[CHAPTER 285-2D SESSION]

[S. 1545]

AN ACT

To authorize a bridge, roads and approaches, supports and bents, or other structures, across, over, or upon lands of the United States within the limits of the Colonial National Historical Park at or near Yorktown, Virginia.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior, upon such terms and conditions as to location, type, or design of the structure or otherwise as to him and to the Secretary of the Navy may appear proper to protect the interests of the United States, is authorized to grant to the Commonwealth of Virginia or to its agency the Highway Commission of said Commonwealth rightof-way or other easement as may be proper to enable a highway bridge the level and design of which shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Navy, such bridge to be erected, operated, and maintained across the York River in the State of Virginia at or near Yorktown, Virginia, and for the purpose of permitting such portions of said bridge, the roads and approaches thereto, together with any necessary structures connected therewith as may be necessary for the construction, maintenance, and operation of said bridge, and for safe, reasonable, and proper ingress thereto or egress therefrom, to be located and erected across, over, or upon the property of the United States forming a part of the Colonial National Historical Park.

The Secretary of the Interior is directed and authorized to secure and accept payment in cash or by land exchange as compensation to the United States for any lands used for such right-of-way and any moneys received may in turn be used by the Secretary of the Interior for the purchase of other privately owned historical lands within the boundaries of Colonial National Historical Park. Any lands so received or so purchased shall become part of Colonial National Historical Park.

The value of the park lands to be conveyed to the Commonwealth of Virginia as herein provided shall be determined by a committee of three appraisers, one each to be selected by the Governor of Virginia and the Secretary of the Interior, with the third appraiser to be mutually satisfactory to them. The Secretary may, in his discretion, approve the value agreed upon by a majority of the appraisers or he may require a new appraisal to be made in a similar manner. The decision of the Secretary shall be final and conclusive as to the value of the easement lands conveyed pursuant to the provisions of this Act. Nothing in this Act or in any grant of right-of-way or other easement issued pursuant to this Act shall be construed to affect the provisions of the General Bridge Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 847).

Approved May 12, 1948.

(CHAPTER 303-2D SESSION]

[H. R. 107]

AN ACT

For the acquisition and maintenance of wildlife management and control areas in the State of California, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to purchase or rent not to exceed twenty thousand acres of land or interests therein in suitable locations in the State of California, for the management and control of migratory waterfowl and other wildlife in connection therewith, from moneys to be appropriated by Congress from time to time: Provided, That no sums appropriated under this authority for the acquisition of lands shall be expended for such purpose unless and until the State of California shall have set aside and made available for expenditure funds for the purchase of equivalent acreages as determined by the Secretary of the Interior.

SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Interior may do all things and make all expenditures necessary to secure the safe title in the United States to the areas which may be acquired under this Act, including purchase of options when deemed necessary, and expenses incident to the location, examination, and survey of such areas and the acquisition of title thereto, but no payments shall be made for any such areas until the title thereto shall be satisfactory to the Attorney General. The acquisition of such areas by the United States shall in no case be defeated because of rights-of-way, easements, exceptions, and reservations which from their nature will, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior, in no manner interfere with the use of the areas so encumbered for the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 3. Sections 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, and 15 of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of February 18, 1929 (45 Stat. 1222; 16 U. S. C. 715), as amended, are hereby made applicable for the purposes of this Act in the same manner and to the same extent as though they were enacted as part of this Act, except that lands acquired hereunder may be administered primarily as wildlife management areas not subject to the prohibition against the taking of birds or nests or the eggs thereof, as contained in section 10 of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act, and hunting thereon may be regulated, at the option of the Fish and Game Commission of the State of California, in such cooperative manner as is deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act subject, however, to the provisions of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of July 3, 1918 (49 Stat. 1555; 16 U. S. C. 703-711), as amended.

SEC. 4. Funds made available under this or any other Act for the administration, maintenance, and development of any areas acquired

under this Act, shall be available also for the construction of dams, dikes, ditches, buildings, and other necessary improvements and for the purchase, planting, growing, and harvesting of grains and other crops for the feeding of waterfowl and other wildlife frequenting the localities where such lands may be purchased or rented.

Approved May 18, 1948.

[CHAPTER 310-2D SESSION]

[H. R. 4018]

AN ACT

Authorizing the transfer of certain real property for wildlife, or other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, upon request, real property which is under the jurisdiction or control of a Federal agency and no longer required by such agency, (1) can be utilized for wildlife conservation purposes by the agency of the State exercising administration over the wildlife resources of the State wherein the real property lies or by the Secretary of the Interior; and (2) is chiefly valuable for use for any such purpose, and which, in the determination of the War Assets Administrator, is available for such use may, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, be transferred without reimbursement or transfer of funds (with or without improvements as determined by said Administrator) by the Federal agency having jurisdiction or control of the property to (a) such State agency if the management thereof for the conservation of wildlife relates to other than migratory birds, or (b) to the Secretary of the Interior if the real property has particular value in carrying out the national migratory bird management program. Any such transfer to other than the United States shall be subject to the reservation by the United States of all oil, gas, and mineral rights, and to the condition that the property shall continue to be used for wildlife conservation or other of the abovestated purposes and in the event it is no longer used for such purposes or in the event it is needed for national defense purposes title thereto shall revert to the United States.

SEC. 2. Whenever any real property is transferred pursuant to this Act, the War Assets Administrator shall make and have published in the Federal Register an appropriate order, which may be revised from time to time in like manner, designating for which of the purposes specified in section 1 of this Act the property so transferred shall be used.

SEC. 3. A statement of the acreage and value of such property as may have been transferred pursuant to this Act during the preceding fiscal year shall be annually prepared by the War Assets Administrator and shall be included in the annual budget transmitted to the Congress. Approved May 19, 1948.

[CHAPTER 329-2D SESSION]

[H. R. 3505]

AN ACT

Authorizing an appropriation for investigating the oyster beds damaged or destroyed by the intrusion of fresh water and the blockage of natural passages west of the Mississippi River in the vicinity of Lake Mechant and Bayou Severin, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, and by the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is authorized to be appropriated the sum of not to exceed $50,000 to enable the Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior, to investigate and study the means and methods best adaptable to the rehabilitation, replanting and maintenance of the oyster beds in the States of Louisiana and Mississippi that have been or may be destroyed through the operation of the Bonnet Carre Spillway and through the intrusion of fresh water and the blockage of natural passages west of the Mississippi River in the vicinity of Lake Mechant and Bayou Severin, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana.

Approved May 21, 1948.

(295)