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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 718 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 718
To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
Agriculture from transferring certain Federal land, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 23, 2025
Mr. Zinke (for himself and Mr. Vasquez) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in
addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
Agriculture from transferring certain Federal land, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Public Lands in Public Hands Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the term ``publicly accessible tract'' means a tract
of Federal land managed by the Secretary of the Interior or the Chief
of the Forest Service that can be accessed by public road, public
trail, public waterway, public easement, or public right-of-way.
SEC. 3. RESTRICTION ON TRANSFER OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
Agriculture are prohibited from transferring title to Federal land to a
non-Federal entity, if the Federal land is--
(1) a publicly accessible tract; or
(2) contiguous with--
(A) a publicly accessible tract; or
(B) a tract of land that--
(i) is owned by a State, county, or
municipal government; and
(ii) can be accessed by public road, public
trail, public waterway, public easement, or
public right-of-way.
(b) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to a transfer--
(1) of Federal land that is--
(A)(i) less than 300 acres; or
(ii) less than 5 acres and accessible via a
public waterway; and
(B) authorized to be transferred under and subject
to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976;
(2) authorized by--
(A) the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act
of 1998;
(B) the Sisk Act (16 U.S.C. 479a);
(C) Public Law 85-569, commonly known as the
``Townsites Act of 1958'';
(D) the Small Tract Act of 1983;
(E) the Act of May 17, 1906, commonly known as the
``Native Allotment Act of 1906'';
(F) Public Law 85-508, commonly known as the
``Alaska Statehood Act of 1959'';
(G) the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act;
(H) the Alaska Native Vietnam-era Veterans Land
Allotment Program authorized by section 1119 of the
John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and
Recreation Act;
(I) the Recreation and Public Purposes Act; or
(J) the Weeks Act of 1911;
(3) explicitly authorized by Federal law; or
(4) completed through a land exchange authorized by Federal
law.
(c) Limitation.--The Secretary shall not subdivide Federal land to
meet acreage minimums described in subsection (b)(1).
SEC. 4. STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act shall be used to influence or interpret the
legality of stepping over a property corner from one parcel of public
land to another.
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