# § 558a. Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to leverage volunteer engagement to supplement projects that are carried out by the Secretaries to fulfill the missions of the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management and are accomplished with appropriated funds.
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**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 92–300, § 2, as added Pub. L. 118–234, title III, § 341, Jan. 4, 2025, 138 Stat. 2913.)
## Editorial Notes
### References in Text
This Act, referred to in text, is , , , as amended generally by , , , known as the Volunteers in the National Forests and Public Lands Act, which enacted this section and sections 558b to 558g of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out below and Tables.
### Codification
The Volunteers in the National Forests and Public Lands Act, enacting this section and sections 558b to 558g of this title, was orignally enacted as , , , known as the Volunteers in the National Forests Act of 1972, which enacted former sections 558a to 558d of this title. was amended by , , ; , , ; , , ; , , . was subsequently amended generally by , , , including an amendment to provide that the Act be cited as the Volunteers in the National Forests and Public Lands Act. is shown herein, however, as having been added by without reference to those intervening amendments because of the extensive revision of by .
### Prior Provisions
A prior section 558a, , , ; , , , authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to recruit, train, and accept volunteers in the National Forests Program, prior to the general amendment of the Volunteers in the National Forests Act of 1972 by .
A prior , , , was classified to , prior to the general amendment of the Volunteers in the National Forests Act of 1972 by .
## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
### Short Title
> “This Act [enacting this section and sections 558b to 558g of this title] may be cited as the ‘Volunteers in the National Forests and Public Lands Act’.”
, as added by , , , provided that:
[For prior , see Prior Provisions note above.]
, , , provided that , which enacted former sections 558a to 558d of this title, could be cited as the “Volunteers in the National Forests Act of 1972”, prior to the general amendment of by .
### Reference to Volunteers in the National Forests Act of 1972
> “Any reference to the Volunteers in the National Forests Act of 1972 in any law, regulation, map, document, record, or other paper of the United States shall be deemed to be a reference to the Volunteers in the National Forests and Public Land[s] Act [see Short Title note above].”
, , , provided that: