16 U.S.C. § 402 (2024)

This is the official text of 16 U.S.C. § 402 (2024), part of Federal (US Code)’s United States Code — the codified general and permanent federal statutes of the United States, organized into more than 50 numbered titles by subject.

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Existing claims, locations, or entries not affected; exchange of lands

Official statutory text

Nothing herein contained shall affect any valid claim, location, or entry existing under the land laws of the United States prior to June 7, 1924, whether for homestead, mineral, right-of-way, or any other purpose whatsoever, or shall affect the rights of any such claimant, locator, or entryman to the full use and enjoyment of his land. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to exchange, in his discretion, alienated lands in Bryce Canyon National Park for unappropriated and unreserved public lands of equal value and approximately equal area in the State of Utah outside of said park.

(June 7, 1924, ch. 305, §3, 43 Stat. 594; Feb. 25, 1928, ch. 102, §1, 45 Stat. 147.)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Herein, referred to in text, means act June 7, 1924, which is classified to sections 346, 401 and 402 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.

The land laws of the United States, referred to in text, are classified generally to Title 43, Public Lands.

Codification

The last sentence of this section as originally enacted is expressly applicable also to Zion National Park. See section 346 of this title.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

"Utah National Park" changed to "Bryce Canyon National Park" by section 1 of act Feb. 25, 1928, classified to section 402a of this title.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.