43 U.S.C. § 993 : US Code - Section 993: Sale of lands in Louisiana; preference rights; application for purchase; appraisal; payment for land

Search 43 U.S.C. § 993 : US Code - Section 993: Sale of lands in Louisiana; preference rights; application for purchase; appraisal; payment for land

The Secretary of the Interior, in his judgment and discretion, is
hereby authorized to sell, in the manner hereinafter provided, in
this section, any of those lands situated in the State of Louisiana
which were originally erroneously meandered and shown upon the
official plats as water-covered areas, and which are not lawfully
appropriated by a qualified settler or entryman claiming under the
public land laws.
Any citizen of the United States who, or whose ancestors in title
in good faith under color of title or claiming as a riparian owner,
prior to February 19, 1925, placed valuable improvements upon or
reduced to cultivation any of the lands subject to the operation of
this section, shall have a preferred right to file in the office of
the officer, as the Secretary of the Interior may designate, of the
United States land office of the district in which the lands are
situated, an application to purchase the lands thus improved by
them at any time within ninety days from February 19, 1925, if the
lands have been surveyed and plats filed in the United States land
office; otherwise within ninety days from official notice to such
claimant of the filing of such plats. Every such application must
be accompanied with satisfactory proof that the applicant is
entitled to such preference right and that the lands which he
applies to purchase are not in the legal possession of an adverse
claimant or in the actual possession of a person or persons who
have improved the property and who have attempted to enter same in
compliance with the laws and regulations of the United States land
office.
Upon the filing of an application to purchase any lands subject
to the operation of this section, together with the required proof,
the Secretary of the Interior shall cause the lands described in
said application to be appraised, said appraisal to be on the basis
of the value of such lands at the date of appraisal, exclusive of
any increased value resulting from the development or improvement
thereof for agricultural purposes by the applicant or his
predecessor in interest, but inclusive of the stumpage value of any
timber cut or removed by the applicant or his predecessor in
interest.
An applicant who applies to purchase lands under the provisions
of this section, in order to be entitled to receive a patent, must
within six months from receipt of notice of appraisal by the
Secretary of the Interior pay to the officer, as the Secretary of
the Interior may designate, of the United States land office of the
district in which the lands are situated, the appraised price of
the lands, and thereupon a patent shall issue to said applicant for
such lands as the Secretary of the Interior shall determine that
such applicant is entitled to purchase under this section. The
proceeds derived by the Government from the sale of the lands
hereunder shall be covered into the United States Treasury and
applied as provided by law for the disposal of the proceeds from
the sale of public lands.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe all
necessary rules and regulations for administering the provisions of
this section and determining conflicting claims arising hereunder.
All purchases made and patents issued under the provisions of
this section shall be subject to and contain a reservation to the
United States of all the coal, oil, gas, and other minerals in the
lands so purchased and patented, together with the right to
prospect for, mine, and remove the same.