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Title 43, Public LandsRelease 119-102

§937 Filing Profile of Road; Forfeiture of Rights

Title 43 › CHAPTER 22 — RIGHTS-OF-WAY AND OTHER EASEMENTS IN PUBLIC LANDS › § 937

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Railroad companies that want the benefits of sections 934–939 must file a map and description of any 20-mile section with the land office officer the Secretary of the Interior names. If the land is already surveyed, they have 12 months after locating the section; if the land is unsurveyed, they have 12 months after the United States surveys it. If the Secretary approves the filing, the office will note it on the land plats, and the lands crossed by the right-of-way will be handled with that right attached. Any section not finished within five years after it was located loses these rights.

Full Legal Text

Title 43, §937

Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Any railroad company desiring to secure the benefits of sections 934 to 939 of this title, shall, within twelve months after the location of any section of twenty miles of its road, if the same be upon surveyed lands, and, if upon unsurveyed lands, within twelve months after the survey thereof by the United States, file with the officer, as the Secretary of the Interior may designate, of the land office for the district where such land is located a profile of its road; and upon approval thereof by the Secretary of the Interior the same shall be noted upon the plats in said office; and thereafter all such lands over which such right of way shall pass shall be disposed of subject to such right of way: Provided, That if any section of said road shall not be completed within five years after the location of said section, the rights herein granted shall be forfeited as to any such uncompleted section of said road.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Repeal;

Savings Provision

Section repealed by Pub. L. 94–579, title VII, § 706(a), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2793, effective on and after Oct. 21, 1976, insofar as applicable to the issuance of rights-of-way over, upon, under, and through the public lands and lands in the National Forest System. Such repeal not to be construed as terminating any valid lease, permit, patent, etc., existing on Oct. 21, 1976, see section 701 of Pub. L. 94–579, set out as a note under section 1701 of this title.

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, as the Secretary of the Interior may designate” 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 office 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. § 937

Title 43, Public Lands

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102