CROSS REFERENCE

Enumeration of forest experiment stations authorized, see section 581a of this title.

§ 562b. Forest experiment station in Pennsylvania. In order to determine and demonstrate the best methods for the growing, management, and protection of timber crops on forest lands and farm wood lots, the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized and directed to establish and maintain a forest experiment station at such place or places as may be determined as most suitable by him, in cooperation with the State of Pennsylvania and with the neighboring States, and to conduct such silvicultural and other forest experiments and investigations as may be necessary, either independently or in cooperation with other organizations, institutions, or individuals, and to carry out the purposes of this section an appropriation in the amount of $30,000 is hereby authorized. (July 3, 1926, ch. 770, 44 Stat. 840.)

CROSS REFERENCE

Enumeration of forest experiment stations authorized, see section 581a of this title.

§ 563. Cooperation with States for fire protection on private or State forest lands upon the watersheds of navigable rivers.— The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, and on such conditions as he deems wise, to stipulate and agree with any State or group of States to cooperate in the organization and maintenance of a system of fire protection on any private or State forest lands within such State or States and situated upon the watershed of a navigable river. No such stipulation or agreement shall be made with any State which has not provided by law for a system of forest-fire protection. In no case shall the amount expended in any State exceed in any fiscal year the amount appropriated by that State for the same purpose during the same fiscal year. (Mar. 1, 1911, ch. 186, § 2, 36 Stat. 961.)

§ 564. Cooperation by Secretary of Agriculture with State officials as to recommendations of systems of forest fire prevention and suppression. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed in cooperation with appropriate officials of the various States or other suitable agencies, to recommend for each forest region of the United States such systems of forest-fire prevention and suppression as will adequately protect the timbered and cutover lands therein with a view to the protection of forest and water resources and the continuous production of timber on lands chiefly suitable therefor. (June 7, 1924, ch. 348, § 1, 43 Stat. 653.) § 565. Cooperation by Secretary of Agriculture with State officials in protection of timbered and forest-producing lands from fire; limitation on amount of expenditures by United States.-If the Secretary of Agriculture shall find that the system and practice of forest-fire prevention and suppression provided by any State substantially promotes the objects described in section 564 of this title, he is hereby authorized and directed, under such conditions as he may determine to be fair and equitable in each State, to cooperate with appropriate officials of each State, and through them with private and other agencies therein, in the protection of

timbered and forest-producing lands from fire. In no case other than for preliminary investigation shall the amount expended by the Federal Government in any State during any fiscal year, under this section, exceed the amount expended by the State for the same purpose during the same fiscal year, including the expenditures of forest owners or operators which are required by State law or which are made in pursuance of the forest-protection system of the State under State supervision, and the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to make expenditures on the certificate of the State forester, the State director of extension, or similar State official having charge of the cooperative work for the State, that State and private expenditures as provided for in this section have been made. In the cooperation extended to the several States due consideration shall be given to the protection of watersheds of navigable streams, but such cooperation may, in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, be extended to any timbered or forest-producing lands or watersheds from which water is secured for domestic use or irrigation within the cooperative States. Provided, That for each fiscal year during the existing emergency the Secretary of Agriculture may authorize expenditures not to exceed $1,000,000 from appropriations made pursuant to sections 471, 515, 564, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, and 570 of this title for preventing and suppressing forest fires on critical areas of national · importance without requiring an equal expenditure by the State and private owners. (June 7, 1924, ch. 348, § 2, 43 Stat. 653; Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 447, 43 Stat. 1127; Apr. 13, 1926, ch. 119, 44 Stat. 242; Sept. 21, 1944, ch. 412, title II, § 207, 58 Stat. 736.)

CODIFICATION

This section was amended by the Department of Agriculture Organic Act of 1944.

§ 565a. Cooperation by Secretary of Agriculture with Territories. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to cooperate with the Territories of the United States on the same terms and conditions as with States under sections 564 and 565 of this title. (Feb. 20, 1931, ch. 249, 46 Stat. 1200.)

