Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 48 Part 1.djvu/1298

 1272 73d C ONGRESS. SESS. II. CH. 865. JUNE 28, 1934 . Rights-of-way within grazing districts not restricted. Prospecting, etc ., minerals. Lands more suitable for agriculture within districts to be classified. Prior settlement for bidden. Proviso. Areas open in tracts exceeding 320 acres. Exchange with pri-vate ownership in pub- l i c i n t e r e s t , a l l o w e d. Provisos . Notice of c ontem- plated exchange to be given. Lands conve yed to United State s to be- come public lands . Easements may be reserved by either par- ty . Conditions imposed. Miner may occupy surface required. SEC. 6. Nothing herein contained shall restrict the acquisition, granting or use of permits or rights-of-way within grazing dis- tricts under existing law ; or ingress or egress over the public lands in such districts for all proper and lawful purposes ; and nothing herein contained shall restrict prospecting, locating, developing, mining, entering, leasing, or patenting the mineral resources of such districts under law applicable thereto. SEC. 7 . That the Secretary is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to examine and classify any lands within such grazing districts which are more valuable and suitable for the production of agricul- tural crops than native grasses and forage plants, and to open such lands to homestead entry in tracts not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres in area. Such lands shall not be subject to settlement or occupation as homesteads until after same have been classified and opened to entry after notice to the permittee by the Secretary of the Interior, and the lands shall remain a part of the grazing dis- trict until patents are issued therefor, the homesteader to be, after his entry is allowed, entitled to the possession and use thereof : Pro- vided, That upon the application of any person qualified to make homestead entry under the public-land laws, filed in the land office of the proper district, the Secretary of the Interior shall cause any tract not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres in any grazing district to be classified, and such application shall entitle the appli- cant to a preference right to enter such lands when opened to entry as herein provided. SEC. 8 . That where such action will promote the purposes of the district or facilitate its administration, the. Secretary is authorized and directed to accept on behalf of the United States any lands within the exterior boundaries of a district as a gift, or, when public interests will be benefited thereby, he is authorized and directed to accept on behalf of the United States title to any privately owned lands within the exterior boundaries of said grazing district, and in exchange therefor to issue patent for not to exceed an equal value of surveyed grazing district land or of unreserved surveyed public land in the same State or within a distance of not more than fifty miles within the adjoining State nearest the base lands : Provided, That before any such exchange shall be effected, notice of the contem- plated exchange, describing the lands involved, shall be published by the Secretary of the Interior once each week for four successive weeks in some newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties in which may be situated the lands to be accepted, and in the same man ner in some l ike newspaper published in any county in which may be situated any lands to be given in such exchange ; lands conveyed to the United States under this Act shall, upon acceptance of title, become public lands and parts of the grazing district within whose exterior boundaries they are located : Provided further, That either party to an exchange may make reservations of minerals, easements, or rights of use, the values of which shall be duly cons idered in dete rmining the v alues of the exchanged land s. Where reservations are made in lands conveyed to the United States, the right to enjoy them shall be subject to such reasonable condi- tions respecting ingress and egress and the use of the surface of the land as may be deemed nec essary by the Secretary of the Interior. Where mineral reservations are made in lands conveyed by the United States, it shall be so stipulated in the patent, and any person who acquires the right to mine and remove the reserved mineral deposits may enter and occupy so much of the surface as may be required for all purposes incident to the mining and removal of the minerals therefrom, and may mine and remove such minerals, upon