§460gg–6 Acquisition of Property

Summary

The Secretary can get land or rights in land needed for the recreation area by buying them with donated or government money, by accepting donations, or by trading for them. The Secretary can buy land without the owner’s agreement only if negotiating failed and the total land acquired that way is less than 5 percent of the privately owned acreage in the area as of December 31, 1975. Scenic easements (see definition below) can be taken without owner consent and do not count toward that 5 percent limit, but the Secretary can do that only after the rules called for in section 460gg–7 are published and only when the land is being used, or is in clear danger of being used, in a way that conflicts with those rules. Land owned by the State of Oregon or its local governments may only be taken by donation. Land owned by the State of Idaho or its local governments may be taken only by donation or by exchange. A scenic easement means the right to control how land is used to protect how it looks, but it does not stop farming or grazing that was happening on December 31, 1975. The Secretary must quickly and carefully consider any offer from an owner to sell and must think about any hardship caused by delay. The Secretary can swap non‑Federal land for Federal land in the same State if values are about equal or if cash makes them equal, and can use national forest exchange rules. The Secretary can also buy mineral rights with or without owner consent; once bought, those lands or minerals are withdrawn from the U.S. mining and mineral leasing laws. Federal property inside the area can be transferred to the Secretary without payment if the agency in charge agrees, and such lands become part of the nearby national forest.