§ 566. Expenditure by Secretary of Agriculture for study of effects of tax laws, and so forth, upon forest perpetuation, and so forth; appropriation.-The Secretary of Agriculture shall expend such portions of the appropriations authorized herein as he deems advisable to study the effects of tax laws, methods, and practices upon forest perpetuation, to cooperate with appropriate officials of the various States or other suitable agencies in such investigations and in devising tax laws designed to encourage the conservation and growing of timber, and to investigate and promote practical methods of insuring standing timber on growing forests from losses by fire. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated annually, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, not more than $9,000,000 to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out the provisions of this section and sections 564 and 565 of this title: Provided, That the appropriation under this authorization shall not exceed $6,300,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1945, $7,300,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30,

1946, and $8,300,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1947. (June 7, 1924, ch. 348, § 3, 43 Stat. 653; May 5, 1944, ch. 189, 58 Stat. 216.)

§ 567. Cooperation by Secretary of Agriculture with States in procuring, and so forth, forest-tree seeds and plants; limitation on expenditure; appropriation. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed to cooperate with the various States in the procurement, production, and distribution of forest-tree seeds and plants, for the purpose of establishing wind-breaks, shelter belts, and farm wood lots upon denuded or nonforested lands within such cooperating States, under such conditions and requirements as he may prescribe to the end that forest-tree seeds or plants so procured, produced, or distributed shall be used effectively for planting denuded or nonforested lands in the cooperating States and growing timber thereon. The amount expended by the Federal Government in cooperation with any State during any fiscal year for such purposes shall not exceed the amount expended by the State for the same purposes during the same fiscal year. There is authorized to be appropriated annually, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, not more than $100,000, to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out the provisions of this section. (June 7, 1924, ch. 348, § 4, 43 Stat. 654.) CONTRIBUTIONS BY STATES, ETC.

Section 208 of act Sept. 21, 1944, ch. 412, title II, 58 Stat. 736 provided: "No part of any appropriation which is available for carrying out the Cooperative Farm Forestry Act (16 U. S. C. 568b) and sections 4 and 5 of the Clarke-McNary Act (16 U. S. C. 567, 568) shall be expended in any State or Territory unless the State or Territory, or local subdivision thereof, or individuals, or associations contribute a sum equal to that to be allotted therefrom by the Government or make contributions other than money deemed by the Secretary to be the value equivalent thereof."

APPROPRIATIONS AVAILABLE FOR 3 YEARS

Section 209 of act Sept. 21, 1944, ch. 412, title II, 58 Stat. 737 provided: "Appropriations for carrying out the Cooperative Farm Forestry Act (16 U. S. C. 568b) and sections 4 and 5 of the Clarke-McNary Act (16 U. S. C. 567-568) and Acts supplementary thereto allocated for the production or procurement of nursery stock by any Federal agency, or funds appropriated to any Federal agency for allocation to cooperating States for the production or procurement of nursery stock, shall remain available for expenditure for not more than three fiscal years."

§ 567a. Cooperation by Secretary of Agriculture with States in acquisition and administration of State forests. For the purpose of stimulating the acquisition, development, and proper administration and management of State forests and of insuring coordinated effort by Federal and State agencies in carrying out a comprehensive national program of forest-land management, the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized to enter into cooperative agreements with appropriate officials of any State or States for acquiring in the name of the United States, by purchase or otherwise, such forest lands within the cooperating State as in his judgment the State is adequately prepared to administer, develop, and manage as State forests in accordance with the provisions of this section and section 567b of this title and with such other terms not inconsistent therewith as he shall prescribe, such ac

quisition to include the mapping, examination, appraisal, and surveying of such lands and the doing of all things necessary to perfect title thereto in the United States: Provided, That, since it is the declared policy of Congress to maintain and, where it is in the national interest to extend the national-forest system, nothing herein shall be construed to modify, limit, or change in any manner whatsoever the future ownership and administration by the United States of existing national forests and related facilities, or hereafter to restrict or prevent their extension through the acquisition by purchase or otherwise of additional lands for any national-forest purpose: Provided further, That this section and section 567b of this title shall not be construed to limit or repeal any legislation authorizing land exchanges by the Federal Government, and private lands acquired by exchange within the limits of any area subject to a cooperative agreement of the character herein authorized shall hereafter be subject to the provisions of this section and section 567b of this title. (Aug. 29, 1935, ch. 808, § 1, 49 Stat. 963.)

