Title 30, Mineral Lands and MiningRelease 119-102
§171 Disposal as Agricultural Lands
Title 30 › CHAPTER 3 — LANDS CONTAINING COAL, OIL, GAS, SALTS, ASPHALTIC MATERIALS, SODIUM, SULPHUR, AND BUILDING STONE › SUBCHAPTER IX — DISPOSAL OF ALABAMA LANDS AS AGRICULTURAL LANDS › § 171
Summary
Unless chapter 3A says otherwise, all public lands in Alabama, even those with minerals, must be used or sold only as farmland. Lands that were reported to the General Land Office before March 3, 1883, as having coal and iron must be offered for public sale first.
Full Legal Text
Title 30, §171
Mineral Lands and Mining, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Except as otherwise provided in chapter 3A of this title, all public lands within the State of Alabama, whether mineral or otherwise, shall be subject to disposal only as agricultural lands. All lands which had been reported to the General Land Office prior to March 3, 1883, as containing coal and iron shall first be offered at public sale.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification Section is from act Mar. 3, 1883, which contained an additional provision relating to pending homesteads, which was omitted because of its temporary nature.
Amendments
1920—The exception clause was inserted at beginning of this section because of act Feb. 25, 1920, which provided that deposits of coal, phosphate, sodium, oil, oil shale, or gas, and lands containing such deposits owned by the United States, shall be subject to disposition in the form and manner provided by such act.
Executive Documents
Transfer of Functions
General Land Office abolished and functions transferred to Bureau of Land Management by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100, and
Regulations
thereunder. See note set out under section 1 of Title 43, Public Lands.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
30 U.S.C. § 171
Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102