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Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-102

§22 Control of Park by Secretary of the Interior; Removal of Trespassers

Title 16 › CHAPTER 1 — NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES › SUBCHAPTER V — YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK › § 22

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior has exclusive control of Yellowstone and must quickly make and publish rules to manage and protect it. The rules must keep trees, mineral deposits, and natural wonders in their natural condition. He may lease small plots for visitor buildings for up to ten years. Lease money and other park income must be used for park management and for roads and bridle-paths. He must stop commercial or wanton killing of fish and wildlife, remove trespassers, and take other needed actions.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §22

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Yellowstone National Park shall be under the exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior, whose duty it shall be, as soon as practicable, to make and publish such regulations as he may deem necessary or proper for the care and management of the same. Such regulations shall provide for the preservation, from injury or spoliation, of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonders, within the park, and their retention in their natural condition. The Secretary may, in his discretion, grant leases for building purposes for terms not exceeding ten years, of small parcels of ground, at such places in the park as may require the erection of buildings for the accommodation of visitors; all of the proceeds of such leases, and all other revenues that may be derived from any source connected with the park, to be expended under his direction in the management of the same, and the construction of roads and bridle-paths therein. He shall provide against the wanton destruction of the fish and game found within the park, and against their capture or destruction for the purposes of merchandise or profit. He shall also cause all persons trespassing upon the same to be removed therefrom, and generally is authorized to take all such measures as may be necessary or proper to fully carry out the objects and purposes of this section.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification R.S. § 2475 derived from act Mar. 1, 1872, ch. 24, § 2, 17 Stat. 33.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 22

Title 16, Conservation

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102