I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3650 

To authorize States to select and acquire certain National Forest System 

lands to be managed and operated by the State for timber production 

and other purposes under the laws of the State, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 

Agriculture, 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 authorize States to select and acquire certain National 

Forest System lands to be managed and operated by 

the State for timber production and other purposes 

under the laws of the State, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘State National Forest Management Act of 2015’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. State selection of eligible portions of the National Forest System for acquisition and management. 

Sec. 4. Transition provisions during the exchange-transition period. 

Sec. 5. Transition provisions outside the transition period. 

Sec. 6. Miscellaneous duties of the parties and other provisions relating to the 

transfer. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) The term ‘‘Commissioner’’ means the head 

4 of the Department of Natural Resources of a State 

5 or comparable State agency. 

6 (2) The term ‘‘eligible portions of the National 

7 Forest System’’ means all right, title, and interest of 

8 the United States in and to the surface and sub9 surface lands and real property (including structures 

10 and facilities owned by the Forest Service) included 

11 as part of the National Forest System in a State. 

12 The term does not include Conservation System 

13 Units (as that term is defined in the Alaska Na14 tional Interest Lands Conservation Act) and areas 

15 or national memorials protected by an Act of Con16 gress. 

17 (3) The term ‘‘Federal obligation’’— 

18 (A) means any obligation or duty of the 

19 Forest Service arising out of any lease, permit, 

20 license, contract, and other legal instruments 

21 issued by or with the Forest Service relating to 


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1 eligible portions of the National Forest System; 

2 and 

3 (B) does not include any obligation with 

4 respect to a Federal law, regulation, or policy. 

5 (4) The term ‘‘forest operations’’ means the de6 velopment of forest operating plans for eligible por7 tions of the National Forest System acquired by a 

8 States, including the conduct of inventories of tim9 ber resources and the engineering of necessary ac10 cess needed necessary for timber management and 

11 related management activities. 

12 (5) The term ‘‘patent date’’ means the last day 

13 of the selection-transition period. 

14 (6) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

15 of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the For16 est Service. 

17 (7) The term ‘‘selection date’’ means the date 

18 on which a State elects to acquire eligible portions 

19 of the National Forest System and notifies the Sec20 retary of such election under section 3(a). 

21 (8) The term ‘‘selection-transition period’’ 

22 means the period beginning on the selection date 

23 and ending no more than one year thereafter, on the 

24 patent date. 


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1 (9) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

2 States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

3 (10) The term ‘‘State forest practices law’’ 

4 means a forest practices law applicable to State or 

5 privately owned forest land in a State, including es6 tablished silvicultural best management practices or 

7 other regulations for forest management practices 

8 related to clean water, soil quality, wildlife or forest 

9 health. 

10 (11) The term ‘‘State obligation’’ means any 

11 obligation or duty of the State arising out of any 

12 lease, permit, license, contract and other legal in13 struments issued by or with the State relating to the 

14 selected lands under this Act. 

15 SEC. 3. STATE SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE PORTIONS OF THE 

16 NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM FOR ACQUISI17 TION AND MANAGEMENT. 

18 (a) SELECTION AUTHORIZED; CONVEYANCE RE19 QUIRED.—During the 10-year period beginning on the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, if a State elects pursu21 ant to subsection (b) to select and acquire eligible portions 

22 of the National Forest System in that State under the 

23 terms and conditions of this Act and notifies the Secretary 

24 of such selection, then the Secretary shall convey the eligi25 ble portions of the National Forest System so selected to 


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1 the State in accordance with subsection (d). All convey2 ances shall be subject to valid existing rights. 

3 (b) FORM OF ELECTION.—The election by a State 

4 to select and acquire eligible portions of the National For5 est System in that State pursuant to subsection (a) shall 

6 be executed in the form of a bill enacted into law by the 

7 legislature of that State. Such a law shall provide, at a 

8 minimum, the following: 

9 (1) That the State elects to acquire eligible por10 tions of the National Forest System in that State— 

11 (A) pursuant to purchase for fair-market 

12 value; 

13 (B) in exchange for State lands of equal 

14 value; 

15 (C) in satisfaction of land selection rights 

16 pursuant to the law by which the State was ad17 mitted to the Union; or 

18 (D) any combination of the preceding 

19 paragraphs. 

20 (2) Identifies the eligible portions of the Na21 tional Forest System to be acquired and the method 

22 by which the State will acquire the land. 

23 (3) Acceptance by the State that acquisition of 

24 the identified eligible portions of the National Forest 

25 System is subject to valid existing rights. 


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1 (4) Acceptance by the State of the procedures 

2 specified in this Act and the transition provisions of 

3 this Act. 

4 (5) In the case of the State of Alaska, accept5 ance by the State of the rights and obligations of the 

6 United States under the Alaska Native Claims Set7 tlement Act with respect to acquired lands, rights in 

8 such lands, and use of lands acquired by that State 

9 shall not be infringed by that State. 

