Title 16 › CHAPTER 37 — YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS AND PUBLIC LANDS CORPS › SUBCHAPTER II — PUBLIC LANDS CORPS › § 1722
Lists and explains important words used in this part of the law. An appropriate conservation project is any work to save, restore, build, or fix natural, cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational, or scenic resources. Corps and Public Lands Corps mean the Public Lands Corps created by the law. Eligible service lands are public lands, Indian lands, and Hawaiian home lands. Hawaiian home lands are lands given that status under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920 or under Hawaii’s state constitution when it joined the Union on March 18, 1959. Indian means someone who is a member of an Indian tribe or counted as a “Native” under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Indian lands include reservations, public domain allotments, former Oklahoma reservations, lands held under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and dependent Indian communities inside U.S. borders. Indian tribe means a recognized group eligible for federal Indian programs, including Alaska Native corporations. Institution of higher education uses the federal definition in title 20 but excludes the schools listed in section 1001(b) and schools outside the United States. Priority project covers projects on eligible service lands that support Healthy Forests Restoration Act goals and similar efforts, such as reducing wildfire risk, protecting watersheds and forest health, fighting insect or disease damage, restoring forests for endangered species, biodiversity, productivity, and carbon storage, and protecting or restoring coastal and marine habitats for species, fisheries, spill recovery, and resilience. Public lands are lands or waters owned or managed by the United States, not including Indian lands. Qualified youth or conservation corps are state, local, tribal, or nonprofit programs that give people between the ages of 16 and 30, inclusive, or veterans age 35 or younger, full-time conservation work with training, life skills, and community service. Resource assistant means a person selected under the law’s hiring rule. Secretary means the agency head: Agriculture for National Forest System land, Interior for Indian and Interior-managed lands and Hawaiian home lands, and Commerce for NOAA-managed marine and coastal areas. State means any State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Veteran has the meaning given in title 38, section 101.
Full Legal Text
Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
16 U.S.C. § 1722
Title 16, Conservation
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110