79–006 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 115–624 

WEST FORK FIRE STATION ACT OF 2017 

APRIL 9, 2018.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. BISHOP of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 4609] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 4609) to provide for the conveyance of a Forest Service 

site in Dolores County, Colorado, to be used for a fire station, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 4609 is to provide for the conveyance of a 

Forest Service site in Dolores County, Colorado, to be used for a 

fire station. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Dolores County, located in southwestern Colorado, is home to 

part of the 1.8 million-acre San Juan National Forest. As a neighbor to the San Juan National Forest, Dolores County plays an active role in fire suppression efforts on both private and public 

lands. 

Two attempts to acquire an appropriate site for a fire station in 

Dolores County on either County-owned or private land failed due 

to insufficient space or accessibility constraints. The Dolores County Board of County Commissioners then began working with the 

U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Colorado Congressional delegation, 

and local stakeholders to identify a suitable piece of property for 

fire station construction. H.R. 4609 is the result of those local efforts. The bill authorizes the conveyance of 3.61 acres of USFS land 

to Dolores County for the purposes of constructing the West Fork 

Fire Station. 

2 

1Dolores County Board of County Commissioners (DCBCC), Letter dated November 13, 2017. 

2 Id. 3Statement of Glen Casamassa, Associate Deputy Chief, USFS, U.S. Department of Agriculture before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Public 

Lands, Forests and Mining on February, 7, 2018 https://www.energy.senate.gov/public/ 

index.cfm/files/serve?File-id=904436BC-6120-49C9-9AE6-0F2ABFF6603D. 

According to information provided by the County, the West Fork 

Fire Station will serve as a volunteer station and its construction 

will help to address insurability issues currently facing home and 

land owners in the West Fork area of Dolores County.1 West Fork 

residents have had trouble obtaining insurance for their homes and 

land due to the lack of emergency response services in the area. 

Currently, area residents must rely on the Dolores Fire Protection 

District located 26 miles away in Montezuma County in an emergency. The new fire station will allow the community improved access to emergency services and allow residents to address their current insurability issues. 

Dolores County will pay all necessary conveyance costs as well 

as the costs associated with site preparation, construction of the 

new fire station and the long-term costs of equipping and manning 

the station. The building of the new fire station has been covered 

by a private $100,000 donation. Dolores County will provide heavy 

equipment and operators to prepare the building site and construct 

a new driveway with culverts and signage.2

On February 7, 2018, USFS testified on identical companion legislation, S. 2218, before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining. Its testimony noted that USFS ‘‘supports Dolores County in 

their efforts to provide improved emergency services to county residents and visitors.’’ USFS ‘‘agrees that the parcel of land in question is in a practical location to provide’’ emergency management 

services and ‘‘there are not similarly situated non-federal lands of 

limited acreage available that provide the same locational benefits.’’ 3

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 4609 was introduced on December 11, 2017, by Congressman Scott R. Tipton (R–CO). The bill was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands. The Subcommittee held a hearing on 

the bill on February 15, 2018. On March 14, 2018, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was 

discharged by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered 

and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

3 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET

ACT

1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of rule XIII of 

the Rules of the House of Representatives and sections 308(a) and 

402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has 

received the following estimate for the bill from the Director of the 

Congressional Budget Office: 

U.S. CONGRESS, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, Washington, DC, March 22, 2018. 

Hon. ROB BISHOP, 

Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4609, the West Fork Fire 

Station Act of 2017. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jeff LaFave. 

Sincerely, 

KEITH HALL, 

Director. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 4609—West Fork Fire Station Act of 2017 

H.R. 4609 would require the Forest Service to convey roughly 

four acres of federal land to Dolores County, Colorado, at that 

county’s request and without consideration. 

Because H.R. 4609 would require the county to pay any administrative costs associated with the conveyance, implementing the bill 

would not affect spending subject to appropriation. 

Using information provided by the Forest Service, CBO estimates 

that enacting the bill also would not affect direct spending because 

the affected lands are not expected to generate any income over the 

next 10 years and it would not affect revenues. Therefore, pay-asyou-go procedures do not apply. 

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4609 would not increase net 

direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 

10-year periods beginning in 2028. 

H.R. 4609 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. This estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to provide for the conveyance of a Forest Service site 

in Dolores County, Colorado, to be used for a fire station. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 

4 

9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any directed 

rule makings. 

Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not establish or 

reauthorize a program of the federal government known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was not included in 

any report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 

pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111–139 or identified in the 

most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program Information Act (Public Law 95–220, 

as amended by Public Law 98–169) as relating to other programs. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes to existing law. 

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