I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2736

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to dispose of certain Federal land

holdings in the State of Oklahoma, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

DECEMBER 7, 1995

Mr. LUCAS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture and

Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to dispose of certain

Federal land holdings in the State of Oklahoma, and

for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 TITLE I—DISPOSAL OF LANDS IN

2 OKLAHOMA

3 SECTION 101. SALE OF BLACK KETTLE AND RITA BLANCA

4 NATIONAL GRASSLANDS AND PROPERTY

5 SURROUNDING OPTIMA LAKE AND RECRE6 ATION AREA.

7 (a) GENERAL DIRECTIVE.—Not later than Septem8 ber 30, 1996, and in accordance with this Act—

9 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture shall offer for

10 sale to the public at fair market value all right, title,

11 and interest of the United States in and to the sur12 face estate of those portions of the Cibola National

13 Forest, other than the property subject to section

14 102, which are more particularly described as—

15 (A) the Black Kettle National Grasslands,

16 located in the State of Oklahoma; and

17 (B) the Rita Blanca National Grasslands,

18 located in the State of Oklahoma; and

19 (2) the Secretary of the Army, acting through

20 the Chief of Engineers, shall offer for sale to the

21 public at fair market value all right, title, and inter22 est of the United States in and to the real property

23 acquired by the United States for the project for

24 flood control, Optima Lake, North Canadian River
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1 Basin, Oklahoma, authorized by the Flood Control

2 Act of 1936 (49 Stat. 1570).

3 (b) RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL.—Prior to offering

4 lands for sale to the public under subsection (a), the Sec5 retary shall afford the individuals from whom the lands

6 were acquired by the United States or their descendants

7 the opportunity to acquire the lands at fair market value.

8 (c) WAIVER.—The sale and transfer of lands under

9 this Act shall not be subject to the Federal Property and

10 Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 471).

11 SEC. 102. TRANSFERS OF PROPERTY FOR CERTAIN PUBLIC

12 PURPOSES.

13 (a) SKIPOUT LAKE, DEAD INDIAN LAKE, AND

14 SPRING CREEK LAKE.—Not later than September 30,

15 1996, and upon request of the State of Oklahoma, the

16 Secretary of Agriculture shall transfer, without consider17 ation, to the Department of Tourism and Recreation of

18 the State of Oklahoma those lands located in Roger Mills

19 County, Oklahoma, known as Skipout Lake, Dead Indian

20 Lake, and Spring Creek Lake, more particularly described

21 as follows:

22 (1) SKIPOUT LAKE.—West Half and Northeast

23 Quarter of Section 5, Township 13 North, Range 25

24 West, Indian Meridian, Roger Mills County, Okla25 homa.
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1 (2) DEAD INDIAN LAKE.—East Half of Section

2 26 and the East Half of Northwest Quarter of Sec3 tion 26, Township 15 North, Range 24 West, Indian

4 Meridian, Roger Mills County, Oklahoma.

5 Southeast Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of

6 Section 23, Township 15 North, Range 24 West, In7 dian Meridian, Roger Mills County, Oklahoma.

8 (3) SPRING CREEK LAKE.—East Half of the

9 Southwest Quarter of Section 15, Township 15

10 North, Range 25 West, Indian Meridian, Roger

11 Mills County, Oklahoma.

12 West Half of the Southwest Quarter of Section

13 14, Township 15 North, Range 25 West, Indian Me14 ridian, Roger Mills County, Oklahoma.

15 (b) OPTIMA LAKE, NORTH CANADIAN RIVER BASIN,

16 OKLAHOMA.—

17 (1) PROJECT DEAUTHORIZATION.—The project

18 for flood control, Optima Lake, North Canadian

19 River Basin, Oklahoma, authorized by the Flood

20 Control Act of 1936 (49 Stat. 1570), is not author21 ized after the date of the enactment of this Act.

22 (2) TRANSFER OF PROPERTY.—

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

24 transfer to the State of Oklahoma, without con25 sideration, all right, title, and interest of the
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1 United States to that portion of the real prop2 erty described in subparagraph (C), including

3 all works, structures, and other improvements

4 to the real property.

5 (B) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The deed

6 of conveyance for the transfer of real property

7 and improvements under subparagraph (A)

8 shall include such terms and conditions as may

9 be necessary to ensure that—

10 (i) the State of Oklahoma will hold

11 the United States harmless from all claims

12 arising from or through the operation of

13 the real property and improvements; and

14 (ii) the State of Oklahoma will pro15 hibit in perpetuity the construction of any

16 residential or commercial structure in the

17 flood plain created by the dam located on

18 the real property and if the State does not

19 prohibit such construction all or any por20 tion of the real property will in its then ex21 isting condition, at the option of the Unit22 ed States, revert to the United States.

23 (C) The real property referred to in sub24 paragraph (A) consists of lands associated with

25 the earthen dam, and the recreation area adja-
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1 cent to the dam, as generally depicted on the

2 map of the Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District,

3 entitled ‘‘Optima Lake Public Hunting Area’’,

4 dated 1993.

