§80a. General Grant National Park abolished; lands added to Kings Canyon National Park

The General Grant National Park is abolished, and the west half of section 33, township 13 south, range 28 east, and west half of section 4, all of section 8 and the northwest quarter of section 9, township 14 south, range 28 east, Mount Diablo meridian, California, together with the lands formerly within the General Grant National Park, California, and particularly described as follows, to wit: All of sections 31 and 32, township 13 south, range 28 east, and sections 5 and 6, township 14 south, range 28 east, of the same meridian, are, subject to valid existing rights, added to and made a part of the Kings Canyon National Park and such lands shall be known as the General Grant grove section of the said park. The General Grant grove section of the Kings Canyon National Park may, by proclamation of the President, be extended to include the following described lands, to wit: Section 9, south half, section 10, southwest quarter, and that part of the east half south of Generals Highway; section 11, that part south of Generals Highway; section 13, that part south of Generals Highway; section 14, that part south of Generals Highway, section 15, east half, northwest quarter, and the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter, section 21, southeast quarter of the northeast quarter, and the east half of the southeast quarter; section 22, east half, east half of the northwest quarter, southwest quarter of the northwest quarter and southwest quarter; section 23; section 24, that part south of Generals Highway; sections 25 and 26; section 27, east half, northwest quarter, and that part of the southwest quarter north and east of the crest of Redwood Mountain; section 34, that part east of the crest of Redwood Mountain; sections 35 and 36, township 14 south, range 28 east; all of sections 1 and 2; section 3, that part east of the crest of Redwood Mountain; section 11, that part east and north of the crest of Redwood Mountain; all of section 12; section 13, that part north of the Sequoia National Park boundary, township 15 south, range 28 east, Mount Diablo meridian, which shall be subject to all laws, rules, and regulations applicable to the said park. Such extension of the General Grant grove section of the said park shall not interfere with the movement of stock and vehicular traffic without charge, under general regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, to and from national forest lands on either side of the said park extension. The Kings Canyon National Park shall receive and use all moneys prior to or after March 4, 1940, appropriated for General Grant National Park.

(Mar. 4, 1940, ch. 40, §2, 54 Stat. 43 .)

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Nation's Christmas Tree

Joint Res. Mar. 29, 1956, ch. 98, 70 Stat. 57 , provided: "That the General Grant tree, which is located in the Kings Canyon National Park, in Fresno County, California, and which was dedicated by the Federal Government in 1926 as the Nation's Christmas Tree, is hereby declared to be a national shrine in memory of the men and women of the Armed Forces who have served and fought and died to keep this Nation free and to preserve the spiritual, human, and civil rights which are the essence of our American heritage. The Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service, shall make appropriate provision for the perpetual care and maintenance of such shrine.

"Sec. 2. Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to change the name of the General Grant tree."

Adjustment of Boundaries and Rights

Act June 5, 1942, ch. 333, §§1, 2, 56 Stat. 310 , authorized the Secretary of the Interior to adjust the boundaries of privately owned lands in the General Grant grove section of Kings Canyon National Park in accordance with a survey made by the county surveyor of Tulare County, California; to amend existing patents or relinquish or grant parcels of land therein according to said survey; and to pay from departmental appropriations expenses of surveys and investigations necessary to carry out provisions of this act.