Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-102
§156 Establishment; Boundaries
Title 16 › CHAPTER 1 — NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES › SUBCHAPTER XVII — BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK › § 156
Summary
Once the United States owns lands the Secretary of the Interior designates inside approximately 1,500,000 acres in Brewster and Presidio Counties, Texas, those lands will be set aside as Big Bend National Park for public use. The United States cannot buy land there with public funds; it may acquire land only by public or private donations.
Full Legal Text
Title 16, §156
Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
When title to such lands as may be determined by the Secretary of the Interior as necessary for recreational park purposes within the boundaries to be determined by him within the area of approximately one million five hundred thousand acres, in the counties of Brewster and Presidio, in the State of Texas, known as the “Big Bend” area, shall have been vested in the United States, such lands shall be established, dedicated, and set apart as a public park for the benefit and enjoyment of the people and shall be known as the “Big Bend National Park”: Provided, That the United States shall not purchase by appropriation of public moneys any land within the aforesaid area, but such lands shall be secured by the United States only by public and private donations.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
16 U.S.C. § 156
Title 16, Conservation
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102