An Act to amend the act entitled ""An Act to provide for the purchase of public lands for home and other sites,"" approved June 1, 1938 (52 Stat. 609), as amended
PL 83-390 (H.R.2512), enacted 06/08/1954

68 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 390-JUNE 8, 1954 
239 
APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS 
SEC. 147. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated from any 
moneys in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the 
District of Columbia, such amounts as may be necessary to carry into 
effect the provisions of this Act. 
Approved June 8, 1954. 
Public Law 390 
CHAPTER 270 
AN ACT 
To amend the Act entitled "An Act to provide for the purchase of public lands 
for home and other sites", approved June 1,1938 (52 Stat. 609), as amended. 
June 8,1954 
[H. R. 2512] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That the Act entitled 
"An Act to provide for the purchase of public lands for home and other 
sites", approved June 1, 1938 (52 Stat. 609), as amended by the Act 
approved July 14,1945 (59 Stat. 467; 43 U. S. C, sec. 682a), is amended 
to read as follows: 
"That the Secretary of the Interior, in his discretion, is authorized 
to sell or lease to any person or organization described in section 3 
of this Act a tract of not exceeding five acres of any vacant, unreserved 
public lands, public lands withdrawn by Executive Orders Numbered 
6910 of November 26, 1934, and 6964 of February 5, 1935, for classifi-
cation, or public lands withdrawn or reserved by the Secretary of the 
Interior for any purposes, which the Secretary may classify as chiefly 
valuable for residence, recreation, business, or community site pur-
poses, if he finds that such sale or lease of the lands would not un-
reasonably interfere with the use of water for grazing purposes nor 
unduly impair the protection of watershed areas, in reasonably com-
pact form and under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, 
at a price to be determined by him, for such use: Provided^ That no 
land may be sold hereunder unless it has been surveyed. 
No person or 
organization shall be permitted to purchase or lease more than one 
tract under the provisions of this Act, except upon a showing of good 
faith and reasons satisfactory to the Secretary. 
"SEC. 2. No tract shall be sold for less than the cost of making any 
survey necessary to describe properly the land sold. Patents for all 
tracts purchased under the provisions of this Act shall contain a reser-
vation to the United States of the oil, gas, and all other mineral 
deposits, together with the right to prospect for, mine, and remove the 
same under applicable law and such regulations as the Secretary may 
prescribe. 
"SEC. 3. A lease may be issued or a sale made under this Act 
to any of the following: (a) An individual who is a citizen of the 
United States, or who has filed his declaration of intention to become 
a citizen as required by the naturalization laws; (b) a partnership or 
an association, each of the members of which is a citizen of the United 
States or has filed a declaration of intention to become a citizen; (c) 
a corporation, including nonprofit corporations, organized under the 
laws of the United States, or of any State or Territory thereof, and 
authorized to do business in the State or Territory in which the land 
is located; (d) a State, Territory, municipality, or other governmen-
tal subdivision. 
Public lands. 
Home s i t e pur-
chases, etc. 
Reservation to 
U.S. 
Lease or sale. 
240 
PUBLIC LAW 391-JUNE 8, 1954 
[68 S 
TAT. 
Dept. of Interior 
employee in Alas-
ka. 
Oreg. and Calif. 
R. R. and Coos 
Bay Wagon Road 
grant lands. 
43 u s e 1181a-
1181f. 
"SEC. 4. Any employee of the Department of the Interior, stationed 
in Alaska, notwithstanding such employment, may, in the discretion 
of the Secretary, purchase or lease under this Act one tract for resi-
dence or recreation purposes in the Territory of Alaska: Provided, 
however^ That any conveyance by the Secretary to such employee shall 
contain a provision under which said tract shall revert to the United 
States if used, within twenty-five years after issuance of patent for 
such tract, for other than residential or recreation purposes. 
"SEC. 5. The authority to lease lands under this Act shall extend to 
the revested Oregon and California Railroad and reconveyed Coos 
Bay Wagon Road grant lands situated in the State of Oregon and 
under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior, except 
that— 
"(a) such lands shall be leased only for residential, recreational, 
or community site purposes and not for business purposes; and 
"(b) no lease of such lands shall be made if such lease would inter-
fere with the application of the sustained yield timber management 
requirement established with respect to such lands by the Act entitled 
'An Act relating to the revested Oregon and California Railroad and 
reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands situated in the State 
of Oregon', approved August 28, 1937 (50 Stat. 874)." 
Approved June 8, 1954. 
June 8, 1954 
Public Law 391 
CHAPTER 271 
AN ACT 
[H. R. 2974] 
rj^o extend the time for enrollment of the Indians of California, and for other 
purposes. 
Ca 1 if or nia In 
dians. 
25 use 657. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That section 7 of the 
Act of May 18,1928 (45 Stat. 602), as amended by the Act of April 29, 
1930 (46 Stat. 259), the Act of June 30, 1948 (62 Stat. 1166), and the 
Act of May 24, 1950 (64 Stat. 189), is hereby further amended by de-
leting the words "six months" in the penultimate sentence and by 
inserting in lieu thereof the words "until June 30, 1955,"' and by 
inserting after the third sentence "For the purposes of clause (d) of 
this section, when the Secretary of the Interior is satisfied that reason-
able and diligent efforts have been made to locate a person whose name 
is on said roll and that such person cannot be located, he may presume 
that such person died prior to the date of approval of this Act, and 
his presumption shall be conclusive". 
SEC. 2. That the Secretary of the Interior shall transmit to Con-
gress on or before August 31,1955, a full and complete report of funds 
used and the purposes accomplished to carry out the provisions of 
this Act and the Act approved May 18,1928 (45 Stat. 602), as amended 
by the Act of April 29, 1930 (46 Stat. 259), the Act of June 30, 1948 
25use 651-658. (62 Stat. 1166), and the Act of May 24,1950 (64 Stat. 189). 
Approved June 8, 1954. 
Public Law 392 
CHAPTER 272 
AN ACT 
June 8,1954 
[H. R. 7061] 
To prescribe and regulate the procedure for adoption in the District of Columbia. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
proce<Si-er^°^*^°" United States of America in Congress 
assembled,