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Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-102

§486 Exchange of Lands in National Forests; Reservations of Timber, Minerals, or Easements

Title 16 › CHAPTER 2 — NATIONAL FORESTS › SUBCHAPTER I — ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION › § 486

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Either party in a land swap may keep rights to timber, minerals, or easements. The value of those kept rights must be counted when deciding the value of the lands being exchanged. If land is given to the United States with rights kept, the Secretary of Agriculture can set reasonable rules for access and surface use. If the United States keeps mineral rights in land it gives away, the deed must say so, and a miner who gets the right may use as much surface as needed to remove the minerals but must pay the surface owner for any damage. Any property, rights, or benefits kept by owners when they give land to the United States are subject to the tax laws of the state where the land is located.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §486

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Either party to an exchange may make reservations of timber, minerals, or easements, the values of which shall be duly considered in determining the values of the exchanged lands. Where reservations are made in lands conveyed to the United States the right to enjoy them shall be subject to such reasonable conditions respecting ingress and egress and the use of the surface of the land as may be deemed necessary by the Secretary of Agriculture; where mineral reservations are made in lands conveyed by the United States it shall be so stipulated in the patents, and that any person who acquires the right to mine and remove the reserved deposits may enter and occupy so much of the surface as may be required for all purposes incident to the mining and removal of the minerals therefrom, and may mine and remove such minerals upon payment to the owner of the surface for damages caused to the land and improvements thereon. All property, rights, easements, and benefits authorized by this section to be retained by or reserved to owners of lands conveyed to the United States shall be subject to the tax laws of the States where such lands are located.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Transfer of Functions

Functions of Secretary of the Interior under this section and section 485 of this title, with respect to exchanges of non-Federal lands for national forest lands or timber, transferred to Secretary of Agriculture, see Pub. L. 86–509,
June 11, 1960, 74 Stat. 205, set out as a note under section 2201 of Title 7, Agriculture. Application ExtendedAct
June 25, 1935, ch. 308, 49 Stat. 422, provided that this section should be extended and made applicable to exchanges of lands under acts Feb. 14, 1923, ch. 75, 42 Stat. 1245, and Feb. 7, 1929, ch. 160, 45 Stat. 1154, which authorize the United States to acquire privately owned lands situated within certain townships in the Lincoln National Forest in the State of New Mexico, by exchanging therefor an equal value of unreserved and unappropriated public lands within said State.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 486

Title 16, Conservation

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102