All lands exclusive of timber lands and mineral lands which will not, without irrigation, produce some agricultural crop, shall be deemed desert lands, within the meaning of sections 321 to 323, 325, and 327 to 329 of this title, which fact shall be ascertained by proof of two or more credible witnesses under oath, whose affidavits shall be filed in the land office in which said tract of land may be situated.
The determination of what may be considered desert land shall be subject to the decision and regulation of the Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate.
Mar. 3, 1877, ch. 10719 Stat. 37760 Stat. 1100(, §§ 2, 3, ; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. , 11 F.R. 7876, .)
Editorial Notes
Codification
The first paragraph of this section is from section 2 of act .
section 323 of this titleThe second paragraph of this section is from the last clause of section 3 of act . The first clause of section 3 is incorporated in .
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Section as Unaffected by Submerged Lands Act
section 1303 of this titleProvisions of this section as not amended, modified or repealed by the Submerged Lands Act, see .
Executive Documents
Transfer of Functions
section 1 of this title“Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate” substituted for “Commissioner of the General Land Office” on authority of section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, which abolished General Land Office and Commissioner thereof and transferred functions of General Land Office to a new agency in Department of the Interior to be known as Bureau of Land Management. See section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, set out as a note under .