10 (6) Specification that up to 50 percent of the 

11 annual harvest of timber from eligible portions of 

12 the National Forest System to be acquired shall be 

13 offered in at least 10-year contracts, and timber 

14 sales shall, to the maximum extent practicable, pro15 vide sufficient volume to meet the needs of all wood 

16 processing operations existing in that State as of the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, and forest oper18 ations shall be performed in compliance with the 

19 State forest practices law. 

20 (7) Acceptance by the State that eligible por21 tions of the National Forest System open to mineral 

22 entry under the general mining laws of the United 

23 States shall remain open to mineral entry under 

24 State law unless subsequently changed by a State 

25 mineral closing order. 


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1 (c) MULTIPLE STATE LAWS; ACREAGE LIMITA2 TION.—During the selection period specified in subsection 

3 (a), a State may enact more than one law to select and 

4 acquire eligible portions of the National Forest System in 

5 that State, except that the total quantity of National For6 est System land acquired by the State under this Act may 

7 not exceed 2,000,000 acres. 

8 (d) PROCEDURE.—Beginning on the selection date 

9 for a State’s acquisition of eligible portions of the National 

10 Forest System in that State, the Secretary shall prepare 

11 patents conveying the National Forest System lands se12 lected by the State and shall convey such patents to the 

13 State on the patent date. The duty of the Secretary to 

14 prepare and convey such patents under this Act shall be 

15 purely ministerial and conveyance of the patent on the 

16 patent date shall not be withheld or conditioned by any 

17 other provision of law except as provided herein. The 

18 United States Supreme Court shall have exclusive jurisdic19 tion to issue such writs and compel such actions as may 

20 be necessary to accomplish the conveyance made under 

21 this Act. 

22 (e) OTHER PROPERTY.—Beginning on the selection 

23 date for a State’s acquisition of eligible portions of the 

24 National Forest System in that State, in addition to other 

25 conveyances made under this Act, the Secretary shall conVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:38 Oct 01, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3650.IH H3650

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1 vey the right and title to and interest of the United States 

2 in all other types of property (including real and personal 

3 property) used for purposes of operating, administering, 

4 and managing the acquired National Forest System land 

5 in that State. Such property shall be transferred on the 

6 patent date and include only that property which is owned 

7 by the United States and used by the Forest Service pri8 marily on the eligible portions of the National Forest Sys9 tem selected by the State. 

10 (f) OTHER USES.—Beginning on the selection date 

11 and concurrent with the selection and conveyance of the 

12 National Forest System lands and property under this 

13 Act, the Secretary shall transfer all existing special use 

14 permits related to the acquired National Forest System 

15 lands and property to the State. 

16 SEC. 4. TRANSITION PROVISIONS DURING THE EXCHANGE17 TRANSITION PERIOD. 

18 (a) EXISTING OBLIGATIONS OF THE UNITED

19 STATES.—The United States shall remain obligated for all 

20 Federal obligations incurred prior to the patent date. 

21 (b) EMPLOYEES.—During the selection-transition pe22 riod, to the extent practicable, the State shall interview 

23 each person employed by the Forest Service on the date 

24 of the enactment of this Act whose employment is made 

25 redundant by this Act for purposes of reemployment by 


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1 the State in a comparable job within the new State admin2 istrative system for the National Forest System lands ac3 quired by the State under this Act. Employees who do not 

4 secure employment with the State shall have the option 

5 of placement in an equivalent position available within the 

6 Federal Government. 

7 (c) MANAGEMENT PENDING CONVEYANCE.—During 

8 the selection-transition period and until the patent date, 

9 except as provided otherwise under this Act, eligible por10 tions of the National Forest System not yet patented to 

11 the State under this Act shall be administered and man12 aged under applicable Federal law and land management 

13 plans. 

14 (d) TRANSFER OF CERTAIN RECEIPTS.—Receipts 

15 from all rentals or sales occurring on eligible portions of 

16 the National Forest System selected by a State during the 

17 selection-transition period shall be kept in escrow and 

18 transferred to the State on the patent date. 

19 SEC. 5. TRANSITION PROVISIONS OUTSIDE THE TRANSI20 TION PERIOD. 

21 (a) MANAGEMENT OF SELECTED LANDS.—Begin22 ning on the patent date, eligible portions of the National 

23 Forest System conveyed to a State under this Act shall 

24 be administered and managed primarily for timber pro25 duction pursuant to the State forest practices law, except 


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1 as otherwise provided in this Act for the period provided 

2 by this Act. 

3 (b) LAND DESIGNATIONS.—Land use designations in 

4 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act for eligible 

5 portions of the National Forest System conveyed to a 

6 State under this Act under the applicable land manage7 ment plan shall continue in effect until the patent date. 

8 (c) SUBSISTENCE USE AFTER THE SELECTION

9 DATE.—In the case of eligible portions of the National 

10 Forest System in the State of Alaska, the Secretary of 

11 the Interior shall retain continuing authority to manage 

12 subsistence uses of fish and wildlife on National Forest 

13 System lands conveyed under this Act until the patent 

14 date. 

