16 USC 698 Statute

UNITED STATES CODE SERVICE
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*** CURRENT THROUGH P.L. 109-250, APPROVED 7/27/2006 ***
*** WITH GAPS OF 109-246, 109-248 and 109-249 ***
TITLE 16. CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 6. GAME AND BIRD PRESERVES; PROTECTION
GO TO CODE ARCHIVE DIRECTORY FOR THIS JURISDICTION
16 USCS § 698
§ 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 the date of enactment of this Act [enacted Oct. 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;

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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 Evadale, 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 seventysix 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, That the Secretary may acquire lands owned by commercial timber
companies only by donation or exchange: Provided, 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

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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
this Act, without transfer of funds.
(d) Exchange of commercial timber lands within the preserve. Within sixty days after the date of enactment
of this subsection [enacted 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 this Act. 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 the date of enactment of this
subsection [enacted 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) Exclusion of 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.
........
§ 698c. Administration of Big Thicket Preserve
(a) Natural and ecological integrity. The area within the boundaries depicted on the map referred to in section 1 [16 USCS § 698] shall be known as the Big Thicket National Preserve. Such lands shall be administered by the Secretary as a unit of the National Park System in a manner which will assure their natural and
ecological integrity in perpetuity in accordance with the provisions of this Act and with the provisions of the
Act of August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16 U.S.C. 1-4), as amended and supplemented.
(b) Limitation on construction of roads, campgrounds, etc.; rules and regulations for use of Federal lands and
waters. In the interest of maintaining the ecological integrity of the preserve, the Secretary shall limit the
construction of roads, vehicular campgrounds, employee housing, and other public use and administrative
facilities and he shall promulgate and publish such rules and regulations in the Federal Register as he deems
necessary and appropriate to limit and control the use of, and activities on, Federal lands and waters with respect to:
(1) motorized land and water vehicles;
(2) exploration for, and extraction of, oil, gas, and other minerals;
(3) new construction of any kind;
(4) grazing and agriculture; and
(5) such other uses as the Secretary determines must be limited or controlled in order to carry out the purposes of this Act.

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(c) Hunting, fishing, and trapping authorized in accordance with applicable Federal and State laws; consultation with appropriate State agency prior to implementation of regulations restricting activities. The Secretary
shall permit hunting, fishing, and trapping on lands and waters under his jurisdiction within the preserve in
accordance with the applicable laws of the United States and the State of Texas, except that he may designate
zones where and periods when, no hunting, fishing, trapping, or entry may be permitted for reasons of public
safety, administration, floral and faunal protection and management, or public use and enjoyment. Except in
emergencies, any regulations prescribing such restrictions relating to hunting, fishing, or trapping shall be put
into effect only after consultation with the appropriate State agency having jurisdiction over hunting, fishing,
and trapping activities.

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