Title 43—Public Lands: Interior--Volume 1
PART 4600—LEASES OF GRAZING LAND—PIERCE ACT
§ 4600.0-2   Objectives.
When it is determined by the authorized officer that any State, county, or privately owned lands located within grazing districts are chiefly valuable for grazing, and are necessary to promote the orderly use, improvement, and development of grazing districts, steps should be taken to secure offers of leases of such lands from the owners thereof.
§ 4600.0-3   Authority.
(a) The Act of June 23, 1938. The Act of June 23, 1938 (52 Stat. 1033; 43 U.S.C. 315m-1, 315m-4 inclusive), known as the Pierce Act, authorizes the Secretary of the Interior in his discretion to lease, at rates to be determined by him, any State, county, or privately owned lands chiefly valuable for grazing purposes and lying within the exterior boundaries of grazing districts created under the Taylor Grazing Act of June 28, 1934 (48 Stat. 1269, as amended; 43 U.S.C. 315 et seq. ) when in his judgment, the leasing of such lands will promote the orderly use of the district and aid in conserving the forage resources of the public lands therein, and the authorized officer of the Bureau of Land Management may approve leases under the Pierce Act on behalf of the United States in accordance with this part. Leases so approved need not be submitted for Secretarial approval.
§ 4610.1   Evidence of ownership.
Parties offering to lease lands to the United States under the provisions of this Act will be required to furnish evidence of ownership as follows:
§ 4610.1-1   Certificate of ownership for State or county lands.
Where State and county lands are offered for lease, a certificate from the proper State or county official will be required showing that title to the lands is in the State or county and that the officer or agency of the State or county offering them for lease is empowered by the laws of such State to lease such lands.
§ 4610.1-2   Certificate of ownership for private lands.
Where privately owned lands are offered for lease, the party offering them will be required to file with the local office of the Bureau of Land Management certificates from either the proper county officials, a licensed abstracter, or an administrative officer of the Bureau of Land Management whichever is required by an authorized officer, certifying that the records of the county in which the lands are situated show that the party offering the lands for lease is the record owner thereof or in legal control of such lands under appropriate recorded lease permitting the subleasing of the property, and including an itemized statement showing the nature and extent of any liens, tax assessments, mortgages, or other encumbrances.
§ 4610.2   Leases.
§ 4610.2-1   Form of lease.
Leases under the Pierce Act should conform in general to a form approved by the Director. This form is believed adaptable for use in all of the States within which grazing districts have been established under the Taylor Grazing Act. Leases under the Pierce Act must be executed by the lessor in the manner prescribed by the laws of the State within which the lands leased are situated.
§ 4610.2-2   Period of lease.
Leases may be made for such periods as are deemed proper by an authorized officer in promoting a proper land-use program in connection with the public range, not to exceed, however, the 10-year period as limited by the Pierce Act, beginning with the date of the approval of such lease.
§ 4610.2-3   Approval of lease; renewal.
Local negotiations for leasing of lands under this act will not be effective until the lease and any renewal thereof has been approved by an authorized officer of the Bureau of Land Management. Upon such approval the lease should be recorded in the land records of the county in which the land is situated.
§ 4610.3   Payment of rental.
The carrying capacity of the lands will be taken into consideration in negotiating the rental to be paid. Payment of rentals will be made annually by the United States at the end of the period for which licenses or permits to graze on the lands involved have been granted, or as soon thereafter as the moneys collected by the United States from its licensees or permittees for the use of such lands have been appropriated by the Congress in accordance with the provisions of the Pierce Act, and made available for such purpose, or moneys for the payment of such rentals have been made available through contributions under section 9 of the Taylor Grazing Act (48 Stat. 1273; 43 U.S.C. 315h).
§ 4610.4   Fees.
§ 4610.4-1   Computation of fees.
The aggregate of the grazing fees collected for the use of the lands leased under the provisions of the Pierce Act must be sufficient to insure a return to the United States of an amount equal to the aggregate of the rentals paid for such lands and the aggregate of the grazing fees collected for the use of all the lands leased in any one State must be at least equal to the aggregate of the rentals paid in that State.
§ 4610.4-2   Disposition of receipts.
All moneys received in the administration of lands leased under the Pierce Act will be deposited in the Treasury of the United States as provided in section 4 of that Act and will be available when appropriated by the Congress for the leasing of lands. Distribution of such receipts, therefore, will not be made as provided in sections 10 and 11 of the Taylor Grazing Act (48 Stat. 1273; 43 U.S.C. 315i, 315j).
§ 4610.4-3   Allocation of funds appropriated.
Moneys received in the administration of lands leased under the Pierce Act, when appropriated by the Congress, will be allocated to the budgets of the State Director for disbursement in accordance with that Act and the regulations in this part. Records of disbursements thereof will be maintained under existing procedure.
§ 4610.5   Improvements by the United States on leased lands.
The procedure in placing improvements on any lands leased under the Pierce Act, will, so far as practicable, be the same as provided under subpart 4120 of subchapter D.
The information collection requirements contained in Group 4700 have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget and assigned clearance number 1004-0042. The information is being collected to permit the authorized officer to remove wild horses and burros from private land and to determine whether an application for adoption of and title to wild horses or burros should be granted. Responses are required to obtain benefits.
Public reporting burden for this information is estimated to average 0.165 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, Division of Information Resources Management, Bureau of Land Management (770), 1849 C Street NW., Washington, DC 20240, and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project 1004-0042, Washington, DC 20503.