16 U.S.C. § 441a — Boundaries

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in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

This law spells out the exact boundary of Badlands National Park. It traces a long, winding line using compass directions between section corners in South Dakota. The line starts and ends at the same point, near the Black Hills meridian.

This section legally defines the outer boundary of Badlands National Park. The boundary is described as a survey line — a "metes and bounds" description — that starts at a specific point (the northeast corner of section 13, township 3 south, range 18 east, Black Hills meridian, in South Dakota) and then runs through a long series of short segments, each one heading in a compass direction (north, south, east, or west) for a set distance, usually a quarter mile, half mile, three-quarters of a mile, or a mile at a time. The line zigzags through many townships and ranges in this part of South Dakota, passing section corners as it goes — for example, it touches the northwest corner of section 18 in township 3 south, range 18 east; the northeast corner of section 2 in township 3 south, range 16 east; the northeast corner of section 13 in township 2 south, range 14 east; and many other section corners, before finally returning to the exact point where it started. Because this is a precise legal survey description made up of well over a hundred individual direction-and-distance calls, this translation summarizes its overall structure rather than repeating every single segment. For the exact line-by-line boundary, the official statutory text is the authoritative source, and anyone needing the precise legal boundary should read it directly rather than rely on a summary. In substance, though, this section's only legal effect is to fix where Badlands National Park's boundary lines run — it doesn't create any rights, restrictions, or programs beyond marking out the park's outer edge.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

The areas to be included in said Badlands National Park are situated in the State of South Dakota and lie within the boundaries particularly described as follows: Beginning at the northeast corner section 13, township 3 south, range 18 east, Black Hills meridian; thence west one-fourth mile; thence south one mile; thence west one-fourth mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence west one mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence west one-fourth mile; thence north one mile; thence west one and one-fourth miles; thence north one-half mile; thence west three miles, to the northwest corner section 18, township 3 south, range 18 east, Black Hills meridian.

Thence north one-fourth mile; thence west one-half mile; thence north one-fourth mile; thence west three-fourths mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence west one-fourth mile; thence north one-fourth mile; thence west one-fourth mile; thence north one-fourth mile; thence west three-fourths mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence west one-half mile; thence south one-half mile; thence west one mile; thence north one-fourth mile; thence west one-fourth mile; thence north one-fourth mile; thence west one and one-fourth miles; thence north one-fourth mile; thence west one-fourth mile; thence north three-fourths mile; thence west one and one-fourth miles; thence north one-half mile, to the northeast corner section 2, township 3 south, range 16 east, Black Hills meridian.

Thence west one-half mile; thence north one mile; thence west one-fourth mile; thence north one-half mile; thence west three-fourths mile; thence north one-half mile; thence west one-half mile; thence north two miles; thence west eight miles; thence south one-half mile; thence west one mile; thence north one-half mile, to the northeast corner section 13, township 2 south, range 14 east, Black Hills meridian.

Thence west one mile; thence south one mile; thence east one-half mile; thence south one-half mile; thence west one-half mile; thence south two and one-half miles; thence east one and one-fourth miles; thence south one mile; thence east three-fourths mile, to the northeast corner section 7, township 3 south, range 15 east, Black Hills meridian.

Thence south one-fourth mile; thence east one-fourth mile; thence south one-half mile; thence west one-fourth mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence west one mile; thence south one and three-fourths miles; thence east one mile; thence north three-fourths mile; thence east two miles; thence north one-half mile; thence east three-fourths mile; thence north one-fourth mile; thence east one-half mile; thence north three-fourths mile; thence west one-fourth mile; thence north three-fourths mile; thence west one-fourth mile; thence north one-fourth mile; thence west one-fourth mile; thence north one-fourth mile; thence east one-fourth mile; thence north one-half mile; thence east one mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence east one and three-fourths miles; thence north one-half mile; thence west one-half mile; thence north one-half mile, to the northwest corner section 31, township 2 south, range 16 east, Black Hills meridian.

Thence east one-half mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence east one mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence east one and three-fourths miles; thence south three-fourths mile; thence east three-fourths mile; thence south three-fourths mile; thence east one-half mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence east one-fourth mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence east one-fourth mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence east one-fourth mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence east one-fourth mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence east one-half mile; thence south one and one-fourth miles; thence east three-fourths mile; thence north one-half mile; thence east one-fourth mile, to the northeast corner section 19, township 3 south, range 17 east, Black Hills meridian.

Thence north one-half mile; thence east three-fourths mile; thence south two miles; thence east one and one-half miles; thence north one and one-half miles; thence east two miles; thence south one-fourth mile; thence east one-fourth mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence east one-half mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence east one-half mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence east one-half mile, to the northeast corner section 30, township 3 south, range 18 east, Black Hills meridian.

Thence south three-fourths mile; thence east one-fourth mile; thence south one-fourth mile; thence east one-half mile; thence north one-fourth mile; thence east one and one-fourth miles; thence south one-fourth mile; thence east three miles, to the northeast corner of section 36, township 3 south, range 18 east, Black Hills meridian.

Thence north one mile; thence east one mile; thence north one-half mile; thence west one-fourth mile; thence north one-fourth mile; thence west one-fourth mile; thence north one and one-fourth miles; thence west one-half mile to the point of beginning.

Source credit: (Mar. 4, 1929, ch. 693, § 2, 45 Stat. 1554; Pub. L. 95–625, title VI, § 611, Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3521.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1929Enacted · Act of Mar. 4, 1929, ch. 693 · 45 Stat. 1554
1978Amended · Pub. L. 95-625 · 92 Stat. 3521

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 693 on 1929-03-04.

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