Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-102
§696a Acquisition of Title to Properties for National Key Deer Refuge; Rights-of-way and Easements
Title 16 › CHAPTER 6 — GAME AND BIRD PRESERVES; PROTECTION › § 696a
Summary
The Secretary may spend money to get clear title to lands, paying costs like surveying and buying them. No money can be paid until the Attorney General approves title. Land can still be bought even if it has easements or rights‑of‑way, if the Secretary finds they won’t materially interfere with uses under sections 696 to 696b.
Full Legal Text
Title 16, §696a
Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
In furtherance of the aforesaid purposes, the Secretary may take such action and make such expenditures as he shall find to be necessary in order to secure satisfactory title in the United States to such properties, including the payment of expenses incidental to the location, examination, and survey of such lands and the acquisition of title thereto; but no payment shall be made for any such lands until the title thereto shall be satisfactory to the Attorney General: Provided, That the acquisition of such lands or interests therein by the United States shall in no case be defeated because of rights-of-ways, easements, exceptions, and reservations which, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior, will not interfere materially with the use of such properties for the purposes of sections 696 to 696b of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
16 U.S.C. § 696a
Title 16, Conservation
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102