Title 43 — Public LandsRelease 119-73not60
§1061 Inclosure of or Assertion of Right to Public Lands Without Title
Title 43 › Chapter 25— UNLAWFUL INCLOSURES OR OCCUPANCY; OBSTRUCTING SETTLEMENT OR TRANSIT › § 1061
Summary
It makes it illegal to build, keep, or control fences or other enclosures on public land if the person or group has no valid legal title or no honest claim filed to get the land through the proper federal land office under federal land laws. Claiming exclusive use or occupation of public land is also forbidden on the same grounds. This applies in any State or Territory, for past or future actions.
Full Legal Text
Title 43, §1061
Public Lands — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
All inclosures of any public lands in any State or Territory of the United States, heretofore or to be hereafter made, erected, or constructed by any person, party, association, or corporation, to any of which land included within the inclosure the person, party, association, or corporation making or controlling the inclosure had no claim or color of title made or acquired in good faith, or an asserted right thereto by or under claim, made in good faith with a view to entry thereof at the proper land office under the general laws of the United States at the time any such inclosure was or shall be made, are declared to be unlawful, and the maintenance, erection, construction, or control of any such inclosure is forbidden and prohibited; and the assertion of a right to the exclusive use and occupancy of any part of the public lands of the United States in any State or any of the Territories of the United States, without claim, color of title, or asserted right as above specified as to inclosure, is likewise declared unlawful, and prohibited.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
43 U.S.C. § 1061
Title 43 — Public Lands
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60