TITLE XIII— WILDLIFE PRESERVATION 



1. Administration of National Wildlife Refuge System 

 16 US.C. 668dd-668jj 



§668dd. National Wildlife Refuge System. 



(a) Designation; public land withdrawals; disposal of 

 acquired lands ; proceeds. 



( 1 ) For the purpose of consolidating the authori- 

 ties relating to the various categories of areas that 

 are administered by the Secretary of the Interior 

 for the conservation of fish and wildlife, including 

 species that are threatened with extinction, all 

 lands, waters, and interests therein administered by 

 the Secretary as wildlife refuges, areas for the pro- 

 tection and conservation of fish and wildlife that 

 are threatened with extinction, wildlife ranges, 

 game ranges, wildlife management areas, or water- 

 fowl production areas are hereby designated as the 

 "National Wildlife Refuge System" (referred to 

 herein as the "System"), which shall be subject to 

 the provisions of this section, and shall be admin- 

 istered by the Secretary through the United States 

 Fish and Wildlife Service. With respect to refuge 

 lands in the State of Alaska, those programs re- 

 lating to the management of resources for which 

 any other agency of the Federal Government exer- 

 cises administrative responsibility through coop- 

 erative agreement shall remain in effect, subject 

 to the direct supervision of the United States 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, as long as such agency 

 agrees to exercise such responsibility. 



(2) No acquired lands which are or become a 

 part of the System may be transferred or other- 

 wise disposed of under any provision of law (ex- 

 cept by exchange pursuant to subsection (b) (3) 

 of this section) unless — 



(A) the Secretary of the Interior determines 

 with the approval of the Migratory Bird Con- 

 servation Commission that such lands are no 

 longer needed for the purposes for which the 

 System was established; and 



(B) such lands are transferred or otherwise 

 disposed of for an amount not less than — 



(i) the acquisition costs of such lands, in 

 the case of lands of the System which were 

 purchased by the United States with funds 

 from the migratory bird conservation fund, or 

 fair market value, whichever is greater; or 



(ii) the fair market value of such lands (as 

 determined by the Secretary as of the date of 

 the transfer or disposal) , in the case of lands 

 of the System which were donated to the 

 System. 

 The Secretary shall pay into the migratory bird 

 conservation fund the aggregate amount of the 



proceeds of any transfer or disposal referred to in 

 the preceding sentence. 



(3) Each area which is included within the Sys- 

 tem on January 1, 1975, or thereafter, and which 

 was or is — 



(A) designated as an area within such System 

 by law. Executive order, or secretarial order; or 



(B) so included by public land withdrawal, 

 donation, purchase, exchange, or pursuant to a 

 cooperative agreement with any State or local 

 government, any Federal department or agency, 

 or any other governmental entity, 



shall continue to be a part of the System until 

 otherwise specified by Act of Congress, except that 

 nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as 

 precluding — 



(i) the transfer or disposal of acquired lands 

 within any such area pursuant to paragraph (2) 

 of this subsection; 



(ii) the exchange of lands within any such 

 area pursuant to subsection (b)(3> of this sec- 

 tion; or 



(lii) the disposal of any lands within any such 

 area pursuant to the terms of any cooperative 

 agreement referred to in subparagraph (B) of 

 this paragraph. 



(b) Administration; public accommodations contracts; 

 acceptance and use of funds; exchange of proper- 

 ties; cash equalization payments. 

 In administering the System, the Secretary Is 

 authorized — 



(1) to enter Into contracts with any person or 

 public or private agency through negotiation for 

 the provision of public accommodations when, and 

 In such locations, and to the extent that the Sec- 

 retary determines will not be inconsistent with 

 the primary purpose for which the affected area 

 was established. 



(2) to accept donations of funds and to use 

 such funds to acquire or manage lands or interests 

 therein, and 



(3) to acquire lands or Interests therein by ex- 

 change (A) for acquired lands or public lands, or 

 for interests in acquired or public lands, under 

 his jurisdiction which he finds to be suitable 

 for disposition, or (B) for the right to remove, in 

 accordance with such terms and conditions as he 

 may prescribe, products from the acquired or 

 public lands within the System. The values of 

 the properties so exchanged either shall be ap- 

 proximately equal, or if they are not approxi- 



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