§ 283b — Establishment; Notice In Federal Register; Property Rights

(a) When the title to all privately owned land within the boundary of the park, subject to such outstanding interests, rights, and easements as the Secretary determines are not objectionable, with the exception of approximately 4,574 acres which are planned to be acquired by exchange, is vested in the United States and after the State of Texas has donated or agreed to donate to the United States whatever rights and interests in minerals underlying the lands within the boundaries of the park it may have and other owners of such rights and interests have donated or agreed to donate the same to the United States, notice thereof and notice of the establishment of the Guadalupe Mountains National Park shall be published in the Federal Register. Thereafter, the Secretary may continue to acquire the remaining land and interests in land within the boundaries of the park. The Secretary is authorized, pending establishment of the park, to negotiate and acquire options for the purchase of lands and interests in land within the boundaries of the park. He is further authorized to execute contracts for the purchase of such lands and interests, but the liability of the United States under any such contract shall be contingent on the availability of appropriated or donated funds to fulfill the same. (b) In the event said lands or any part thereof cease to be used for national park purposes, the persons (including the State of Texas) who donated to the United States rights and interests in minerals in the lands within the park shall be given notice, in accordance with regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary, of their preferential right to a reconveyance, without consideration, of the respective rights and interests in minerals which they donated to the United States. Such notice shall be in a form reasonably calculated to give actual notice to those entitled to such preferential right, and shall provide for a period of not less than one hundred and eighty days within which to exercise such preferential right. The preferential right to such reconveyance shall inure to the benefit of the successors, heirs, devisees, or assigns of such persons having such preferential right to a reconveyance, and such successors, heirs, devisees, or assigns shall be given the notice provided for in this subsection. (c) Such rights and interests in minerals, including all minerals of whatever nature, in and underlying the lands within the boundaries of the park and which are acquired by the United States under the provisions of this subchapter are hereby withdrawn from leasing and are hereby excluded from the application of the present or future provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands [30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.] or other Act in lieu thereof having the same purpose, and the same are hereby also excluded from the provisions of all present and future laws affecting the sale of surplus property or of said mineral interests acquired pursuant to this subchapter by the United States or any department or agency thereof, except that, if such person having such preferential right to a reconveyance fails or refuses to exercise such preferential right to a reconveyance as provided in subsection (b) of this section then this subsection (c) shall not be applicable to the rights and interests in such minerals in the identical lands of such person so failing or refusing to exercise such preferential right to a reconveyance from and after the one hundred and eighty-day period referred to in subsection (b) of this section. (d) If at any time in the future an Act of Congress provides that the national welfare or an emergency requires the development and production of the minerals underlying the lands within the boundaries of the national park, or any portion thereof, and such Act of Congress, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c) of this section or any other Act, authorizes the Secretary to lease said land for the purpose of drilling, mining, developing, and producing said minerals, the Secretary shall give the persons (including the State of Texas) who donated such minerals to the United States notice of their preferential right to lease, without consideration, all or any part of the respective rights and interests in minerals which they donated to the United States, subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe. Such preferential right shall inure to the benefit of the successors or assigns, and of the heirs or devisees of such persons having such preferential right in the premises. The persons entitled to a preferential right under this subsection shall be given the same notice thereof as persons entitled to preferential rights under subsection (b) of this section. If such person having such preferential right fails or refuses to exercise such right within the time specified in the above notice, the Secretary may thereafter lease the minerals involved to any other person under such terms and conditions as he may prescribe. (e) If at any time oil, gas, or other minerals should be discovered and produced in commercial quantities from lands outside of the boundaries of the park, thereby causing drainage of oil, gas, or other minerals from lands within the boundaries of the park, and if the Secretary participates in a communitization agreement or takes other action to protect the rights of the United States, the proceeds, if any, derived from such agreement or action shall inure to the benefit of the donors of the oil, gas, or other minerals, or their successors, heirs, devisees, or assigns.