39–010

Calendar No. 23

109TH CONGRESS REPORT " SENATE ! 1st Session 109–12

CENTRAL NEVADA RURAL CEMETERIES ACT 

FEBRUARY 23, 2005.—Ordered to be printed

Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of February 17, 2005

Mr. DOMENICI, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 254]

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 254) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to 

convey certain land to Lander County, Nevada, and the Secretary 

of the Interior to convey certain land to Eureka, having considered 

the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

The purpose of S. 254 is to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to 

convey certain land to Lander County, Nevada, and the Secretary 

of the Interior to convey certain land to Eureka County, Nevada, 

for continued use as cemeteries. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

The town of Kingston, Nevada, located in Lander County, desires 

approximately 8.75 acres of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land to 

supplement the 1.25 acres of USFS land conveyed to it in 2000 for 

use as a cemetery. The additional land will ensure that areas of 

unmarked graves are included in the town’s cemetery, and that 

space is available for future graves in Kingston Cemetery. The additional land will bring the total acreage to the original ten acres 

that the town had access to under a Special Use Permit. The town 

of Kingston wants to continue use of the cemetery through local 

public ownership rather than through the Federal agency permitting process. In addition, the bill would convey ten acres of land 

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managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to Eureka 

County, Nevada, for continued use for the Maiden’s Grave Cemetery. The site continues to receive occasional burials and has been 

identified by the BLM as suitable for disposal. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 254 was introduced by Senator Reid for himself and Senator 

Ensign on February 1, 2005. An identical bill (S. 1819) was introduced by Senators Reid and Ensign in the 108th Congress. The 

Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests held a hearing on S. 

1819 on March 10, 2004 (S. Hrg. 108–490). S. 1819 was attached 

as a stand alone title of H.R. 620 and passed the Senate, by unanimous consent, as amended, on December 7, 2004. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an open 

business session on February 9, 2005, by a voice vote of a quorum 

present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 254. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 provides the short title. 

Section 2 provides findings and directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey, for no consideration, 10 acres of National Forest 

land to the city of Lander, Nevada, to expand an existing cemetery, 

within 90 days after passage of the Act. It also directs the Secretary to grant an access easement for persons desiring to visit the 

cemetery and includes reversion provisions if the county uses the 

land for any purpose other than a cemetery. 

Section 3 provides findings and directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey, for no consideration, 10 acres of National Forest 

land to Eureka County, Nevada, to expand an existing cemetery. 

It also directs the Secretary to grant an access easement for persons desiring to visit the cemetery and includes reversion provisions if the county uses the land for any purpose other than a cemetery. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of the costs of this measure has been provided the Congressional Budget Office. 

S. 254—Central Nevada Rural Cemeteries Act 

CBO estimates that implementing S. 254 would not significantly 

affect the federal budget and that enacting the bill would not affect 

direct spending or revenues. S. 254 contains no intergovernmental 

or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

S. 254 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to convey, without consideration, certain 

lands to two counties in Nevada for use as cemeteries. According 

to both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, 

the land to be conveyed currently generates no significant receipts 

and is not expected to do so over the next 10 years; hence, CBO 

estimates that conveying it would not affect offsetting receipts (a 

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credit against direct spending). We also estimate that federal 

spending to complete the proposed conveyance would be less than 

$50,000, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Megan Carroll and 

Julie Middleton. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, 

Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

S. 254. 

The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing 

Government-established standards or significant economic responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 

No personal information would be collected in administering the 

program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. 

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of S. 254, as ordered reported. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The views of the administration were included in testimony received by the Committee at a hearing on S. 1819, an identical bill 

from the 108th Congress, on March 10, 2004.

STATEMENT OF MARK REY, UNDER SECRETARY, NATURAL

RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

* * * * * * *

S. 1819 Central Nevada Rural Cemeteries Act 

* * * * * * *

In summary, Section 1 of S. 1819 requires the Secretary 

through the Chief of the Forest Service to convey to Lander County, Nevada, for no consideration, all right, title, 

and interest of the United States in and to the 8.75 acres 

of National Forest System land known as Kingston Cemetery. 

