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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 698. Big Thicket National Preserve
(a) Establishment
In order to assure the preservation, conservation, and protection
of the natural, scenic, and recreational values of a significant
portion of the Big Thicket area in the State of Texas and to
provide for the enhancement and public enjoyment thereof, the Big
Thicket National Preserve is hereby established.
(b) Location; boundaries; publication in Federal Register
The Big Thicket National Preserve (hereafter referred to as the
"preserve") shall include the units generally depicted on the map
entitled "Big Thicket National Preserve", dated October 1992, and
numbered 175-80008, which shall be on file and available for public
inspection in the offices of the National Park Service, Department
of the Interior, and the offices of the Superintendent of the
preserve. After advising the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the United States Senate and the Committee on Natural
Resources of the United States House of Representatives, in
writing, the Secretary of the Interior (hereafter referred to as
the "Secretary") may make minor revisions of the boundaries of the
preserve when necessary by publication of a revised drawing or
other boundary description in the Federal Register. The Secretary
shall, as soon as practicable, but no later than six months after
October 11, 1974, publish a detailed description of the boundaries
of the preserve in the Federal Register. In establishing such
boundaries, the Secretary shall locate stream corridor unit
boundaries referenced from the stream bank on each side thereof and
he shall further make every reasonable effort to exclude from the
units hereafter described any improved year-round residential
properties which he determines, in his discretion, are not
necessary for the protection of the values of the area or for its
proper administration. The preserve shall consist of the following
units:
Big Sandy Creek unit, Polk County, Texas, comprising
approximately fourteen thousand three hundred acres;
Menard Creek Corridor unit, Polk, Hardin, and Liberty Counties,
Texas, including a module at its confluence with the Trinity
River, comprising approximately three thousand three hundred and
fifty-nine acres;
Hickory Creek Savannah unit, Tyler County, Texas, comprising
approximately six hundred and sixty-eight acres;
Turkey Creek unit, Tyler and Hardin Counties, Texas, comprising
approximately seven thousand eight hundred acres;
Beech Creek unit, Tyler County, Texas, comprising approximately
four thousand eight hundred and fifty-six acres;
Upper Neches River corridor unit, Jasper, Tyler, and Hardin
Counties, Texas, including the Sally Withers Addition, comprising
approximately three thousand seven hundred and seventy-five
acres;
Neches Bottom and Jack Gore Baygall unit, Hardin and Jasper
Counties, Texas, comprising approximately thirteen thousand three
hundred acres;
Lower Neches River corridor unit, Hardin, Jasper, and Orange
Counties, Texas, except for a one-mile segment on the east side
of the river including the site of the papermill near Evandale,
comprising approximately two thousand six hundred acres;
Beaumont unit, Orange, Hardin, and Jefferson Counties, Texas,
comprising approximately six thousand two hundred and eighteen
acres;
Loblolly unit, Liberty County, Texas, comprising approximately
five hundred and fifty acres;
Little Pine Island-Pine Island Bayou corridor unit, Hardin and
Jefferson Counties, Texas, comprising approximately two thousand
one hundred acres;
Lance Rosier Unit, Hardin County, Texas, comprising
approximately twenty-five thousand and twenty-four acres;
Village Creek Corridor unit, Hardin County, Texas, comprising
approximately four thousand seven hundred and ninety-three acres;
Big Sandy Corridor unit, Hardin, Polk, and Tyler Counties,
Texas, comprising approximately four thousand four hundred and
ninety-seven acres; and
Canyonlands unit, Tyler County, Texas, comprising approximately
one thousand four hundred and seventy-six acres.
(c) Methods of acquisition of land
The Secretary is authorized to acquire by donation, purchase with
donated or appropriated funds, transfer from any other Federal
agency, or exchange, any lands, waters, or interests therein which
are located within the boundaries of the preserve: Provided, That
privately owned lands located within the Village Creek Corridor,
Big Sandy Corridor, and Canyonlands units may be acquired only with
the consent of the owner: Provided further, That the Secretary may
acquire lands owned by commercial timber companies only by donation
or exchange: Provided further, That any lands owned by the State of
Texas, or any political subdivisions thereof may be acquired by
donation only. The Secretary may also acquire, by any of the above
methods, approximately 15 acres of land outside of the boundaries
of the preserve in the vicinity of the intersection of United
States Highway 69 and State Farm-Market Road 420, in Hardin County,
Texas, for purposes of a visitor contact and administrative site.
After notifying the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of
the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives, in writing, of his intention to do so and of the
reasons therefor, the Secretary may, if he finds that such lands
would make a significant contribution to the purposes for which the
preserve was created, accept title to any lands, or interests in
lands, located outside of the boundaries of the preserve which the
State of Texas or its political subdivisions may acquire and offer
to donate to the United States or which any private person,
organization, or public or private corporation may offer to donate
to the United States and he may administer such lands as a part of
the preserve after publishing notice to that effect in the Federal
Register. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any federally
owned lands within the preserve shall, with the concurrence of the
head of the administering agency, be transferred to the
administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary for the purposes of
sections 698 to 698e of this title, without transfer of funds.
(d) Exchanges of land
Within sixty days after July 1, 1993, the Secretary and the
Secretary of Agriculture shall identify lands within their
jurisdiction located within the vicinity of the preserve which may
be suitable for exchange for commercial timber lands within the
preserve. In so doing, the Secretary of Agriculture shall seek to
identify for exchange National Forest lands that are near or
adjacent to private lands that are already owned by the commercial
timber companies. Such National Forest lands shall be located in
the Sabine National Forest in Sabine County, Texas, in the Davy
Crockett National Forest south of Texas State Highway 7, or in
other sites deemed mutually agreeable, and within reasonable
distance of the timber companies' existing mills. In exercising
this exchange authority, the Secretary and the Secretary of
Agriculture may utilize any authorities or procedures otherwise
available to them in connection with land exchanges, and which are
not inconsistent with the purposes of sections 698 to 698e of this
title. Land exchanges authorized pursuant to this subsection shall
be of equal value and shall be completed as soon as possible, but
no later than five years after July 1, 1993. The Secretary, in
considering the values of the private lands to be exchanged under
this subsection, shall consider independent appraisals submitted by
the owners of the private lands. The authority to exchange lands
under this subsection shall expire on July 1, 1998.
(e) Indian Springs Youth Camp
With respect to the thirty-seven-acre area owned by the
Louisiana-Pacific Corporation or its subsidiary, Kirby Forest
Industries, Inc., on Big Sandy Creek in Hardin County, Texas, and
now utilized as part of the Indian Springs Youth Camp (H.G. King
Abstract 822), the Secretary shall not acquire such area without
the consent of the owner so long as the area is used exclusively as
a youth camp.
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