§993 Sale of Lands in Louisiana; Preference Rights; Application for Purchase; Appraisal; Payment for Land

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior can sell certain Louisiana lands that were mistakenly shown as water on official maps, as long as no qualified settler has a legal claim under the public land laws. A U.S. citizen who, or whose earlier owner in good faith under a paper title, or who owned land next to the water, before February 19, 1925 put improvements on or farmed the land gets first chance to buy. That person must apply at the United States land office the Secretary names within 90 days after February 19, 1925 if the land was already surveyed and plats filed, or within 90 days after they get official notice that plats were filed. The application must prove the right to the preference and show the land is not held by an adverse legal claimant or by someone who improved it and tried to enter it under land office rules. After a proper application, the Secretary will have the land appraised at its value on the appraisal date. The appraisal cannot count extra value from the applicant’s or predecessor’s farming improvements, but it does include the value of timber cut or removed by them. The applicant must pay the appraised price within six months after getting notice of the appraisal to the designated land office. Then an official title will be issued for the land the Secretary decides the applicant may buy. Sale money goes to the U.S. Treasury like other public land sales. The Secretary will make rules and settle disputes. All sales keep a reservation for the United States of all coal, oil, gas, and other minerals and the right to prospect for, mine, and remove them.