16 U.S.C. § 479 (2024)

This is the official text of 16 U.S.C. § 479 (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.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Sites for schools and churches

Official statutory text

The settlers residing within the exterior boundaries of national forests, or in the vicinity thereof, may maintain schools and churches within such national forest, and for that purpose may occupy any part of the said national forest, not exceeding two acres for each schoolhouse and one acre for a church.

(June 4, 1897, ch. 2, §1, 30 Stat. 36.)

Editorial Notes

Codification

"National forests" substituted in text for "forest reservations", and "national forest" substituted for "reservation" and "forest reservation" on authority of act Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, 34 Stat. 1269, which provided that forest reserves shall hereafter be known as national forests.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in Federal (US Code)?

Find a Federal (US Code) lawyer

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.