[CHAPTER 755-1ST SESSION]

[H. R. 5170]

AN ACT

To further the policy enunciated in the Historic Sites Act (49 Stat. 666) and to facilitate public participation in the preservation of sites, buildings, and objects of national significance or interest and providing a national trust for historic preservation.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, in order to further the policy enunciated in the Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666), entitled "An Act to provide for the preservation of historic American sites, buildings, objects, and antiquities of national significance, and for other purposes", and to facilitate public participation in the preservation of sites, buildings, and objects of national significance or interest, there is hereby created a charitable, educational, and nonprofit corporation, to be known as the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States, hereafter referred to as the "National Trust". The purposes of the National Trust shall be to receive donations of sites, buildings, and objects significant in American history and culture, to preserve and administer them for public benefit, to accept, hold, and administer gifts of money, securities, or other property of whatsoever character for the purpose of carrying out the preservation program, and to execute such other functions as are vested in it by this Act.

SEC. 2. The National Trust shall have its principal office in the District of Columbia and shall be deemed, for purposes of venue in civil actions, to be an inhabitant and resident thereof. The National Trust may establish offices in such other place or places as it may deem necessary or appropriate in the conduct of its business.

SEC. 3. The affairs of the National Trust shall be under the general direction of a board of trustees composed as follows: The Attorney General of the United States; the Secretary of the Interior; and the Director of the National Gallery of Art, ex officio; and not less than six general trustees who shall be citizens of the United States, to be chosen as hereinafter provided. The Attorney General, and the Secretary of the Interior, when it appears desirable in the interest of the conduct of the business of the board and to such extent as they deem it advisable, may, by written notice to the National Trust, designate any officer of their respective departments to act for them in the discharge of their duties as a member of the board of trustees. The number of general trustees shall be fixed by the Executive Board of the National Council for Historic Sites and Buildings, a corporation of the District of Columbia, and the general trustees first taking office shall be chosen by a majority vote of the members of the Executive Board from the membership of the National Council. The respective terms of office of the first general trustees so chosen shall be as prescribed by the said Executive Board but in no case shall exceed &

period of five years from the date of election. A successor to a general trustee shall be chosen in the same manner as the original trustees and shall have a term expiring five years from the date of the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was chosen, except that a successor chosen to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of such term shall be chosen only for the remainder of that term. The chairman of the board of trustees shall be elected by a majority vote of the members of the board. No compensation shall be paid to the members of the board of trustees for their services as such members, but they shall be reimbursed for travel and actual expenses necessarily incurred by them in attending board meetings and performing other official duties on behalf of the National Trust at the direction of the board.

SEC. 4. To the extent necessary to enable it to carry out the functions vested in it by this Act, the National Trust shall have the following general powers:

(a) To have succession until dissolved by Act of Congress, in which event title to the properties of the National Trust, both real and personal, shall, insofar as consistent with existing contractual obligations and subject to all other legally enforceable claims or demands by or against the National Trust, pass to and become vested in the United States of America.

(b) To sue and be sued in its corporate name.

(c) To adopt, alter, and use a corporate seal which shall be judicially noticed.

(d) To adopt a constitution and to make such bylaws, rules, and regulations, not inconsistent with the laws of the United States or of any State, as it deems necessary for the administration of its functions under this Act, including among other matter, bylaws, rules, and regulations governing visitation to historic properties, administration of corporate funds, and the organization and procedure of the board of

trustees.

(e) To accept, hold, and administer gifts and bequests of money, securities, or other personal property of whatsoever character, absolutely or on trust, for the purposes for which the National Trust is created. Unless otherwise restricted by the terms of the gift or bequest, the National Trust is authorized to sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of and to invest or reinvest in such investments as it may determine from time to time the moneys, securities, or other property given or bequeathed to it. The principal of such corporate funds, together with the income therefrom and all other revenues received by it from any source whatsoever, shall be placed in such depositories as the National Trust shall determine and shall be subject to expenditure by the National Trust for its corporate purposes. (f) To acquire by gift, devise, purchase, or otherwise, absolutely or on trust, and to hold and, unless otherwise restricted by the terms of the gift or devise, to encumber, convey, or otherwise dispose of, any real property, or any estate or interest therein (except property within the exterior boundaries of national parks and national monuments), as may be necessary and proper in carrying into effect the purposes of the National Trust.

(g) To contract and make cooperative agreements with Federal, State, or municipal departments or agencies, corporations, associa

tions, or individuals, under such terms and conditions as it deems advisable, respecting the protection, preservation, maintenance, or operation of any historic site, building, object, or property used in connection therewith for public use, regardless of whether the National Trust has acquired title to such properties, or any interest therein.

(h) To enter into contracts generally and to execute all instruments necessary or appropriate to carry out its corporate purposes, which instruments shall include such concession contracts, leases, or permits for the use of lands, buildings, or other property deemed desirable either to accommodate the public or to facilitate administration.

(i) To appoint and prescribe the duties of such officers, agents, and employees as may be necessary to carry out its functions, and to fix and pay such compensation to them for their services as the National Trust may determine.

(j) And generally to do any and all lawful acts necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes for which the National Trust is created.

SEC. 5. In carrying out its functions under this Act, the National Trust is authorized to consult with the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, and Monuments, on matters relating to the selection of sites, buildings, and objects to be preserved and protected pursuant hereto.