In accordance with Public Law 85–569, the Townsite 

Act, we have already conveyed 1.25 acres of land (on which 

the cemetery is located) to the Town of Kingston for $500 

on August 1, 2000. At the time of conveyance, the Town 

of Kingston indicated the 1.25 acres encompassed all 

known marked and unmarked gravesites. The Town of 

Kingtson indicated that the 1.25 acres was adequate to accommodate their future expansion needs. Specifically, all 

of the gravesites were accounted for within a half acre 

fenced area that the 1.25 acres encompassed. The additional 0.75 acres were intended for parking and anticipated expansion of the current cemetery. 

If new unmarked gravesites have been discovered or the 

needs of the Kingston Cemetery have changed and are in 

the public interest, we would be supportive of making additional Federal lands available to the county or city for 

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fair market value and granting the county an easement to 

maintain the access road to the cemetery as a county road. 

If Lander County is not willing to pay fair market value 

to purchase this land, we would be willing to consider authorizing its current and future use of this land under a 

special-use permit authorization. 

The Department does not object to making additional 

Federal lands available to Lander County, Nevada in S. 

1819, but the Department believes that the Forest Service 

can meet the objectives of Section 1 of this legislation 

under its current statutory authorities that would allow it 

to convey National Forest System lands to Lander, County 

for fair-market value in cash. 

For example, under the Townsite Act, the Secretary of 

Agriculture may convey, for fair market value, up to 640 

acres of land to established communities located adjacent 

to National Forests in Alaska or the contiguous western 

states. Within certain limits, the Sisk Act authorizes the 

Secretary of Agriculture to exchange lands with states, 

counties, or municipal governments or public school districts for land or money. 

Moreover, under the General Exchange Act, the Secretary of Agriculture can exchange National Forest System 

lands with State and local governments. These laws require the Secretary of Agriculture to obtain fair market 

value for exchanges or sales of National Forest lands. Indeed, the Federal policy, in recent decades, has moved toward obtaining a fair return to the public for the value of 

lands conveyed out of Federal ownership. 

* * * * * * *

STATEMENT OF TOM LONNIE, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, MIN- ERALS, REALTY AND RESOURCE PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

* * * * * * * ‘‘The Maiden’s Grave’’ is the final resting place of Lucinda Duncan who on August 15, 1863, died on her way to 

the gold and silver fields of Nevada. Mrs. Duncan at 71 

was ‘‘the mother of the wagon train’’ which consisted largely of her seven surviving children, their spouses and a 

multitude of grandchildren. Following her death, the 

wagon train held a ceremony and their leaving was memorialized by a member of the party: ‘‘* * * we paid our last 

debt & respect to the remains of the departed mother. 

There upon that wild & lonely spot, we left her, until Gabriel shall sound his trumpet in the last day. The scene 

was truly a sad one to leave a beloved mother on the wild 

and desolate plains. A board with the name of the deceased was put up at the head & boulder was laid over the 

grave to keep wolves from scratching in it. After this the 

train moved on.’’

Today, the site continues to receive occasional burials. 

Therefore, it is considered a ‘‘modern cemetery’’ and does 

not qualify for the National Register of Historic Places. 

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The BLM, through its planning process, has identified the 

cemetery as suitable for disposal and the county has indicated a strong interest in taking responsibility for this parcel. 

While we would typically expect to receive market value 

for such a transfer, we understand the unique circumstances in this case, and the unique needs of Eureka 

County. Under other circumstances, we might have considered a Recreation and Public Purposes (R&PP) Act conveyance to lower the cost to the county, but the need for permanency in this transfer prevents this from being a viable 

option, thus the need for legislative intervention. We appreciate this opportunity to work cooperatively with local 

interests to the betterment of the community. 

During consideration of H.R. 272 by the House of Representatives, amendments were made to address the 

BLM’s concerns which were primarily of a technical nature 

and we support both H.R. 272 and its identical companion 

S. 1819. 

* * * * * * *

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 254, as ordered reported.

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