16 U.S.C. § 402 — Existing claims, locations, or entries not affected; exchange of lands

This section has two parts. First, it protects land rights that already existed before June 7, 1924, under the country's land laws — whether for a homestead, mining, a right-of-way, or any other purpose. Nothing in the creation of this park changes those existing claims, locations, or entries. Anyone who validly claimed, located, or entered land before that date keeps the full right to use and enjoy it. Second, it gives the Secretary of the Interior power to trade land. The Secretary may exchange land inside Bryce Canyon National Park that has passed into private hands for public land outside the park in Utah. The land given up by the government must be roughly equal in value and in size to the land it receives back. The Secretary decides when and how to make these trades.