§315m Lease of Isolated or Disconnected Tracts for Grazing; Preferences

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior may lease isolated, unused public lands for grazing when they are not suitable to be part of a grazing district. The Secretary sets the lease terms. People who own, settled, lease, or lawfully occupy land next to such tracts get first chance to lease enough of the tract so they can properly use their land. If a tract is 760 acres or less, those neighboring people have the right to lease the whole tract for 90 days after it is offered, on the Secretary’s terms. When public land is returned to use after a withdrawal, the Secretary may give a similar priority for a grazing lease, license, or permit to those who used the land for grazing under the agency that had control before the return.