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Title 16 — ConservationRelease 119-73not60

§535 Forest Development Roads; Acquisition, Construction, and Maintenance; Maximum Economy; Methods of Financing; Cost Arrangements for Construction Standards; Transfer of Unused Effective Purchaser Credit for Road Construction

Title 16 › Chapter 2— NATIONAL FORESTS › Subchapter I— ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION › § 535

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary can acquire, build, and maintain forest roads in or near national forests to make timber harvesting economical while protecting and managing the land. Roads can be paid for in four ways: appropriated funds; charges on timber buyers (including amortization); cooperative financing; or a mix. Buyers don't pay for road upgrades above what their sale needs. Unused purchaser credit earned after December 16, 1975 can be moved between sales to the same buyer within that National Forest under the Secretary's rules.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §535

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Secretary is authorized to provide for the acquisition, construction, and maintenance of forest development roads within and near the national forests and other lands administered by the Forest Service in locations and according to specifications which will permit maximum economy in harvesting timber from such lands tributary to such roads and at the same time meet the requirements for protection, development, and management thereof, and for utilization of the other resources thereof. Financing of such roads may be accomplished (1) by the Secretary utilizing appropriated funds, (2) by requirements on purchasers of national forest timber and other products, including provisions for amortization of road costs in contracts, (3) by cooperative financing with other public agencies and with private agencies or persons, or (4) by a combination of these methods: Provided, That where roads of a higher standard than that needed in the harvesting and removal of the timber and other products covered by the particular sale are to be constructed, the purchaser of the national forest timber and other products shall not be required to bear that part of the costs necessary to meet such higher standard, and the Secretary is authorized to make such arrangements to this end as may be appropriate. The Secretary is authorized, under such rules and regulations as he shall prescribe, to permit the transfer of unused effective purchaser credit for road construction earned after December 16, 1975, from one timber sale to a purchaser to another timber sale to the same purchaser within the same National Forest.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1975—Pub. L. 94–154 authorized the Secretary to permit the transfer of unused effective purchaser credit for road

Construction

earned after Dec. 16, 1975, from one timber sale to a purchaser to another timber sale to the same purchaser within the same National Forest.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Financing of Forest Development RoadsFinancing of forest development roads authorized by cl. (2) of this section deemed “budget authority” and “budget outlays” as defined in section 621(a) of Title 2, The Congress, and effective for purpose specified in section 651(a) of Title 2, see section 1608 of this title.

Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions

For transfer of certain

Enforcement

functions of Secretary or other official in Department of Agriculture under sections 532 to 538 of this title to Federal Inspector, Office of Federal Inspector for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System, and subsequent transfer to Secretary of Energy, then to Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects, see

Transfer of Functions

note set out under section 533 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 535

Title 16 — Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60