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Title 43, Public LandsRelease 119-102

§863 Survey of Lands Granted to Certain Western States

Title 43 › CHAPTER 20 — RESERVATIONS AND GRANTS TO STATES FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES › § 863

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Governors of Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming may ask the Secretary of the Interior (or the person the Secretary names) to have any unsurveyed townships of public land surveyed so the States can get the land they were promised when admitted to the Union. When a governor applies, the Secretary or designee will order the survey and tell the person in charge to do it. Once the application for the survey is filed, the lands in that township are set aside from being claimed by settlers or others, except for any valid prior claims. The State then has 60 days after the survey map (township plat) is filed in the district land office to pick any of those unclaimed lands to satisfy its grant. The governor must publish notice within 30 days after the survey application is filed, and that notice must run for 30 days. Any lands not picked by the State after the 60 days, and not otherwise claimed, go back into the regular public-land process. The Secretary must also tell the local land office right away that the township is withdrawn or reserved.

Full Legal Text

Title 43, §863

Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

It shall be lawful for the Governors of the States of Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming to apply to the Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate for the survey of any township or townships of public land then remaining unsurveyed in any of the several surveying districts, with a view to satisfy the public land grants made by the several Acts admitting the said States into the Union to the extent of the full quantity of land called for thereby; and upon the application of said governors the Secretary or such officer shall proceed to immediately notify such officer as may be designated by the Secretary of the application made by the governor of any of the said States of the application made for the withdrawal of said lands, and the officer so designated shall proceed to have the survey or surveys so applied for made, as in the cases of surveys of public lands; and the lands that may be found to fall within the limits of such township or townships, as ascertained by the survey, shall be reserved upon the filing of the application for survey from any adverse appropriation by settlement or otherwise except under rights that may be found to exist of prior inception, for a period to extend from such application for survey until the expiration of sixty days from the date of the filing of the township plat of survey in the proper district land office, during which period of sixty days the State may select any of such lands not embraced in any valid adverse claim, for the satisfaction of such grants, with the condition, however, that the governor of the State, within thirty days from the date of such filing of the application for survey, shall cause a notice to be published, which publication shall be continued for thirty days from the first publication, in some newspaper of general circulation in the vicinity of the lands likely to be embraced in such township or townships, giving notice to all parties interested of the fact of such application for survey and the exclusive right of selection by the State for the aforesaid period of sixty days as herein provided for; and after the expiration of such period of sixty days any lands which may remain unselected by the State, and not otherwise appropriated according to law, shall be subject to disposal under general laws as other public lands: And provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate shall give notice immediately of the reservation of any township or townships to the local land office in which the land is situate of the withdrawal of such township or townships, for the purpose hereinbefore provided.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1934—Act June 26, 1934, repealed last proviso which authorized governors of States named to advance money for survey of certain townships.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Abolition of Office of Surveyor General and

Transfer of Functions

Act Mar. 3, 1925, abolished office of surveyor general and transferred administration of all activities in charge of surveyors general to Field Surveying Service under jurisdiction of United States Supervisor of Surveys.

Repeals

Act June 26, 1934, ch. 756, § 22, 48 Stat. 1236, cited as a credit to this section, was repealed by Pub. L. 97–258, § 5(b), Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 1074.

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. First and third references to “Commissioner of the General Land Office” changed to “Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate”; second such reference changed to “Secretary or such officer”; and the two references to “Supervisor of Surveys” changed to “such officer as may be designated by the Secretary” and “the officer so designated,” respectively, all on authority of section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946. See note set out under section 1 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

43 U.S.C. § 863

Title 43, Public Lands

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102