Statement by the President Upon Signing Bill Relating to the Administrative Jurisdiction Over Certain Public Lands in Oregon

I HAVE TODAY signed S. 2225 "Relating to the administrative jurisdiction of certain public lands in the State of Oregon, and for other purposes."

My action in doing so represents the settlement of a controversy over some 462,000 acres of so-called "O and C" lands which has persisted over many, many years. The lands lie within the indemnity limits of the Oregon and California Railroad land grant originally authorized in 1866. Under this Act, the controverted lands will be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture as national forest lands and revenues therefrom will be distributed to the Oregon counties in accordance with laws governing distribution of receipts from "O and C" lands. The measure furthermore authorizes land exchanges between the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior to end the "checker-board" pattern of jurisdiction which has plagued the administration of public lands in Oregon in the past.

I congratulate Senator Guy Cordon and Congressman Harris Ellsworth for the part they have played in bringing this matter to a solution.