5 TITLE II—WASHITA BATTLE6 FIELD NATIONAL HISTORIC

7 SITE

8 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

9 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Washita Battlefield

10 National Historic Site Act of 1995.’’.

11 SEC. 202. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

12 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

13 (1) the Battle of the Washita, November 27,

14 1868, was one of the largest engagements between

15 Plains tribes and the United States Army on the

16 Southern Great Plains. The site is a registered Na17 tional Historic Landmark;

18 (2) Lt. Colonel George A. Custer, leading the

19 7th United States Calvary, attacked the sleeping

20 Cheyenne village of peace chief Black Kettle. Cus21 ter’s attack resulted in more than 150 Indian cas22 ualties, many of them women and children;

23 (3) the Battle of the Washita symbolizes the

24 struggle of the Southern Great Plains tribes to
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1 maintain their traditional lifeways and not to submit

2 to reservation confinement; and

3 (4) the Washita battle site possesses a high de4 gree of integrity and the cultural landscape is essen5 tially intact. The Cheyenne village site has not been

6 altered substantially except by periodic flooding of

7 the Washita River.

8 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are to—

9 (1) recognize the importance of the Battle of

10 the Washita as a nationally significant element of

11 frontier military history and as a symbol of the

12 struggles of the Southern Great Plains tribes to

13 maintain control of their traditional use areas; and

14 (2) establish the site of the Battle of the

15 Washita as a national historic site and provide op16 portunities for American Indian groups including the

17 Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribe to be involved in the for18 mulation of plans and educational programs for the

19 national historic site.

20 SEC. 203. ESTABLISHMENT.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to provide for the preser22 vation and interpretation of the Battle of the Washita,

23 there is hereby established the Washita Battlefield Na24 tional Historic Site in the State of Oklahoma (hereafter

25 in this title referred to as the ‘‘national historic site’’).
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1 (b) BOUNDARY.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The national historic site

3 shall consist of—

4 (A) approximately 326 acres, as generally

5 depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Washita Battle6 field National Historic Site’’, numbered

7 20,000A and dated 12/95; and

8 (B) the private lands subject to conserva9 tion easements referred to in section 205(b).

10 (2) MAP.—The map referred to in paragraph

11 (1) shall be on file in the offices of the Director of

12 the National Park Service, Department of the Inte13 rior, and other appropriate offices of the National

14 Park Service. The Secretary of the Interior (here15 after in this title referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’)

16 may, from time to time, make minor revisions in the

17 boundary of the national historic site in accordance

18 with section 7(c) of the Land and Water Conserva19 tion Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–4 and following).

20 SEC. 204. ADMINISTRATION.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the

22 Director of the National Park Service, shall manage the

23 national historic site in accordance with this title and the

24 provisions of law generally applicable to units of the Na25 tional Park System, including ‘‘An Act to establish a Na-
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1 tional Park Service, and for other purposes’’, approved

2 August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16 U.S.C. 1, 2–4), and

3 the Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666; 16 U.S.C. 461–

4 467).

5 (b) MANAGEMENT PURPOSES.—The Secretary shall

6 manage the national historic site for the following pur7 poses, among others:

8 (1) To protect and preserve the national his9 toric site, including the topographic features impor10 tant to the battle site, artifacts and other physical

11 remains of the battle, and the visual scene as closely

12 as possible as it was at the time of the battle.

13 (2) To interpret the cultural and natural re14 sources of the historic site, providing for public un15 derstanding and appreciation of the area in such

16 manner as to perpetuate these qualities and values

17 for future generations.

18 (c) CONSULTATION AND TRAINING.—The Secretary,

19 acting through the Director of the National Park Service,

20 shall consult regularly with the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribe

21 on the formulation of the management plan provisions re22 ferred to in section 206(5) of this title and on preparation

23 of educational programs provided to the public. The Sec24 retary is authorized to enter into cooperative agreements

25 with the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribe, its subordinate boards,
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1 committees, enterprises, and traditional leaders to further

2 the purposes of this title.

3 SEC. 205. ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY.

4 (a) PARK BOUNDARIES.—Within the boundaries of

5 the national historic site, the Secretary is authorized to

6 acquire lands and interest in lands by donation, purchase

7 with donated or appropriated funds, or exchange, except

8 that—

9 (1) no lands or interest in lands within the his10 toric site may be acquired without the consent of the

11 owner thereof, and

12 (2) lands and interests in lands owned by the

13 State of Oklahoma or any political subdivision there14 of may be acquired only by donation.

15 (b) CONSERVATION EASEMENTS.—The Congress

16 finds that the State of Oklahoma, acting through the

17 Oklahoma Historical Society, will work with local land

18 owners to acquire and hold in perpetuity conservation

19 easements in the vicinity of the national historic site as

20 deemed necessary for the visual and interpretive integrity

21 of the site. The intent of the easements will be to keep

22 occupancy of the land in private ownership and use of the

23 land in general agriculture.
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1 SEC. 206. MANAGEMENT PLAN.

2 Within five years after the date funds are made avail3 able for purposes of this title, the Secretary, acting

4 through the Director of the National Park Service, shall

5 prepare a general management plan for the national his6 toric site. The plan shall address, but not be limited to,

7 each of the following:

8 (1) A resource protection program.

9 (2) A visitor use plan including programs and

10 facilities that will be provided for public use, includ11 ing the location and cost of public facilities.

12 (3) A research and curation plan.

13 (4) A highway signing program.

14 (5) Involvement by the Cheyenne-Arapaho

15 Tribe in the formulation of educational programs for

16 the national historic site.

17 (6) Involvement by the State of Oklahoma and

18 other local and national entities willing to share in

19 the responsibilities of developing and supporting the

20 national historic site.

21 SEC. 207. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

23 as may be necessary to carry out this title.

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