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Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-06 10:51:44 -04:00

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LegalText 43 U.S.C. § 1068 Lands held in adverse possession; issuance of patent; reservation of minerals; conflicting claims us united_states_code code_section 43 PUBLIC LANDS 25A LANDS HELD UNDER COLOR OF TITLE 1068 43 U.S.C. § 1068 current 119-100 2026-06-26 official https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc43@119-100.zip /us/usc/t43/s1068 data/legal/raw/us/code/title-43/usc43.xml a23684d77720078cabcbcb647093da5dd6f92667487aa90f611ef0b3a7c7fefe d46a16361aa9d10bbc4b27ea0561882d240801c965a2700a4b7cf5f02f552a5f f26588e1b3754aa3465691b05e0477cdebda8d23f28d455cf62d76bc7a7cd887 2026-07-04 official
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43 U.S.C. § 1068 - Lands held in adverse possession; issuance of patent; reservation of minerals; conflicting claims

Text

The Secretary of the Interior (a) shall, whenever it shall be shown to his satisfaction that a tract of public land has been held in good faith and in peaceful, adverse, possession by a claimant, his ancestors or grantors, under claim or color of title for more than twenty years, and that valuable improvements have been placed on such land or some part thereof has been reduced to cultivation, or (b) may, in his discretion, whenever it shall be shown to his satisfaction that a tract of public land has been held in good faith and in peaceful, adverse, possession by a claimant, his ancestors or grantors, under claim or color of title for the period commencing not later than January 1, 1901, to the date of application during which time they have paid taxes levied on the land by State and local governmental units, issue a patent for not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres of such land upon the payment of not less than $1.25 per acre: Provided, That where the area so held is in excess of one hundred and sixty acres the Secretary may determine what particular subdivisions, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, may be patented hereunder: Provided further, That coal and all other minerals contained therein are reserved to the United States; that said coal and other minerals shall be subject to sale or disposal by the United States under applicable leasing and mineral land laws, and permittees, lessees, or grantees of the United States shall have the right to enter upon said lands for the purpose of prospecting for and mining such deposits: And provided further, That no patent shall issue under the provisions of this chapter for any tract to which there is a conflicting claim adverse to that of the applicant, unless and until such claim shall have been finally adjudicated in favor of such applicant.

(Dec. 22, 1928, ch. 47, § 1, 45 Stat. 1069; July 28, 1953, ch. 254, § 1, 67 Stat. 227.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments1953—Act July 28, 1953, provided for mandatory issuance of land patents to certain adverse possessors and broadened discretionary power of Secretary to issue patents to parties who have paid taxes on certain public lands since Jan. 1, 1901.