29–006 

108TH CONGRESS REPT. 108–666 " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session Part 1 

TO FACILITATE THE EXCHANGE OF SMALL TRACTS OF 

LAND 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2004.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. POMBO, from the Committee on Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 4617] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 4617) to amend the Small Tracts Act to facilitate the exchange of small tracts of land, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and 

recommend that the bill as amended do pass. 

The amendments are as follows: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. INTERCHANGES. 

(a) AUTHORITY.—Secretary of Agriculture shall complete the following interchanges: 

(1) An acquisition from Irving N. Christensen of that portion of SW1⁄4NW1⁄4

Section 16, T.19N., R.9E., MDM., lying southwesterly of California State Highway 49 and all that portion of S1⁄2NE1⁄4 Section 17, T.19N., R.9E., MDM., lying 

southwesterly of California State Highway 49 and northeasterly of the North 

Fork Yuba River, through interchange of an approximately equal value of National Forest System land lying northerly of California State Highway 49 within 

the N1⁄2N1⁄2 Section 17, T.19N., R.9E., MDM. The Federal land to be interchanged within the specifications of this paragraph shall be agreed upon by the 

Forest Supervisor and Irving N. Christensen. 

(2) An acquisition from Dennis W. McCreary and Cindy M. McCreary of a 

portion of Lot 19, Section 35, T. 20 N., R. 10 E, MDM in Downieville, Sierra 

County, California, through interchange of a portion of National Forest System 

land in Lot 121, Section 35, T. 20 N., R. 10 E, MDM in Downieville, Sierra 

County, California. The Federal land to be interchanged within the specifications of this paragraph shall be agreed upon by the Forest Supervisor and Dennis W. McCreary and Cindy M. McCreary. 

(b) DESCRIPTIONS.—The Secretary may modify the descriptions in section (a) to 

correct errors or to reconfigure the properties in order to facilitate a conveyance. 

(c) CONSIDERATION.—Consideration for a sale of land under this section may include cash, land, or a combination of both. 

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(d) VALUATION.—Any appraisals of land deemed necessary or desirable by the Secretary to carry out the purposes of this Act shall conform to the Uniform Appraisal 

Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions. 

(e) CASH EQUALIZATION.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may accept a cash equalization payment in excess of 25 percent of the value 

of any land exchanged under this subsection. 

(f) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, all lands described in section 

(b) are withdrawn from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws of the 

United States. 

SEC. 2. RECEIPTS. 

(a) DEPOSIT INTO FUND.— 

(1) The Secretary shall deposit the net receipts of an exchange under this Act 

in the fund established by Public Law 90–171 (commonly known as the ‘‘Sisk 

Act’’, 16 U.S.C. 484a). 

(2) Receipts from any exchange pursuant to this Act shall not be paid or distributed to the State or counties under any provision of law, or otherwise 

deemed as moneys received from the National Forest for purposes of the Act 

of May 23, 1908, or the Act of March 1, 1911 (16 U.S.C. 500, as amended), or 

the Act of March 4, 1913 (16 U.S.C. 501, as amended). 

(b) USE OF THE FUNDS.—Funds deposited pursuant to subsection (a) shall be 

available for expenditure, without further appropriation, for the acquisition of real 

property or interest in property for National Forest purposes in the State of California. 

Amend the title so as to read: 

A bill to facilitate the exchange of small tracts of land, and for other purposes. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

As ordered reported, the purpose of H.R. 4617 is to facilitate the 

exchange of small tracts of land and for other purposes. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Initially this legislation would have amended the Small Tracts 

Act to update the law. However, amendments adopted by the Committee on Resources removes this portion of the legislation and 

simply authorizes two land exchanges between private landowners 

and the U.S. Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture. Specifically, the Secretary of Agriculture would acquire two small 

tracts of land from two private landowners in the Tahoe National 

Forest. While the parcels are small enough to be exchanged under 

the Small Tracts Act, other antiquated limitations in that Act 

would prevent the exchange. 

In the first exchange, a private landowner would acquire the 

mineral rights to three acres of the surface estate his family has 

owned since 1939. In exchange, the Forest Service would acquire 

seven acres of land adjacent to the Tahoe National Forest’s Indian 

Valley Campground. The Department of Agriculture has indicated 

its interest in obtaining the seven acres in correspondence to the 

landowner. 

Due to boundary adjustment errors in 1935, the second exchange 

involves swapping two .87 acres of land. The first parcel is Forest 

Service land located in the landowner’s backyard. The second parcel is private land that abuts the first .87 acre parcel. This exchange would allow the Forest Service to gain access to a trailhead 

staging area. The Forest Service has indicated it would be an attractive exchange in correspondence to the landowner. 

Currently, there are no appraisals for the land in question. However, any valuation of the land for the Forest Service must meet 

the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions. 

