state or federal agency, board, commission or department. (2) “Candidate natural area” means a natural resource area that may be considered for registration or dedication. (3) “C…

(1) The Legislative Assembly finds that many valuable natural heritage resources are represented in natural areas that can be protected through the voluntary cooperation of private landowners and public land managers. These areas will comprise a discrete and limited system of nat…

(1) To aid and advise the State Parks and Recreation Director in the performance of the functions related to the Natural Areas Program, the director may establish a natural areas advisory committee. (2) The advisory committee may assist the State Parks and Recreation Department: …

(1)(a) The State Parks and Recreation Department shall provide assistance in the selection and nomination of natural areas containing natural heritage resources for registration or dedication. (b) The Oregon Natural Areas Plan established by ORS 273.578 shall govern the Natural A…

(1) The Sixty-first Legislative Assembly approves the Oregon Natural Areas Plan submitted under ORS 273.576. (2) The State Parks and Recreation Commission may review and approve or disapprove any modification to the Oregon Natural Areas Plan submitted by the State Parks and Recre…

(1) The State Parks and Recreation Department shall maintain a state register of natural areas containing significant natural heritage resources to be called the Oregon Register of Natural Areas. (2) The department shall from time to time identify natural areas from the natural h…

(1) A private individual or organization that is the owner of any registered natural area may voluntarily agree to dedicate that area as a state natural area by executing with the State Parks and Recreation Department an instrument of dedication. The instrument of dedication shal…

The Natural Areas Program Account is established within the General Fund of the State Treasury. All moneys received by the State Parks and Recreation Department for the purposes of ORS 273.563 to 273.591 shall be paid into the State Treasury and credited to the account. All money…

(1) The Department of State Lands shall prescribe rules governing the exploration for and removal of semiprecious stones and petrified wood from lands owned by the State of Oregon and under the jurisdiction of the department. Such rules shall be designed to maximize the public be…

There is granted to all persons constructing railways built after February 21, 1891, within the boundaries of the state, and to their successors and assigns: (1) A right of way through any unimproved state lands, of the width of 100 feet, being 50 feet in width on each side of th…

(1) Whenever a railway company mentioned in ORS 273.751, or its successors or assigns, files with the Department of State Lands a map of the definite location of its road lines through any state lands, the department thereafter shall except from sale such right of way and lands f…

(1) A right of way for construction of a water ditch to be used for irrigation, manufacturing or mining purposes, ditches or water pipes for conveying water to political subdivisions for domestic purposes, or for the extinguishment of fires, is granted for a distance of 25 feet o…

Any person adding or removing any material to or from submerged or submersible land so as to make necessary or advisable the relocation or extension of a main or outfall described in ORS 273.761 (2) shall be liable to the municipal corporation for all expenses incurred by it in r…

(1) “Mineral” includes oil, gas, sulfur, coal, gold, silver, copper, lead, cinnabar, iron, manganese and other metallic ore, and any other solid, liquid or gaseous material or substance excavated or otherwise developed for commercial, industrial or construction use from natural d…

(1) Mineral and geothermal resource rights in real property owned by any state agency and mineral and geothermal resource rights retained as an interest in lands previously sold, granted or otherwise conveyed by the state or any agency thereof are property of the State of Oregon.…

ORS 273.551 and 273.775 to 273.790 do not apply to: (1) Soil, clay, stone, sand and gravel that state agencies acquire or use for the purpose of constructing or repairing roads or other state facilities, or the proceeds from soil, clay, stone, sand or gravel. (2) Mineral or geoth…

(1) As used in this section: (a) “Low-potential resource real property” means real property that is located: (A) Inside an urban growth boundary; or (B) Within an area zoned for residential use on a lot or parcel that is three acres or smaller in size. (b) “Owner” means: (A) The …

The Department of State Lands shall establish and maintain a registry of mineral and geothermal resource rights placed under the jurisdiction of the State Land Board. [1974 c.51 §5] COMMON SCHOOL GRAZING LANDS

(1) As used in ORS 273.805 to 273.825, “common school grazing lands” means lands owned by the State of Oregon and under the control of the Department of State Lands that are chiefly suitable for the grazing of animals, as determined by the department, and which are within, but no…

(1) In order to accomplish the purpose of ORS 273.805 to 273.825, the Department of State Lands may, with respect to common school grazing lands: (a) Protect the lands from fire, disease and insect pests, cooperate with others in such protection and enter into all agreements nece…

The Department of State Lands may exchange common school grazing lands for land of approximately equal aggregate value, when such exchange is in furtherance of the purposes of ORS 273.805 to 273.825. No exchange shall be made until the title to the lands to be received has been v…

(1) The lessee of any common school grazing land, upon its classification for sale by the Department of State Lands, may purchase such land at a price and on terms prescribed under subsection (2) of this section if the lessee is an individual person, a resident of this state and …

