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PUBLIC LAW 93-440-OCT. 11, 1974
[88 STAT.
Public Law 93-440 October 11, 1974
[H. R. 10088]
Big Cypress Fia. serve, Establishment, 16 USC 698f.
Map and descriDtion tiliriE,
P u b l i c a t i o n in Federal Register
a c^^y^.^^l^^aters, quisition.
42 USC 4651.
AN
ACT
rp^ establish the Big Cypress National I'reserve in the State of Florida, and for other piirposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Conqress assembled. That (a) in order to assure the preservation, conservation, and protection of the natural, sceulc, hydroloffic, floral and faunal, and recreational values of the Big Cypress Watershed in the State of Florida and to provide for the enhancement and public enjoyment thereof, the Big Cypress National Preserve is hereby established. n^\ r^^x^ Big Cvpress National Preserve (hereafter referred to as '-'
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the "preserve") shall comprise the area generally depicted on the map entitled "Big Cypress National Preserve", dated November 1971 and numbered BC-91,0()1, which shall be on file and available for public inspection in the Offices of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, Washington, District of Columbia, and shall be filed with appropriate offices of Collier, Monroe, and Dade Counties in the State of Florida. The Secretary of the Interior (hereafter referred to as the "Secretfiry") shall, as soon as practicable, publish a detailed description of the boundaries of the preserve in the Federal Register which shall include not more than five hundred and seventy thousand acres of land and water. (^(.^ ^\^Q 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 any lands owned or' acquired by the State of Florida, or any of its subdivisions, may be acquired by donation only: Provided further, That no Federal funds shall be appropriated until the Governor of Florida executes an agreement on behalf of the State which (i) provides for the transfer to the United States of all lands within the preserve previously owned or acquired by the State and (ii) provides for the donation to the United States of all lands acquired by the State within the preserve pursuant to the provision of "the Big Cypress Conservation Act of 1978 (Chapter 1'^-VM of the Florida Statutes) or provides for the donation to the United States of any remaining moneys appropriated pursuant to such Act for the purchase of lands within the preserve. No improved property, as defined by this Act, nor oil and gas rights, shall be acquired without the consent of the owner unless the Secretary, in his judgment, determines that such property is subject to, or threatened with, uses which are, or would be, detrimental to the purposes of the preserve. The Secretary may, if he determines that the acquisition of any other subsurface estate is not needed for the purposes of the preserve, exclude such interest in acquiring any lands within the preserve. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 301 of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1894, 1904) the Secretary (i) may evaluate any offer to sell land within the preserve by any landowner and may, in his discretion, accept any offer not in excess of $10,000 without an appraisal and (ii) may direct an appraisal to be made of any unimproved property within the preserve without notice to the owner or owners thereof. Notwithstanding an}- other 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.
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