Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-102
§505 Use of National Forests Established on Land Reserved for Purposes of National Defense; Maintenance Available
Title 16 › CHAPTER 2 — NATIONAL FORESTS › SUBCHAPTER I — ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION › § 505
Summary
Land that becomes a national forest but was once set aside for the Army or Navy must still be available for those military departments to use for defense. Money used for running and caring for national forests — like upkeep, improvements, protection, road work, and general administration — can be spent on forests created this way.
Full Legal Text
Title 16, §505
Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Where a national forest is established under section 471(b) of this title on land previously reserved for the Army or Navy for purposes of national defense the land shall remain subject to the unhampered use of the Department of the Army or Navy Department for said purposes and nothing in this section or section 471(b) of this title shall be construed to relinquish the authority over such lands for purposes of national defense now vested in the department for which the lands were formerly reserved. Any moneys available for the maintenance, improvement, protection, construction of highways and general administration of the national forests shall be available for expenditure on national forests created under this section.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification Section is based on the second and third sentences of section 9 of act June 7, 1924. section 471(b) of this title, referred to in text, was based on the first and fifth sentences of section 9 of the 1924 act, and was repealed by section 704(a) of Pub. L. 94–579. section 499 of this title is based in part on the fourth sentence of section 9 of the 1924 act.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Change of Name
Department of War designated Department of the Army and title of Secretary of War changed to Secretary of the Army by section 205(a) of act
July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, 61 Stat. 501. section 205(a) of act
July 26, 1947, was repealed by section 53 of act Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 641. section 1 of act Aug. 10, 1956, enacted “Title 10, Armed Forces” which in sections 3010 to 3013 continued military Department of the Army under administrative supervision of Secretary of the Army.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
16 U.S.C. § 505
Title 16, Conservation
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102