99–006

107TH CONGRESS REPORT " HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ! 2d Session 107–665

DIRECTING THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE TO CONVEY 

CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY IN THE DIXIE NATIONAL FOREST IN THE STATE OF UTAH

SEPTEMBER 23, 2002.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. HANSEN, from the Committee on Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 5180] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 5180) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain 

real property in the Dixie National Forest in the State of Utah, 

having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an 

amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. 

The amendment is as follows: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following:

SECTION 1. CONVEYANCE OF REAL PROPERTY. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this 

Act, subject to valid, existing rights, the Secretary of Agriculture shall convey to 

Kirk R. Harrison, who owns property in Pinto Valley, Utah, at fair market value, 

all right, title, and interest, including appurtenances, of the United States to—

(1) the land depicted on the Map as ‘‘Purchase A’’; and 

(2) the land depicted on the Map as ‘‘Purchase B’’. 

(b) MAP.—

(1) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this section, the term ‘‘Map’’ means the 

map entitled ‘‘Exhibit G’’ and dated ‘‘September 10, 2002’’. 

(2) ON FILE.—The Map shall be kept on file and available for public inspection 

in the office of the Chief of the Forest Service. The Secretary of Agriculture may 

make technical corrections to the Map. 

(c) TREATMENT OF PROCEEDS.—All funds received pursuant to this Act shall be deposited in the fund established under section 8 of Public Law 90–171 (16 U.S.C. 

484a; commonly known as the ‘‘Sisk Act’’) and shall remain available to the Secretary of Agriculture until expended for the acquisition of lands and interests in 

land for inclusion in the Dixie National Forest. 

(d) APPRAISAL.—The Secretary shall determine the fair market value of the property conveyed by subsection (a) by using nationally recognized appraisal standards, 

including, to the extent appropriate—

(1) the uniform appraisal standards for Federal land acquisitions; 

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(2) the uniform standards of professional appraisal practice; and 

(3) other applicable law.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 5180 is to direct the Secretary of Agriculture 

to convey certain real property in the Dixie National Forest in the 

State of Utah. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

In 1860, before the creation of the Dixie National Forest, the 

State of Utah, and the U.S. Forest Service, the Harrison family settled in the Pinto Valley located in present day Washington County, 

Utah. The Harrisons established property boundaries by erecting 

‘‘rip gut’’ fences that exist still today. In 1885, John J. Harrison 

and Benjamin Platt applied for and were granted patents to certain 

lands in Pinto Valley. 

Surveys were conducted by the U.S. Surveyor General’s Office in 

1881, establishing section corners in the valley. Another government survey in 1905 established the boundary of the Dixie National Forest. In 1984, the U.S. Forest Service retained an outside 

firm to perform surveys in the area, including lands adjacent to the 

Harrison property. When boundary markers were set and the survey was complete, the Harrison family and the United States Government became aware that portions of the lands to which the Harrisons claimed title were in violation of the boundary described in 

the 1885 patent. 

Discrepancies over the boundary are due to several factors. During the 1984 survey, the U.S. Forest Service surveyors did not accept an ‘‘historic mound’’ monument used in previous surveys, and 

failed to locate the southwest corner of section 2 where the 1881 

survey rock monument is located. This 1881 monument is located 

37 feet from the 1905 rock monument, creating even more confusion. In fact, several corners have at least two different survey 

monuments where only one survey monument should be used. Additionally, the 1984 Forest Service markers are inconsistent with 

Washington County corner markers. Lastly, the patents received in 

1885 were not based on as-built surveys of the properties, which 

left Mr. Harrison and Mr. Pratt no way of knowing that there was 

an inconsistency between the patents they received and the actual 

fence lines. 

This legislation seeks to correct this problem by directing the 

Secretary of Agriculture to convey 112 acres to Kirk Harrison at 

fair market value. This legislation is necessary because the U.S. 

