16 USC § 403b - Administration, protection, and development; Federal Power Act inapplicable; minimum area

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t16/s403b"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_prima_facie"
title: "16 USC § 403b - Administration, protection, and development; Federal Power Act inapplicable; minimum area"
title_number: 16
title_name: "CONSERVATION"
section_number: "403b"
section_name: "Administration, protection, and development; Federal Power Act inapplicable; minimum area"
chapter_number: 1
chapter_name: "NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES"
subchapter_number: "XLVI"
subchapter_name: "SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK AND GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK"
positive_law: false
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(May 22, 1926, ch. 363, § 3, 44 Stat. 616; Feb. 16, 1928, ch. 59, § 1, 45 Stat. 109; Feb. 4, 1932, ch. 19, § 1, 47 Stat. 37; June 15, 1934, ch. 538, § 1, 48 Stat. 964.)"
---


# 1 Administration, protection, and development; Federal Power Act inapplicable; minimum area

See References in Text note below.

August 25, 1916[^1]*Provided*16 U.S.C. 791a*And provided further**Provided further*

The administration, protection, and development of the aforesaid parks shall be exercised under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior by the National Park Service, subject to the provisions of the Act of , entitled “An Act to establish a National Park Service, and for other purposes,”  as amended: , That the provisions of the Federal Power Act [ et seq.] shall not apply to these parks: , That the minimum area to be administered and protected by the National Park Service shall be for the Shenandoah National Park area one hundred and sixty thousand acres and for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park area four hundred thousand acres: , That no general development of either of these areas shall be undertaken until a major portion of the remainder in such area shall have been accepted by said Secretary.

---

**Source Credit**: (May 22, 1926, ch. 363, § 3, 44 Stat. 616; Feb. 16, 1928, ch. 59, § 1, 45 Stat. 109; Feb. 4, 1932, ch. 19, § 1, 47 Stat. 37; June 15, 1934, ch. 538, § 1, 48 Stat. 964.)

## Editorial Notes

### References in Text

The Act of , entitled “An Act to establish a National Park Service, and for other purposes,”, referred to in text, is , , known as the National Park Service Organic Act, which enacted sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this title and provisions set out as a note under , National Park Service and Related Programs. Sections 1 to 4 of the Act were repealed and restated as , Crimes and Criminal Procedure, and section 100101(a), chapter 1003, and sections 100751(a), 100752, 100753, and 102101 of Title 54 by , §§ 3, 4(a)(1), 7, , , 3260, 3272. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. For disposition of former sections of this title, see Disposition Table preceding .

The Federal Power Act, referred to in text, was in the original the “Act approved , known as the Federal Water Power Act,” and was redesignated the Federal Power Act by . The Federal Power Act is , , and is classified generally to chapter 12 (§ 791a et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see  and Tables.

### Amendments

1934—Act , changed minimum area for Great Smoky Mountains National Park to 400,000 acres.

1932—Act , changed minimum area for Shenandoah National Park to 160,000 acres.

1928—Act , changed minimum area for Shenandoah National Park to 327,000 acres.

## Executive Documents

### Transfer of Functions

For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. , 15 F.R. 3174, , set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.