(1) The state forest formerly known as the Elliott State Forest shall be known as the Elliott State Research Forest. (2) The State Land Board shall manage, control and protect the forest for the dedicated purpose of maintaining a world-class research forest. (3) The Department of…

(1) The Elliott State Research Forest shall consist of lands determined by a resolution of the State Land Board, as modified by any subsequent expansion or exchange of lands authorized by this section. (2) The board may not sell any lands in the forest, but may approve an expansi…

(1) The Elliott State Research Forest Account is established in the State Treasury, separate and distinct from the General Fund. Interest earned by the account shall be credited to the account. (2) The account shall consist of all moneys deposited in the account. Moneys in the ac…

(1) In the manner and under the conditions set out in ORS 273.850 to 273.890, and notwithstanding any other law, the State of Oregon shall remise, release and forever quitclaim to Clatsop County all rights, title and interest that may remain or be vested in the state with respect…

(1) ORS 273.850 (1) and (2) apply with respect to any lands described therein only when the Board of County Commissioners of Clatsop County executes and delivers a deed remising, releasing and forever quitclaiming all rights, title and interest that may remain or be vested in suc…

Each applicant under ORS 273.865 (1) shall pay, at the time of filing an application, a fee of $25. Moneys received under this section shall be deposited with the county treasurer and be available for payment of the expenses of the Board of County Commissioners of Clatsop County …

(1) Application for a deed under ORS 273.855 (1) shall be made to the Board of County Commissioners of Clatsop County in a manner and form prescribed by the county board. The application shall include: (a) A legal description of the lands applied for, and, as nearly as practicabl…

(1) The Board of County Commissioners of Clatsop County shall give public notice of each application received by it under ORS 273.865 (1), prior to its consideration thereof, by advertisement not less than once each week for four successive weeks in a newspaper of general circula…

The findings of the Board of County Commissioners of Clatsop County with respect to an application shall be set out concisely in writing, and a copy served on the applicant not later than the 10th day after they are rendered. Not later than the 30th day after receipt of a copy of…

(1) Jurisdiction for judicial review of actions of the Board of County Commissioners of Clatsop County under ORS 273.855 (3), (4) and (5) and 273.860 to 273.880 is conferred on the circuit court for the county in which the land applied for is located. Proceedings for review shall…

The State of Oregon shall not call into question the title of any person possessing lands described in ORS 273.850 (1) to (3) before January 1, 1973. The State of Oregon shall not call into question the title of any person possessing lands described in ORS 273.850 (1), if an appl…

(1) Nothing in ORS 273.850 to 273.890 affects controversies among persons and governmental entities asserting proprietary rights, title and interests with respect to lands described in ORS 273.850 (1). (2) No ad valorem taxes paid or owing with respect to lands described in ORS 2…

The titles to all tide lands within this state, and all tide flats not adjacent to the shore in the waters of the state, which have been heretofore sold to purchasers by the State of Oregon, where the purchaser has, in good faith, actually paid to the state the purchase price, an…

(1) All the rights and title of the State of Oregon to the swamp and overflowed lands of this state, and claimed by persons who have completed settlement thereon, or who may hereafter complete settlement under the provisions of the preemption or homestead laws of the United State…

The Department of State Lands shall not call in question the title of any person to any swamp lands which the person may not have acquired by full and complete compliance with the preemption or homestead laws of the United States, nor shall the department sell to anyone any unsur…

All deeds prior to February 20, 1891, to state, school, and university lands, the purchase price of which was paid to the board of commissioners for the sale of school and university lands and for the investment of the fund arising therefrom, hereby are confirmed to the grantees …

In all cases prior to May 21, 1917, where state deeds were issued to lands claimed by this state under the laws of the United States, the legal title to which had not yet vested in the state at the date of such deeds, the after-acquired title of this state in or to such lands sha…

The State of Oregon hereby remises, releases and forever quitclaims unto the grantees therein, their heirs and assigns, all rights, titles and interest that may have remained or vested in the State of Oregon under deeds executed prior to July 5, 1947, by the State Land Board wher…

All leases and conveyances granting the right to explore or prospect for minerals or oil and gas, and for the drilling, mining and removal of the same on or from lands or mineral rights under the jurisdiction and control of any state agency, board or commission, which were execut…

Violation of ORS 273.231 is a misdemeanor. [1967 c.421 §93; 1969 c.594 §30; 1977 c.397 §3; 1983 c.620 §14; 1995 c.543 §8]

(1) A person who violates any provision of ORS 273.225, 273.231, 273.551, 273.715, 273.780 or 273.815 or any rule adopted under ORS 273.045 related to those sections is subject to a civil penalty in an amount to be determined by the Director of the Department of State Lands of no…

(1) The Director of the Department of State Lands shall adopt by rule a schedule establishing the amount of civil penalty that may be imposed for a particular violation of ORS 273.225, 273.231, 273.551, 273.715, 273.780 or 273.815 or any rule adopted under ORS 273.045 related to …