§ 567b. Conditions and requirements for cooperation in acquisition and management of State forests.-No cooperative agreement shall be entered into or continued in force under the authority of section 567a of this title or any land acquired under sections 567a-567c of this title turned over to the cooperating State for administration, development, and management unless the State concerned, as a consideration for the benefits extended to it thereunder, complies in a manner satisfactory to the Secretary of Agriculture with the following conditions and requirements which shall constitute a part of every such agreement:

(a) In order to reduce the need for public expenditures in the acquisition of lands which may be brought into public ownership through the enforcement of appropriate tax delinquency laws, and, by bringing about the handling of such lands upon a sound social and economic basis, to terminate a system of indeterminate and unsound ownership injurious to the private and public interest alike, no additional lands shall be acquired within any State by the United States under section 567a of this title after June 30, 1942, unless the State concerned has prior thereto provided by law for the reversion of title to the State or a political unit thereof of tax-delinquent lands and for blocking into State or other public forests the areas which are more suitable for public than private ownership, and which in the public interest should be devoted primarily to the production of timber crops and/or the maintenance of forests for watershed protection, and for the enforcement of such law: Provided, That in the administration of this section and sections 567a and 567c of this title prior to June 30, 1942, preference will be given to States applying for cooperation hereunder which provide by law for such reversion of title under tax delinquency laws.

(b) In order to insure a stable and efficient organization for the development and administration of the lands acquired under this section and sections 567a and 567c of this title, the State shall provide for the employment of a State forester, who shall be a trained forester of recognized standing.

(c) The Secretary of Agriculture and the appropriate authorities of each cooperating State shall work out a mutually satisfactory plan defining forest areas within the State which can be most effectively and economically administered by said State, which plan shall constitute a part of the cooperative agreement between the United States and the State concerned: Provided, That nothing herein shall be held to prevent the Secretary of Agriculture from later agreeing with the proper State authorities to desirable modifications in such plan.

(d) No payment of Federal funds shall be made for land selected for purchase by the United States under this section and sections 567a and 567c of this title until such proposed purchase has been submitted to and approved by the National Forest Reservation Commission created by section 513 of this title.

(e) Subject to the approval of the National Forest Reservation Commission, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to pay out of any available money appropriated for carrying out the purposes of this section and sections 567a and 567c of this title any State, county, and/or town taxes, exclusive of penalties, due or accrued on any forest lands acquired by the United States under donations from the owners thereof and which lands are to be included in a State or other public forest pursuant to this section and sections 567a and 567c of this title.

(f) The State shall prepare such standards of forest administration, development, and management as are necessary to insure maximum feasible utility for timber production and watershed protection, and are acceptable to the Secretary of Agriculture and shall apply the same to lands acquired and placed under the jurisdiction of the State pursuant to this section and sections 567a and 567c of this title.

(g) That with the exception of such Federal expenditures as may be made for unemployment relief, the State shall pay without assistance from the Federal Government the entire future cost of administering, developing, and managing all forest lands acquired and over which it has been given jurisdiction under this section and sections 567a and 567¢ of this title.

(h) During the period any cooperative agreement made under this section and sections 567a and 567c of this title remains in force, one-half of the gross proceeds from all lands covered by said agreement and to which the United States holds title shall be paid by the State to the United States and covered into the Treasury. All such payments shall be credited to the purchase price the State is to pay the United States for said land, such purchase price to be an amount equal to the total sum expended by the United States in acquiring said lands. Upon payments of the full purchase price, either as herein provided or otherwise, title to said lands shall be transferred from the Federal Government to the State, and the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to take such action and incur such expenditures, as may be necessary to effectuate such transfer.

(i) Upon the request of the State concerned, any agreement made pursuant to this section and section 567a of this title may be terminated by the Secretary of Agriculture. The Secretary