15 (d) ACCESS.— 

16 (1) EASEMENTS.—The Secretary, in accordance 

17 with the applicable forest transportation plan for a 

18 unit of the National Forest System and any trans19 portation plan of the State, shall provide access in 

20 the form of easements across lands owned by the 

21 United States to and from eligible portions of the 

22 National Forest System conveyed to the State. The 

23 duty of the Secretary to deliver patents for such 

24 easements shall be purely ministerial and shall not 

25 be withheld or conditioned by any other provision of 


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1 law. The Secretary shall enter into agreements with 

2 the Commissioner for the purpose of sharing the 

3 costs of common use roads. 

4 (2) STATE DUTY.—Following the patent date, a 

5 State shall issue easements to the United States for 

6 reasonable access across acquired eligible portions of 

7 the National Forest System in the manner provided 

8 in paragraph (1). 

9 (e) MINING CLAIMS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Federal mining claims lo11 cated pursuant to the General Mining Law of 1872 

12 (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.) on eligible portions of the Na13 tional Forest System before the selection date shall 

14 remain subject to the laws, rules, regulations, and 

15 policies of the United States, but such laws, rules, 

16 regulations, and policies shall be administered by the 

17 State. The right and ability of a claimholder to pat18 ent such a mining claim and enjoy reasonable access 

19 to the claim shall not be infringed. An application to 

20 patent a Federal mining claim located on eligible 

21 portions of the National Forest System may be 

22 made by the claimholder with the State and shall 

23 constitute an election by the claim holder to be sub24 ject to Federal mining claim patent procedures ad25 ministered by the State. 


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1 (2) ESCROW AND SUBSEQUENT TRANSFER.— 

2 During the selection-transition period, the Federal 

3 Government shall escrow all fees and revenues, if 

4 any, due on Federal mining claims on eligible por5 tions of the National Forest System and on the pat6 ent date transfer those receipts to the State on the 

7 patent date to the account established by the State 

8 for purposes of the law specified in section 3(b)(7). 

9 (3) STATE DUTY.—Any mining claims filed on 

10 eligible portions of the National Forest System in a 

11 State after the selection date shall be subject only to 

12 the laws of the State. 

13 (f) TRANSFER OF OTHER RECEIPTS.—Beginning 

14 with the fiscal year of a State after the patent date, 

15 escrowed fees and fees from all existing and future issued 

16 special use permits and all other land management re17 ceipts on eligible portions of the National Forest System 

18 conveyed to the State under this Act, net of reasonable 

19 cost of administration, shall be transferred to the State. 

20 (g) EXISTING OBLIGATIONS AFTER PATENT

21 DATE.—On the patent date, a State shall assume all Fed22 eral obligations and duties and receive all rights of the 

23 Forest Service, except that the State shall assume no obli24 gation for any claim for damages or specific performance 

25 relating to a contract or permit, if such claim arose before 


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1 the patent date, unless the State receives the benefit from 

2 such an obligation. 

3 SEC. 6. MISCELLANEOUS DUTIES OF THE PARTIES AND 

4 OTHER PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE 

5 TRANSFER. 

6 (a) HAZARDOUS MATERIALS.—As promptly as prac7 ticable after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

8 Secretary shall make available to a State for review and 

9 inspection, all pertinent records relating to hazardous ma10 terials, if any, on eligible portions of the National Forest 

11 System available for selection under this Act. The respon12 sibility for costs of remedial action related to such mate13 rials shall be borne by those entities responsible under ex14 isting law. If no party responsible for the hazardous mate15 rials can be determined, remediation responsibility and all 

16 costs shall remain with the Secretary and remediation as 

17 agreed to by the Commissioner shall be initiated as soon 

18 as practical after the patent date. 

19 (b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Selection of land pursuant 

20 to this Act shall not be subject to judicial review in any 

21 court of the United States, except— 

22 (1) to the extent a right of judicial review is 

23 conferred specifically by the United States Constitu24 tion; 

25 (2) otherwise conferred by this Act; or 


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1 (3) when sought by the State on matters per2 taining to rights conferred by this Act. 

3 (c) RULEMAKING.—No formal rules under section 

4 553 of title 5, United States Code, are required to imple5 ment this Act. 

6 (d) SURVEY.—The patent for and use of eligible por7 tions of the National Forest System conveyed to a State 

8 pursuant to this Act shall not be subject to completion 

9 of a field survey and may be issued based on a protraction 

10 survey. However, the Secretary shall complete a field sur11 vey following patent. 

12 (e) ENCUMBRANCES.—For purposes of an orderly 

13 transfer of eligible portions of the National Forest System 

14 to State ownership and transition to State management, 

15 the Secretary shall provide a list of encumbrances and 

16 uses of record and otherwise known on the selected lands 

17 to the Commissioner during the selection-transition pe18 riod. The lands selected under this Act shall be subject 

19 to all existing encumbrances. 

Æ 


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