PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

Owners of Indian land held in trust or under patents with limits on selling can sell timber if the Secretary of the Interior agrees. Money from the sale goes to the owner(s) or is used for their benefit after the Secretary deducts allowed administrative costs under section 413. Those deductions are allowed unless they would break a treaty or be an unconstitutional taking without just payment under the Fifth Amendment. Sales must focus on the needs and best interests of the owner and their heirs. The Secretary must weigh things like how the timber is growing and how to keep the land productive, the best use of the land, and the owner’s current and future money needs. If owners holding a majority of the Indian interest ask, the Secretary can sell all undivided Indian trust or restricted timber interests in part of the land. An owner of an undivided but unrestricted interest can ask to include their share, and the Secretary can handle sale duties, payments, and deductions for both restricted and unrestricted shares. The Secretary may sell without owner consent in emergencies to avoid loss from fire, insects, disease, windthrow, or other natural disasters. If an interest becomes unrestricted after a sale, existing sale contracts still apply. The Secretary can represent owners who are minors, legally incapable, have unsettled estate claims, or cannot be found after a proper search and notice.

Title 25, §406

Indians, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Deductions for administrative expenses; standards guiding sales

The timber on any Indian land held under a trust or other patent containing restrictions on alienations may be sold by the owner or owners with the consent of the Secretary of the Interior, and the proceeds from such sales, after deductions for administrative expenses to the extent permissible under section 413 of this title, shall be paid to the owner or owners or disposed of for their benefit under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. It is the intention of Congress that a deduction for administrative expenses may be made in any case unless the deduction would violate a treaty obligation or amount to a taking of private property for public use without just compensation in violation of the fifth amendment to the Constitution. Sales of timber under this subsection shall be based upon a consideration of the needs and best interests of the Indian owner and his heirs. The Secretary shall take into consideration, among other things, (1) the state of growth of the timber and the need for maintaining the productive capacity of the land for the benefit of the owner and his heirs, (2) the highest and best use of the land, including the advisability and practicality of devoting it to other uses for the benefit of the owner and his heirs, and (3) the present and future financial needs of the owner and his heirs.

(b)Undivided interests

Upon the request of the owners of a majority Indian interest in land in which any undivided interest is held under a trust or other patent containing restrictions on alienations, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to sell all undivided Indian trust or restricted interests in any part of the timber on such land.

(c)Unrestricted interests

Upon the request of the owner of an undivided but unrestricted interest in land in which there are trust or restricted Indian interests, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to include such unrestricted interest in a sale of the trust or restricted Indian interests in timber sold pursuant to this section, and to perform any functions required of him by the contract of sale for both the restricted and the unrestricted interests, including the collection and disbursement of payments for timber and the deduction from such payments of sums in lieu of administrative expenses.

(d)Representation of minors and others

For the purposes of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to represent any Indian owner (1) who is a minor, (2) who has been adjudicated non compos mentis, (3) whose ownership interest in a decedent’s estate has not been determined, or (4) who cannot be located by the Secretary after a reasonable and diligent search and the giving of notice by publication.

(e)Emergency sales

The timber on any Indian land held under a trust or other patent containing restrictions on alienations may be sold by the Secretary of the Interior without the consent of the owners when in his judgment such action is necessary to prevent loss of values resulting from fire, insects, disease, windthrow, or other natural catastrophes.

(f)Change in status without affecting contractual obligations

A change from a trust or restricted status to an unrestricted status of any interest in timber that has been sold pursuant to this section shall not affect the obligations of the Secretary of the Interior under any contract of sale that is in effect at the time such change in status occurs.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This Act, referred to in subsec. (d), is act

June 25, 1910, ch. 431, 36 Stat. 855, which enacted section 47, 93, 151, 202, 337, 344a, 351, 352, 353, 372, 403, 406, 407, and 408 of this title, section 6a–1 of former Title 41, Public Contracts, and section 148 of Title 43, Public Lands, and amended section 191, 312, 331, 333, and 336 of this title and section 104 and 107 of former Title 18, Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure. section 104 and 107 of former Title 18 were repealed and restated as section 1853 and 1856 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure, by act

June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 683. section 6a–1 of former Title 41 was repealed and restated as section 6102(e) of Title 41, Public Contracts, by Pub. L. 111–350, §§ 3, 7(b), Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3677, 3855. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.

Amendments

1964—Pub. L. 88–301 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), substituted “land” for “allotment”, “owner or owners” for “allottee” in two places, and “their benefit” for “his benefit”, and provided for deductions for administrative expenses from proceeds of sales without violation of treaty obligations or Constitutional compensation provision, for consideration of needs and best interests of owners and heirs, and for standards guiding sales, and added subsecs. (b) to (f).

§406 Sale of Timber on Lands Held Under Trust