16 U.S.C. § 403 — Establishment; boundaries
submitted 100 years ago by ch. 363 to r/title-16-CONSERVATION · 219 words · no verdicts yet
This law creates two national parks, but only once the U.S. owns the land through donations, not purchases. A Blue Ridge tract in Virginia becomes Shenandoah National Park. A tract in North Carolina and Tennessee becomes Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
This section establishes two national parks, once the land for them is fully owned by the United States.
The first is a tract of about 521,000 acres in the Blue Ridge, in Virginia — described in the Secretary of the Interior's April 14, 1926 report. Once the U.S. accepts this land, or whatever part of it is accepted, it becomes Shenandoah National Park.
The second is a tract of about 704,000 acres in the Great Smoky Mountains, spanning North Carolina and Tennessee — also described in that same April 14, 1926 report. Once accepted, it becomes Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
There's an important limit on how the government gets this land: the United States cannot use public money — money appropriated by Congress — to buy any land in either area. Instead, the land must come from public or private donation only.
When title to lands within the areas hereinafter referred to shall have been vested in the United States in fee simple there are established, dedicated, and set apart as public parks for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, the tract of land in the Blue Ridge, in the State of Virginia, being approximately five hundred and twenty-one thousand acres recommended by the Secretary of the Interior in his report of April 14, 1926, which area, or any part or parts thereof as may be accepted on behalf of the United States in accordance with the provisions hereof, shall be known as the Shenandoah National Park; and the tract of land in the Great Smoky Mountains in the States of North Carolina and Tennessee being approximately seven hundred and four thousand acres, recommended by the Secretary of the Interior in his report of April 14, 1926, which area, or any part or parts thereof as may be accepted on behalf of the United States in accordance with the provisions hereof, shall be known as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Provided, That the United States shall not purchase by appropriation of public moneys any land within the aforesaid areas, but that such lands shall be secured by the United States only by public or private donation.
Source credit: (May 22, 1926, ch. 363, § 1, 44 Stat. 616.)
- 1926Enacted · Act of May 22, 1926, ch. 363 · 44 Stat. 616
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 363 on 1926-05-22.
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