§315 Grazing Districts; Establishment; Restrictions; Prior Rights; Rights-of-way; Hearing and Notice; Hunting or Fishing Rights

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior can set up or change grazing districts on public lands (except Alaska) that are empty, not claimed, and not already reserved. These lands must not be in national forests, national parks or monuments, Indian reservations, or certain revested railroad or wagon-road grant lands. Lands already set aside for other purposes can only be added with approval from the agency that controls them. Creating a district does not take away any valid legal rights people already have, does not change lands that would be part of state grants, and does not limit state powers. People who own land next to a grazing district can apply and must be allowed a right-of-way across the district to move their livestock to market or to other land they own or have grazing rights on. Before a grazing district is made in any state, public notice must be given and a hearing held in a place that is convenient for state officials, settlers, residents, and livestock owners. A district cannot be established until 90 days after the notice and at least 20 days after the hearing. Once the notice is published, the lands inside the proposed boundary are withdrawn from settlement. These rules do not stop Congress or the President from putting such lands into national forests, and they do not change hunting or fishing rights under federal or state law; permit holders cannot interfere with hunting or fishing.