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Additionally, any receipts received by the Forest Service must be 

deposited into the fund established by the Sisk Act. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 4617 was introduced on June 18, 2004 by Congressman 

John Doolittle (R-CA). The bill was referred primarily to the Committee on Resources and additionally to the Committee on Agriculture. Within the Committee on Resources, the bill was referred 

to the Subcommittee on Forest and Forest Health. On July 14, 

2004, the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The 

Subcommittee was discharged from further consideration of the bill 

by unanimous consent. Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR) offered 

an amendment in the nature of a substitute which removed language amending the Small Tracts Act and simply authorized the 

exchange of two parcels of land identified in the original bill. It was 

adopted by unanimous consent, with the understanding further 

changes may be needed in preparation for passage on the House 

floor. The bill as amended was then 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 Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in 

the body of this report. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United States 

grants Congress the authority to enact this bill. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) of rule 

XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 

308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this bill does not 

contain any new budget authority, credit authority, or an increase 

or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office, enactment of this bill could affect direct 

spending but any such spending would be ‘‘negligible.’’ 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does not 

authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the 

Rules of the House of Representatives does not apply. 

4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

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U.S. CONGRESS, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, Washington, DC, July 28, 2004. 

Hon. RICHARD W. POMBO, 

Chairman, Committee on Resources, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4617, a bill to facilitate 

the exchange of small tracts of land, and for other purposes. 

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

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan Carroll. 

Sincerely, 

ELIZABETH ROBINSON

(For Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director). 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 4617—A bill to facilitate the exchange of small tracts of land, 

and for other purposes 

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4617 would have no significant impact on the federal budget. The bill could affect direct 

spending, but we estimate that any such effects would be negligible. H.R. 4617 would not affect revenues. H.R. 4617 contains no 

intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would have no significant impact 

on the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

H.R. 4617 would require the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 

national forest system land in California to two private landowners 

in exchange for roughly eight acres of land owned by those individuals. The bill does not specify the federal land to be exchanged, but 

would require that it be of approximately equal value to the private 

land. If it is not, H.R. 4617 would authorize the Secretary to make 

or accept cash payments to equalize the value of property exchanged, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. Based on 

information from the Forest Service, CBO expects that any such 

payments exchanged under H.R. 4617 would be negligible. 

Conveying federal land under H.R. 4617 could reduce offsetting 

receipts if, under current law, that land would generate income 

under programs to develop natural resources. Based on information 

from the Forest Service, however, CBO expects that any federal 

land exchanged under H.R. 4617 would be highly unlikely to 

produce any significant income over the next 10 years. Hence, we 

estimate that completing the proposed exchanges would not significantly affect offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending). 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. This 

estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

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

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CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

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

COMMITTEE CORRESPONDENCE

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES, 

Washington, DC, August 25, 2004. 

Hon. BOB GOODLATTE, 

Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, 

Longworth HOB, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: On July 14, 2004, the Committee on Resources ordered favorably reported with amendments H.R. 4617, to 

amend the Small Tracts Act to facilitate the exchange of small 

tracts of land, and for other purposes. The bill was referred primarily to the Committee on Resources, with an additional referral 

to the Committee on Agriculture. The additional referral was triggered because the bill amended the Small Tracts Act, which affects 

both forests created from the public domain and those which were 

not. I have forwarded a copy of the draft bill report and reported 

text to your staff for review. 

As you will see, the amendments adopted in the Resources Committee no longer make changes to the Small Tracts Act. In fact, the 

only language remaining are two small land exchanges both involving the Tahoe National Forest in California, a forest created from 

the public domain. 

The author of the bill, Congressman John Doolittle, would like to 

see it considered by the House of Representatives before we adjourn the 108th Congress. Knowing that we have only a few weeks 

left at most, I ask that you allow the Committee on Agriculture to 

be discharged from further consideration of the bill so that it may 

be scheduled under suspension of the rules as soon as possible. 

This discharge in no way affects your jurisdiction over the subject 

matter of the original bill and it will not serve as precedent for future referrals. In addition, I would be pleased to include this letter 

and any response you might have in the report on the bill to be 

filed on September 7, 2004. 

Thank you for your consideration of my request and I look forward to bringing H.R. 4617 to the Floor soon. 

Sincerely, 

RICHARD W. POMBO, Chairman. 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, 

Washington, DC, September 8, 2004. 

Hon. RICHARD POMBO, 

Chairman, House Committee on Resources, 

Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Thank you for your August 25, 2004 correspondence regarding H.R. 4617, a bill to amend the Small Tracts 

Act to facilitate the exchange of small tracts of land, and for other 

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purposes. As you are aware, the Committee on Agriculture was 

granted an additional referral of this legislation. 

Knowing of your interest in expediting this legislation, I will discharge H.R. 4617 from further consideration by the Committee on 

Agriculture. I do so with the understanding that by discharging 

these bills the Committee on Agriculture does not waive any future 

jurisdictional claim over these or similar measures. In addition, in 

the event a conference with the Senate is requested on this matter, 

the Committee on Agriculture reserves the right to seek appointment of conferees, if it should become necessary. 

Thank you very much for your courtesy in this matter and I look 

forward to continued cooperation between our Committees as we 

deal with these issues in the future. 

Sincerely, 

BOB GOODLATTE, 

Chairman. 

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