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Title 43 — Public LandsRelease 119-73not60

§339 Perfection of Title to Entry; Supplementary Provisions to Sections 335, 337, and 338

Title 43 › Chapter 9— DESERT-LAND ENTRIES › § 339

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior can let certain desert‑land claimants get clear title by paying small fees when they can’t get enough water. This applies to a lawful desert‑land entry made before July 1, 1925, by the original entryman or a valid assignee whose assignment was made before March 4, 1929, if the person has in good faith spent $3 per acre trying to reclaim the land and proves there is no reasonable chance to secure enough water. If allowed, the person gets 90 days from notice to pay 25 cents per acre to the U.S. land office and must file a written election to perfect title. Then, within one year from that filing, they must pay another 75 cents per acre to get a land patent. If the final payment is not made on time, the entry is canceled and all money already paid is forfeited.

Full Legal Text

Title 43, §339

Public Lands — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Where it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior with reference to any lawful pending desert-land entry made prior to July 1, 1925, under which the entryman or his duly qualified assignee under an assignment made prior to March 4, 1929, has in good faith expended the sum of $3 per acre in the attempt to effect reclamation of the land, that there is no reasonable prospect that he would be able to secure water sufficient to effect reclamation of the irrigable land in his entry or any legal subdivision thereof, the Secretary of the Interior may, in his discretion, allow such entryman or assignee ninety days from notice within which to pay to the officer designated by the Secretary of the Interior of the United States land office 25 cents an acre for the land embraced in the entry and to file an election to perfect title to the entry under the provisions of this section, and thereafter within one year from the date of filing of such election to pay to such officer the additional amount of 75 cents an acre, which shall entitle him to a patent for the land: Provided, That in case the final payment be not made within the time prescribed the entry shall be canceled and all money theretofore paid shall be forfeited.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions

For

Transfer of Functions

of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out under section 1451 of this title. “Officer designated by the Secretary of the Interior” and “such officer” substituted for “register” on authority of section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, which abolished all registers of district land offices and transferred functions of register of district land offices to Secretary of the Interior. See section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, set out as a note under section 1 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

43 U.S.C. § 339

Title 43 — Public Lands

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60