PRIA Logo™
Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-102

§80a General Grant National Park Abolished; Lands Added to Kings Canyon National Park

Title 16 › CHAPTER 1 — NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES › SUBCHAPTER VIII — KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARK › § 80a

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Abolishes General Grant National Park and adds the land that used to be in it, plus certain named sections in townships 13–15 south, range 28 east, Mount Diablo meridian, to Kings Canyon National Park. Those added lands will be called the General Grant grove section and will be included as part of Kings Canyon, as long as valid existing rights are respected. The President may expand the General Grant grove section by proclamation to include additional nearby sections (as described in the original law). Any added land will follow the park’s laws and rules. That expansion must not stop free movement of livestock and vehicles to and from national forest lands, under general rules set by the Secretary of the Interior. Kings Canyon National Park will receive and use all money appropriated for General Grant National Park before or after March 4, 1940.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §80a

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The General Grant National Park is abolished, and the west half of section 33, township 13 south, range 28 east, and west half of section 4, all of section 8 and the northwest quarter of section 9, township 14 south, range 28 east, Mount Diablo meridian, California, together with the lands formerly within the General Grant National Park, California, and particularly described as follows, to wit: All of section 31 and 32, township 13 south, range 28 east, and section 5 and 6, township 14 south, range 28 east, of the same meridian, are, subject to valid existing rights, added to and made a part of the Kings Canyon National Park and such lands shall be known as the General Grant grove section of the said park. The General Grant grove section of the Kings Canyon National Park may, by proclamation of the President, be extended to include the following described lands, to wit: section 9, south half, section 10, southwest quarter, and that part of the east half south of Generals Highway; section 11, that part south of Generals Highway; section 13, that part south of Generals Highway; section 14, that part south of Generals Highway, section 15, east half, northwest quarter, and the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter, section 21, southeast quarter of the northeast quarter, and the east half of the southeast quarter; section 22, east half, east half of the northwest quarter, southwest quarter of the northwest quarter and southwest quarter; section 23; section 24, that part south of Generals Highway; section 25 and 26; section 27, east half, northwest quarter, and that part of the southwest quarter north and east of the crest of Redwood Mountain; section 34, that part east of the crest of Redwood Mountain; section 35 and 36, township 14 south, range 28 east; all of section 1 and 2; section 3, that part east of the crest of Redwood Mountain; section 11, that part east and north of the crest of Redwood Mountain; all of section 12; section 13, that part north of the Sequoia National Park boundary, township 15 south, range 28 east, Mount Diablo meridian, which shall be subject to all laws, rules, and regulations applicable to the said park. Such extension of the General Grant grove section of the said park shall not interfere with the movement of stock and vehicular traffic without charge, under general regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, to and from national forest lands on either side of the said park extension. The Kings Canyon National Park shall receive and use all moneys prior to or after March 4, 1940, appropriated for General Grant National Park.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Nation’s Christmas TreeJoint Res. Mar. 29, 1956, ch. 98, 70 Stat. 57, provided: “That the General Grant tree, which is located in the Kings Canyon National Park, in Fresno County, California, and which was dedicated by the Federal Government in 1926 as the Nation’s Christmas Tree, is hereby declared to be a national shrine in memory of the men and women of the Armed Forces who have served and fought and died to keep this Nation free and to preserve the spiritual, human, and civil rights which are the essence of our American heritage. The Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service, shall make appropriate provision for the perpetual care and maintenance of such shrine. “Sec. 2. Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to change the name of the General Grant tree.” Adjustment of Boundaries and RightsAct June 5, 1942, ch. 333, §§ 1, 2, 56 Stat. 310, authorized the Secretary of the Interior to adjust the boundaries of privately owned lands in the General Grant grove section of Kings Canyon National Park in accordance with a survey made by the county surveyor of Tulare County, California; to amend existing patents or relinquish or grant parcels of land therein according to said survey; and to pay from departmental appropriations expenses of surveys and investigations necessary to carry out provisions of this act.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 80a

Title 16, Conservation

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102