30 U.S.C. § 171
Section 171 · Disposal as agricultural lands
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 2 court decisions — leading case 98 F. Supp. 338 - Mayhew v. Krug (1951)
Most recently applied in Harman Mining Corp. v. Hodel (June 1987)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Except as otherwise provided in chapter 3A of this title, all public lands within the State of Alabama, whether mineral or otherwise, shall be subject to disposal only as agricultural lands. All lands which had been reported to the General Land Office prior to March 3, 1883, as containing coal and iron shall first be offered at public sale.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
Section is from act Mar. 3, 1883, which contained an additional provision relating to pending homesteads, which was omitted because of its temporary nature.
Amendments
1920—The exception clause was inserted at beginning of this section because of act Feb. 25, 1920, which provided that deposits of coal, phosphate, sodium, oil, oil shale, or gas, and lands containing such deposits owned by the United States, shall be subject to disposition in the form and manner provided by such act.
Transfer of Functions
General Land Office abolished and functions transferred to Bureau of Land Management by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, §403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100, and regulations thereunder. See note set out under section 1 of Title 43, Public Lands.
Cross References
Coal lands in Alabama opened to agricultural entry, see section 77 of this title.