SEC. 6. The National Trust shall, on or before the 1st day of March in each year, transmit to Congress a report of its proceedings and activities for the preceding calendar year, including the full and complete statement of its receipts and expenditures.

SEC. 7. The right to repeal, alter or amend this Act at any time is hereby expressly reserved, but no contract or individual right made or acquired shall thereby be divested or impaired.

Approved October 26, 1949.

[CHAPTER 97-2D SESSION]

[H. R. 5839]

AN ACT

To facilitate and simplify the work of the Forest Service, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, notwithstanding the provisions of existing law and without regard to section 355, Revised Statutes, as amended (40 U. S. C. 255), but within the limitations of cost otherwise applicable, appropriations of the Forest Service may be expended for the erection of buildings, lookout towers, and other structures on land owned by States, counties, municipalities, or other political subdivisions, corporations, or individuals: Provided, That prior to such erection there is obtained the right to use the land for the estimated life of or need for the structure, including the right to remove any such structure within a reasonable time after the termination of the right to use the land.

SEC. 2. That so much of the Act of June 30, 1914 (38 Stat. 415, 429, 16 U. S. C. 504), as provides: "That hereafter the Secretary of Agriculture may procure such seed, cones, and nursery stock by open purchase, without advertisements for proposals, whenever in his discretion such method is most economical and in the public interest and when the cost thereof will not exceed $500:", is hereby amended to read as follows: "That the provisions of section 3709, Revised Statutes (41 U. S. C. 5), shall not apply to any purchase by the Forest Service of forest-tree seed or cones or of forage plant seed when the amount involved does not exceed $10,000, nor to any purchase of forest-tree nursery stock when the amount involved does not exceed $500, whenever, in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture, such method is in the public interest."

SEC. 3. The provisions of section 3709, Revised Statutes (41 U. S. C. 5), shall not apply to purchases by the Forest Service of (1) materials to be tested or upon which experiments are to be made or (2) special devices, test models, or parts thereof, to be used (a) for experimentation to determine their suitability for or adaptability to accomplishment of the work for which designed or (b) in the designing or developing of new equipment: Provided, That not to exceed $50,000 may be expended in any one fiscal year pursuant to this authority and not to exceed $10,000 on any one item or purchase.

SEC. 4. That section 205 of the Department of Agriculture Organic Act of 1944, approved September 21, 1944 (58 Stat. 736, 16 U. S. C. 579a), is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 205. The Forest Service by contract or otherwise may provide for procurement and operation of aerial facilities and services for the protection and management of the national forests, with authority to renew any contract for such purpose annually, not more than twice, without additional advertising."

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SEC. 5. That section 1 of the Act of March 3, 1925 (43 Stat. 1132; 16 U. S. C. 572), is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 1. (a) The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, where the public interest justifies, to cooperate with or assist public and private agencies, organizations, institutions, and persons in performing work on land in State, county, municipal, or private ownership, situated within or near a national forest, for which the administering agency, owner, or other interested party deposits in one or more payments a sufficient sum to cover the total estimated cost of the work to be done for the benefit of the depositor, for administration, protection, improvement, reforestation, and such other kinds of work as the Forest Service is authorized to do on lands of the United States: Provided, That the United States shall not be liable to the depositor or landowner for any damage incident to the performance of such work.

"(b) Cooperation and assistance on the same basis as that authorized in subsection (a) is authorized also in the performance of any such kinds of work in connection with the occupancy or use of the national forests or other lands administered by the Forest Service.

"(c) Moneys deposited under this section shall be covered into the Treasury and shall constitute a special fund, which is hereby made available until expended for payment of the cost of work performed by the Forest Service and for refunds to depositors of amounts deposited by them in excess of their share of said cost: Provided, That when deposits are received for a number of similar types of work on adjacent or overlapping areas, or on areas which in the aggregate are determined to cover a single work unit, they may be expended on such combined areas for the purposes for which deposited, in which event refunds to the depositors of the total amount of the excess deposits involved will be made on a proportionate basis: Provided further, That when so provided by written agreement payment for work undertaken pursuant to this section may be made from any Forest Service appropriation available for similar types of work, and reimbursement received from said agencies, organizations, institutions, or persons covering their proportionate share of the cost and the funds received as reimbursement shall be deposited to the credit of the Forest Service appropriation from which initially paid or to appropriations for similar purposes currently available at the time of deposit: Provided further, That when by the terms of a written agreement either party thereto furnishes materials, supplies, equipment, or services for fire emergencies in excess of its proportionate share, adjustment may be made by reimbursement or by replacement in kind of supplies, materials, and equipment consumed or destroyed in excess of the furnishing party's proportionate share."

SEC. 6. That so much of the Act of August 11, 1916 (39 Stat. 446, 462; 16 U. S. C. 490), as provides: "That hereafter deposits may be received from timber purchasers in such sums as the Secretary of Agriculture may require to cover the cost to the United States of disposing of brush and other debris resulting from cutting operations in sales of national-forest timber; such deposits shall be covered into the Treasury and shall constitute a special fund, which is hereby appropriated and made available until expended, as the Secretary of Agriculture may direct, to pay the cost of such work and to make