16 U.S.C. § 551 - Protection of national forests; rules and regulations

• Cite as: 16 U.S.C. § 551

The Secretary of Agriculture shall make provisions for the protection against destruction by fire and depredations upon the public forests and national forests which may have been set aside or which may be hereafter set aside under the provisions of section 471 ¹ of this title, and which may be continued; and he may make such rules and regulations and establish such service as will insure the objects of such reservations, namely, to regulate their occupancy and use and to preserve the forests thereon from destruction; and any violation of the provisions of this section, sections 473 to 478 and 479 to 482 of this title or such rules and regulations shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. Any person charged with the violation of such rules and regulations may be tried and sentenced by any United States magistrate judge specially designated for that purpose by the court by which he was appointed, in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as provided for in section 3401(b) to (e) of title 18.

¹ See References in Text note below.

Cite as 16 U.S.C. § 551

Source: June 4, 1897, ch. 2, §1, 30 Stat. 35; Feb. 1, 1905, ch. 288, §1, 33 Stat. 628; Pub. L. 87-869, §6, Oct. 23, 1962, 76 Stat. 1157; Pub. L. 88-537, Aug. 31, 1964, 78 Stat. 745; Pub. L. 90-578, title IV, §402(b)(2), Oct. 17, 1968, 82 Stat. 1118; Pub. L. 101-650, title III, §321, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5117.

Notes from the Office of Law Revision Counsel

current through 5/12/2021

REFERENCES IN TEXT

Section 471 of this title, referred to in text, was in the original a reference to act Mar. 3, 1891, 26 Stat. 1103, and was repealed by Pub. L. 94-579, title VII, §704(a), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2792.

CODIFICATION

"National forests" substituted in text for "forest reservations" on authority of act Mar. 4, 1907ch. 2907 34 Stat. 1269, which provided that forest reserves shall hereafter be known as national forests.

AMENDMENTS

1964- Pub. L. 88-537 provided that persons charged with violation of such rules and regulations may be tried and sentenced by any United States commissioner specially designated for that purpose by the court by which he was appointed, in the same manner as in section 3401(b) to (e) of title 18.

1962- Pub. L. 87-869 substituted "by a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both" for "as is provided for in section 104 of title 18".