43 U.S.C. § 315a — Protection, administration, regulation,

Page 55 TITLE 43—PUBLIC LANDS § 315b in section 475 of title 16, or such other purposes as Congress may specify. Before grazing dis- tricts are created in any State as herein pro- vided, a hearing shall be held in the State, after public notice thereof shall have been given, at such location convenient for the attendance of State officials, and the settlers, residents, and livestock owners of the vicinity, as may be de- termined by the Secretary of the Interior. No such district shall be established until the expi- ration of ninety days after such notice shall have been given, nor until twenty days after such hearing shall be held: Provided, however, That the publication of such notice shall have the effect of withdrawing all public lands within the exterior boundary of such proposed grazing districts from all forms of entry of settlement. Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed as in any way altering or restricting the right to hunt or fish within a grazing district in accord- ance with the laws of the United States or of any State, or as vesting in any permittee any right whatsoever to interfere with hunting or fishing within a grazing district. (June 28, 1934, ch. 865, § 1, 48 Stat. 1269; June 26, 1936, ch. 842, title I, § 1, 49 Stat. 1976; May 28, 1954, ch. 243, § 2, 68 Stat. 151.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Stock Raising Homestead Act, referred to in text, is act Dec. 29, 1916, ch. 9, 39 Stat. 862, which was classified generally to subchapter X (§ 291 et seq.) of chapter 7 of this title and was repealed by Pub. L. 94–579, title VII, §§ 702, 704(a), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2787, 2792, except for sections 9 and 11 which are classified to sections 299 and 301, respectively, of this title. For com- plete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 291 of this title and Ta- bles. Section 471 of title 16, referred to in text, was re- pealed by Pub. L. 94–579, title VII, § 704(a), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2792. AMENDMENTS 1954—Act May 28, 1954, struck out of first sentence provision limiting to one hundred and forty-two mil- lion acres the area which might be included in grazing districts. 1936—Act June 26, 1936, increased acreage which could be included in grazing districts from 80 million to 142 million acres. SHORT TITLE Act June 28, 1934, which enacted this subchapter, is popularly known as the ‘‘Taylor Grazing Act’’. § 315a. Protection, administration, regulation, and improvement of districts; rules and regu- lations; study of erosion and flood control; of- fenses The Secretary of the Interior shall make pro- vision for the protection, administration, regu- lation, and improvement of such grazing dis- tricts as may be created under the authority of section 315 of this title, and he shall make such rules and regulations and establish such service, enter into such cooperative agreements, and do any and all things necessary to accomplish the purposes of this subchapter and to insure the ob- jects of such grazing districts, namely, to regu- late their occupancy and use, to preserve the land and its resources from destruction or un- necessary injury, to provide for the orderly use, improvement, and development of the range; and the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to continue the study of erosion and flood con- trol and to perform such work as may be nec- essary amply to protect and rehabilitate the areas subject to the provisions of this sub- chapter, through such funds as may be made available for that purpose, and any willful viola- tion of the provisions of this subchapter or of such rules and regulations thereunder after ac- tual notice thereof shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $500. (June 28, 1934, ch. 865, § 2, 48 Stat. 1270.) § 315b. Grazing permits; fees; vested water rights; permits not to create right in land The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to issue or cause to be issued permits to graze live- stock on such grazing districts to such bona fide settlers, residents, and other stock owners as under his rules and regulations are entitled to participate in the use of the range, upon the payment annually of reasonable fees in each case to be fixed or determined from time to time in accordance with governing law. Grazing per- mits shall be issued only to citizens of the United States or to those who have filed the necessary declarations of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws, and to groups, associations, or corporations author- ized to conduct business under the laws of the State in which the grazing district is located. Preference shall be given in the issuance of graz- ing permits to those within or near a district who are landowners engaged in the livestock business, bona fide occupants or settlers, or owners of water or water rights, as may be nec- essary to permit the proper use of lands, water or water rights owned, occupied, or leased by them, except that until July 1, 1935, no pref- erence shall be given in the issuance of such per- mits to any such owner, occupant, or settler, whose rights were acquired between January 1, 1934, and December 31, 1934, both dates, inclu- sive, except that no permittee complying with the rules and regulations laid down by the Sec- retary of the Interior shall be denied the re- newal of such permit, if such denial will impair the value of the grazing unit of the permittee, when such unit is pledged as security for any bona fide loan. Such permits shall be for a pe- riod of not more than ten years, subject to the preference right of the permittees to renewal in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, who shall specify from time to time numbers of stock and seasons of use. During periods of range depletion due to severe drought or other natural causes, or in case of a general epidemic of disease, during the life of the permit, the Sec- retary of the Interior is authorized, in his dis- cretion to remit, reduce, refund in whole or in part, or authorize postponement of payment of grazing fees for such depletion period so long as the emergency exists: Provided further, That nothing in this subchapter shall be construed or administered in any way to diminish or impair any right to the possession and use of water for mining, agriculture, manufacture, or other pur-