I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2766

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to exchange certain lands in the 

Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests in the State of Colorado. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 17, 2003

Mr. BEAUPREZ (for himself, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, and Mr. TANCREDO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to exchange certain 

lands in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests 

in the State of Colorado.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arapaho and Roosevelt 

5 National Forests Land Exchange Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Certain National Forest System lands near 

9 Empire, Colorado, are needed by the city of Golden, 
2

•HR 2766 IH 

1 Colorado, to facilitate the construction of a water 

2 pipeline to transport domestic water supplies into 

3 storage for the city and its residents. 

4 (2) Such National Forest System lands, com5 prising approximately 9.84 acres in total, are of lim6 ited utility for public administration or recreation 

7 and other use by virtue of their largely steep terrain, 

8 irregular boundary, and lack of easy public access. 

9 (3) The city of Golden owns, or has an option 

10 to purchase, several parcels of non-Federal land 

11 comprising a total of approximately 141 acres near 

12 Evergreen and Argentine Pass, Colorado, which it is 

13 willing to convey to the United States for addition 

14 to the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. 

15 (4) The non-Federal lands owned or optioned 

16 by the city of Golden, if conveyed to the United 

17 States, will eliminate inholdings in the National For18 est System, result in administrative cost savings to 

19 the United States by reducing costs of forest bound20 ary administration, and provide the United States 

21 with environmental and public recreational use bene22 fits (including enhanced Federal land ownership 

23 along the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail) 

24 that greatly exceed the benefits of the Federal land 

25 the United States will convey in exchange. 
3

•HR 2766 IH 

1 (5) It is in the public interest to authorize, di2 rect, expedite, and facilitate completion of a land ex3 change involving these Federal and non-Federal 

4 lands to assist the city of Golden in providing addi5 tional water to its residents and to acquire valuable 

6 non-Federal lands for permanent public use and en7 joyment. 

8 SEC. 3. LAND EXCHANGE, ARAPAHO AND ROOSEVELT NA9 TIONAL FORESTS, COLORADO. 

10 (a) CONVEYANCE BY THE CITY OF GOLDEN.—The 

11 land exchange directed by this section shall proceed if, 

12 within 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

13 the city of Golden, Colorado (in the section referred to 

14 as the ‘‘City’’), offers to convey title acceptable to the 

15 United States to the following non-Federal lands: 

16 (1) Certain lands located near the community 

17 of Evergreen in Park County, Colorado, comprising 

18 approximately 80 acres, as generally depicted on a 

19 map entitled ‘‘Non-Federal Lands—Cub Creek Par20 cel’’, dated June, 2003. 

21 (2) The surface estate of certain lands located 

22 near Argentine Pass, in Clear Creek and Summit 

23 Counties, Colorado, comprising approximately 

24 60.909 acres in 15 patented mining claims, as gen-
4

•HR 2766 IH 

1 erally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Argentine Pass/

2 Continental Divide Trail Lands’’, dated June 2003. 

3 (b) CONVEYANCE BY UNITED STATES.—Upon re4 ceipt of acceptable title to the non-Federal lands identified 

5 in subsection (a), the Secretary of Agriculture shall simul6 taneously convey to the City all right, title and interest 

7 of the United States in and to certain Federal lands, com8 prising approximately 9.84 acres, as generally depicted on 

9 a map entitled ‘‘Empire Federal Lands—Parcel 12’’, 

10 dated June 2003. 

11 (c) EQUAL VALUE EXCHANGE.—

12 (1) APPRAISAL.—The values of the Federal 

13 lands identified in subsection (b) and the non-Fed14 eral lands identified in subsection (a)(1) shall be de15 termined by the Secretary through appraisals per16 formed in accordance with the Uniform Appraisal 

17 Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions (December 

18 20, 2000) and the Uniform Standards of Profes19 sional Appraisal Practice. Except as provided in 

20 paragraph (3), the conveyance of the surface estates 

21 of the non-Federal lands identified in subsection 

22 (a)(2) shall be considered as a donation for all pur23 poses of law. 

24 (2) SURPLUS OF NON-FEDERAL VALUE.—If the 

25 final appraised value, as approved by the Secretary, 
5

•HR 2766 IH 

1 of the non-Federal lands identified in subsection 

2 (a)(1) exceeds the final appraised value, as approved 

3 by the Secretary, of the Federal land identified in 

4 subsection (b), the values may be equalized—

5 (A) by reducing the acreage of the non6 Federal lands identified in subsection (a)(1) to 

7 be conveyed, as determined appropriate and ac8 ceptable by the Secretary and the City; 

9 (B) the making of a cash equalization pay10 ment to the City; including a cash equalization 

11 payment in excess of the amount authorized by 

12 section 206(b) of the Federal Land Policy and 

13 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)); 

14 or 

15 (C) a combination of acreage reduction 

16 and cash equalization. 

