preference right for a grazing lease, license, or permit to users of the land for grazing purposes under authority of the agency which had jurisdiction over the lands immediately prior to the time of their restoration. 43 UNITED STATES CODE, 1946 EDITION, SECTION 315 (SEC. 1 OF THE ACT OF JUNE 28, 1934 (48 STAT. 1269), AS AMENDED BY THE ACT OF JUNE 26, 1936 (49 STAT. 1976)) In order to promote the highest use of the public lands pending its final disposal, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in his discretion, by order to establish grazing districts or additions thereto and/or to modify the boundaries thereof, [not exceeding in the aggregate an area of one hundred and forty-two million acres of vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved lands from any part of the public domain of the United States (exclusive of Alaska), which are not in national forests, national parks and monuments, Indian reservations, revested Oregon and California Railroad grant lands, or revested Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands, and which in his opinion are chiefly valuable for grazing and raising forage crops: ***. 83D CONGRESS 2d Session } SENATE { REPORT No. 1330 AMENDING THE ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE PURCHASE OF PUBLIC LANDS FOR HOME AND OTHER SITES," APPROVED JUNE 1, 1938 (52 STAT. 609), AS AMENDED MAY 13, 1954.-Ordered to be printed Mr. BUTLER of Nebraska, from the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 2512] The Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 2512) to amend the act entitled "An act to provide for the purchase of public lands for home and other sites," approved June 1, 1938 (52 Stat. 609), as amended, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments, and with the recommendation that the bill as amended do pass. The amendments approved by the committee are as follows: On page 3, line 21, strike out the period and in lieu thereof insert a colon and the following: Provided, however, That any conveyance by the Secretary to such employee shall contain a provision under which said tract shall revert to the United States if used, within twenty-five years after issuance of patent for such tract, for other than residential or recreation purposes. On page 4, line 4, insert before the period a comma and the following: except that (a) such lands shall be leased only for residential, recreational, or community site purposes and not for business purposes; and (b) no lease of such lands shall be made if such lease would interfere with the application of the sustained yield timber management requirement established with respect to such lands by the Act entitled "An Act relating to the revested Oregon and California Railroad and reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands situated in the State of Oregon", approved August 28, 1937 (50 Stat. 874). PURPOSE OF THE BILL H. R. 2512 would make certain amendments to the Small Tract Act of June 1, 1938, extending its application and facilitating its adminis tration. No expenditure of Federal funds is required. The bill extends the leasing provisions of the Small Tract Act to unsurveyed lands by authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to lease them for purposes within the scope of the act. It would also amend the Small Tract Act to add community site purposes to those for which sites may be leased or sold. The term "community site purposes' would include municipal uses as well as such common public uses as general meetings and educational, civic, and religious activities. Sales would be limited, however, to surveyed lands. The description of classifications for qualified purchasers or lessees is simplified in this proposed legislation. The present requirement that any purchaser or lessee must be 21 years of age would be removed. The bill also extends the Small Tract Act, for leasing only, to the revested_Oregon & California Railroad and reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands in Oregon that are under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. PURPOSE OF THE AMENDMENTS Your committee felt it advisable to make sure that this act does not open the door to any possible abuses by Federal employees in Alaska of their right to secure lands under this act. In Alaska it is essential to permit Government employees to secure title to small tracts of land from the Government, since there is very little land other than Federal land available for purchase. In fact such employees in Alaska already have that right under existing law. However, your committee felt this right should be clearly restricted to the purchase of lands for residential or recreational purposes. To that end an amendment is proposed, providing that use for any other purpose by a Federal employee shall cause the tract to revert to the United States. Your committee also felt it necessary to guard against any possible misuse of the authority granted herein to lease the revested Oregon & California Railroad and reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands in Oregon. For that reason the authority to lease such lands is hedged in with two limitations: That such leases shall not be for business purposes, and that such leases shall not be permitted to interfere with the application of sustained yield timber management. REPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENTS The favorable reports of the Bureau of the Budget and the Department of the Interior are hereinbelow set forth in full and made a part of this report. Hon. HUGH BUTLER, EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington 25, D. C., July 20, 1953. Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Washington 25, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your request for the views of this Office with respect to H. R. 2512, to amend the act entitled "An act to provide for the purchase of public lands for home and other sites," approved June 1, 1938 (52 Stat. 609), as amended, which was passed by the House of Representatives on May 19, 1953. The major changes which would be made in the Small Tract Act by H. R. 2512 are: (1) extend the leasing provision of the act to unsurveyed lands; however, sales would be limited to surveyed tracts; (2) add community site purposes to those other purposes such as recreation, residence, and business purposes for which these small tracts may be leased or sold; (3) authorize the lease or sale of small tracts to associations, corporations, States, municipalities, and other Government subdivisions as well as to individuals; (4) extend the authority to lease small tracts to the revested Oregon & California and reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands in Oregon; and (5) prohibit the lease or sale if such action would unreasonably interfere with the use of water for grazing purposes, or unduly impair the protection of watershed areas. This Office would have no objection to the enactment of this measure. Hon. HUGH BUTLER, ROWLAND HUGHES, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington 25, D. C., July 29, 1953. Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, MY DEAR SENATOR BUTLER: This is in reply to the request of your committee for a report on H. R. 2512, a bill to amend the act entitled "An act to provide for the purchase of public lands for home and other sites," approved June 1, 1938 (52 Ŝtat. 609), as amended, which passed the House of Representatives on May 19, 1953. I recommend that this bill be enacted. The 1938 act, as amended, known as the Small Tract Act, provides for the lease or sale of surveyed public lands in tracts of 5 acres or less for home, cabin, camp, health, convalescent, recreational, or business sites by natural persons who are heads of families or are over 21 years of age, and are citizens of the United States or have filed declarations of intention to become citizens. It does not permit such lease or sale to associations or corporations. H. R. 2512 would extend the leasing provisions of the Small Tract Act to unsurveyed lands by authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to lease them for purposes within the scope of the act. If H. R. 2512 is enacted, it is contemplated that the Secretary would, by regulation, require that applicants on unsurveyed lands file adequate descriptions of the land in the local land office and that lessees for such lands stake out their premises clearly with adequate markers and monuments. The sale of only surveyed lands, however, would be authorized under the bill. Upon the extension of the surveys to the leased unsurveyed areas, minor adjustments could be made when necessary, and the lessee if otherwise qualified would be able to acquire title to the land by purchase. H. R. 2512 would also amend the Small Tract Act to add community site purposes to those for which sites may be leased or sold. The term "community site purposes" would include municipal uses as well as such common public uses as general meetings and educational, civic, and religious activities. The number of classes of use for which the tracts may be leased or sold is reduced from the present unwieldy 7 to 4 primary categories, residence, recreation, business, and community sites. This classification is broad enough to encompass within their scope the other ueses enumerated in the existing act. The amendment would simplify the administration of the act and would provide greater flexibility in classification for lease or sale purposes. The proposed amendment would insert in the statute a new clause which allows the issuance of a lease or sale only if the Secretary finds that such lease or sale would not unreasonably interfere with the use of water for grazing purposes or would not unduly impair the protection of the watershed areas. Because of the existing limitations of the act, many civic and philanthropic associations and nonprofit corporations, as well as governmental units and corporations organized for profit, have been unable in the past to acquire tracts for purposes within the scope of the act, even though the use of the lands by such organizations would clearly further the public welfare and interest. The act would be amended, therefore, to extend its benefits to associations, corporations, both profit and nonprofit, States, Territories, municipalities, or other governmental subdivisions by making them eligible to lease or purchase for an appropriate purpose. A further liberalization of the act would eliminate the present statutory requirement that an individual lessee or purchaser be the head of a family or over 21 years of age. The present provision of the law which permits employees of the Department of the Interior stationed in Alaska to purchase or lease one tract in the Territory, except for business purposes, would be amended to provide that such lease or purchase could be made for residence or recreational purposes. This was the objective of the present proviso but, because of the complexity of the existing classification, the present language was used in the act. With the classifications simplified as proposed herein the restriction of such purchase or lease to residence or recreational purposes would be proper. The Small Tract Act is not presently applicable to the revested, Oregon & California Railroad and reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands in Oregon the administration of which under the act of August 28, 1937 (50 Stat. 874), has been placed under the Secretary of the Interior. The proposed amendment would extend to these lands the benefits of the Small Tract Act but only so far as leasing is concerned. The sale of small tracts in these reconveyed lands is undesirable because it would interfere with the maintenance of the timber culture and recreational facilities The phrase in the first section of the bill "or public lands withdrawn or reserved by the Secretary of the Interior for any purpose" is derived from the first paragraph of the Small Tract Act. It is not intended that the phrase shall include withdrawals made pursuant to the general delegation of authority to the Secretary made by the President's Executive Order No. 10355 of May 26, 1952 (17 F. R. 105). The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the submission of this report to your committee. Sincerely yours, ORME LEWIS, Assistant Secretary of the Interior. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW In compliance with subsection (4) of rule XXIX of the Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill (H. R. 2512), as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE PURCHASE OF PUBLIC LANDS FOR HOME AND OTHER SITES. APPROVED JUNE 1, 1938 (52 STAT. 609), AS AMENDED BY THE ACT APPROVED JULY 14, 1945 (59 STAT. 467; 43 U. S. C., SEC. 682a) That the Secretary of the Interior, in his discretion, is authorized to sell or lease to any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who has filed his declaration of intention to become such a citizen, as required by the naturalization laws] or organization described in section 3 of this Act a tract of not exceeding five acres of any vacant, unreserved [surveyed] public [land,] lands [or surveyed public land withdrawn or reserved by the Secretary of the Interior for any other purposes, or surveyed], public lands withdrawn by Executive Orders Numbered 6910 of November 26, 1934, and 6964 of February 5, 1935, for classification, or public lands withdrawn or reserved by the Secretary of the Interior for any purposes, which the Secretary may classify as chiefly valuable [as a home, cabin, camp, health, convalescent, recreational, or business site] for residence, recreation, business, or community site purposes, if he finds that such sale or lease of the lands would not unreasonably interfere with the use of water for grazing purposes nor unduly impair the protection of watershed areas, in reasonably compact form and under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, at a price to be determined by him, for such use: Provided, That no [tract shall] land may be sold [for less than the cost of making any survey necessary to properly describe the land sold; that no] hereunder unless it has been surveyed. No person or organization shall be permitted to purchase or lease more than one tract under the provisions of this Act, except upon a showing of good faith and reasons satisfactory to the Secretary. [, and that patents] SEC. 2. No tract shall be sold for less than the cost of making any survey necessary to describe properly the land sold. Patents for all tracts purchased under the |