Forest Service lacks administrative authority to resolve this type of 

boundary dispute. This legislation would create a straight and 

manageable boundary along the land managed by the U.S. Forest 

Service. This legislation would further direct the Secretary to utilize the funds from this sale to acquire high priority environmentally sensitive lands within the Dixie National Forest to further the mandates and objectives of the agency. 

The Committee on Resources recognizes that portions of the land 

conveyed by this legislation are currently subject to active grazing 

permits administered by the U.S. Forest Service. The Committee 

recognizes that grazing privileges are valuable, and that an action 

that could be construed as a taking of those privileges must be folVerDate Sep 04 2002 05:03 Sep 24, 2002 Jkt 099006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR665.XXX HR665
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lowed by adequate compensation. It is therefore the intent of the 

Committee on Resources that before any provision of this legislation is carried out, the buyer must reach a mutual agreement with 

the permit holders for: (1) the relinquishment of the affected AUMs 

to the U.S. Forest Service; and (2) providing just compensation to 

those permit holders for such relinquishment. It is also the intent 

of the Committee that this agreement be private and reached on 

a willing-seller basis. The Committee requests that if the two parties reach an agreement, a copy of the executed agreement be submitted for the Committee on Resources as proof of the fulfillment 

of the Committee’s intent for this legislation. 

The Committee on Resources does not intend for any provision 

in this legislation to be construed as transferring or conveying any 

water right. If the parties have any disputes over water rights pertaining to the land conveyed by this legislation, the Committee 

urges the parties to consult with the Water Engineer of the State 

of Utah. 

The Committee on Resources does not intend for this legislation 

to infringe on any valid existing right, including, but not limited 

to, public access to water systems or other national forest lands not 

conveyed by this legislation. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 5180 was introduced on July 23, 2002, by Congressman 

James V. Hansen (R–UT). The bill was referred to the Committee 

on Resources and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 

Forests and Forest Health. On July 25, 2002, the Subcommittee 

held a hearing on the bill. On September 12, 2002, the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The bill was discharged 

from further consideration by the Subcommittee on Forests and 

Forest Health by unanimous consent. Congressman Hansen offered 

an amendment in the nature of a substitute to reflect negotiations 

that occurred between the parties that decreased the acreage of the 

conveyance from 560 acres to 112 acres. The amendment was 

adopted by unanimous consent. 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 inVerDate Sep 04 2002 05:03 Sep 24, 2002 Jkt 099006 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR665.XXX HR665
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cluded 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 tax expenditures. According to the Congressional 

Budget Office, this bill would result in proceeds of approximately 

$150,000 to the federal government in 2003, which would then be 

spent by the Secretary of Agriculture by 2004. 

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:

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, September 20, 2002. 

Hon. JAMES V. HANSEN, 

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. 5180, a bill to direct the 

Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain real property in the 

Dixie National Forest in the state of Utah. 

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

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

Sincerely, 

BARRY B. ANDERSON

(For Dan L. Crippen, Director). 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 5180—A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 

certain real property in the Dixie National Forest in the State 

of Utah 

CBO estimates that H.R. 5180 would not significantly affect the 

federal budget. The bill would affect direct spending (including offsetting receipts); therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply, 

but we estimate that any such effects would be negligible. H.R. 

5180 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. 5180 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to 

a private landowner about 112 acres of federal lands within the 

Dixie National Forest in Utah. The private landowner would pay 

fair market value for those lands. The bill would authorize the Secretary to use proceeds from the conveyance to acquire other lands 

and interests for inclusion in the Dixie National Forest. 

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According to the Forest Service, the lands to be sold currently 

generate no significant receipts and are not expected to do so over 

the next 10 years. Based on information from the agency, CBO estimates that proceeds from the proposed sale would total up to 

$150,000 in 2003, and that the agency would spend those proceeds 

over the 2003–2004 period. Hence, we estimate that, under H.R. 

5180, the net change in direct spending in those years would be 

negligible. 

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

estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, 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. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

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

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