17 (3) SURPLUS OF FEDERAL VALUE.—If the final 

18 appraised value, as approved by the Secretary, of the 

19 Federal land identified in subsection (b) exceeds the 

20 final appraised value, as approved by the Secretary, 

21 of the non-Federal lands identified in subsection 

22 (a)(1), the values shall be equalized by the Secretary 

23 preparing a statement of value for the non-Federal 

24 lands identified in subsection (a)(2) and utilizing 

25 such value to the extent necessary to equalize value. 
6

•HR 2766 IH 

1 If the Secretary declines to accept the non-Federal 

2 lands identified in subsection (a)(2) for any reason, 

3 the City shall make a cash equalization payment to 

4 the Secretary as necessary to equalize the values of 

5 the Federal land and the non-Federal lands identi6 fied in subsection (a)(1). 

7 (d) EXCHANGE COSTS.—To expedite the land ex8 change under this section and save administrative costs 

9 to the United States, the City shall be required to pay 

10 for—

11 (1) any necessary land surveys; and 

12 (2) the costs of the appraisals, which shall be 

13 performed in accordance with Forest Service policy 

14 on approval of the appraiser and the issuance of ap15 praisal instructions. 

16 (e) TIMING AND INTERIM AUTHORIZATION.—It is the 

17 intent of Congress that the land exchange directed by this 

18 Act should be completed no later than 120 days after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act. Pending completion of 

20 the land exchange, the City is hereby authorized to con21 struct a water pipeline on the existing course of the 

22 Lindstrom ditch through the Federal land identified in 

23 subsection (b) without further action by the Secretary, if 

24 such construction has not been authorized by the Sec25 retary. Such encumbrance on the Federal land prior to 
7

•HR 2766 IH 

1 conveyance shall not be considered for purposes of the ap2 praisal. 

3 (f) ALTERNATIVE SALE AUTHORITY.—If the land ex4 change is not completed for any reason, the Secretary is 

5 hereby authorized and directed to sell the Federal land 

6 identified in subsection (b) to the City at its final ap7 praised value, as approved by the Secretary. Any money 

8 received by the United States in such sale shall be consid9 ered money received and deposited pursuant to Public 

10 Law 90–171 (16 U.S.C. 484(a)); commonly known as the 

11 ‘‘Sisk Act’’, and may be used, without further appropria12 tion, for the acquisition of lands for addition to the Na13 tional Forest System in the State of Colorado. 

14 (g) INCORPORATION, MANAGEMENT, AND STATUS OF

15 ACQUIRED LANDS.—Land acquired by the United States 

16 under the land exchange shall become part of the Arapaho 

17 and Roosevelt National Forests, and the exterior boundary 

18 of such forest is hereby modified, without further action 

19 by the Secretary, as necessary to incorporate the non-Fed20 eral lands identified in subsection (a)(1) and an additional 

21 40 acres as depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Arapahoe and 

22 Roosevelt National Forest Boundary Adjustment—Cub 

23 Creek’’, dated June 2003. Upon their acquisition, lands 

24 or interests in land acquired under the authority of this 

25 Act shall be administered in accordance with the laws, 
8

•HR 2766 IH 

1 rules and regulations generally applicable to the National 

2 Forest System. For purposes of Section 7 of the Land 

3 and Water Conservation Fund Act of l965 (16 U.S.C. 

4 460l–9), the boundaries of the Arapaho and Roosevelt Na5 tional Forests, as adjusted by this subsection shall be 

6 deemed to be the boundaries of such forest as of January 

7 1, 1965. 

8 (h) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—The Secretary, with 

9 the agreement of the City, may make technical corrections 

10 or correct clerical errors in the maps referred to in this 

11 section or adjust the boundaries of the Federal lands to 

12 leave the United States with a manageable post-exchange 

13 or sale boundary. In the event of any discrepancy between 

14 a map, acreage estimate, or legal description, the map 

15 shall prevail unless the Secretary and the City agree other16 wise. 

17 (i) REVOCATION OF ORDERS AND WITHDRAWAL.—

18 Any public orders withdrawing any of the Federal lands 

19 identified in subsection (b) from appropriation or disposal 

20 under the public land laws are hereby revoked to the ex21 tent necessary to permit disposal of the Federal lands. 

22 Upon the enactment of this Act, if not already withdrawn 

23 or segregated from the entry and appropriation under the 

24 public land laws, including the mining and mineral leasing 

25 laws and the Geothermal Steam Act of l970 (30 U.S.C. 
9

•HR 2766 IH 

1 1001 et. seq.), the Federal lands are hereby withdrawn 

2 until the date of their conveyance to the City.

Æ