119TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 197 

AN ACT 

To provide for a land exchange in the Chippewa National 

Forest, Minnesota, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lake Winnibigoshish 

3 Land Exchange Act of 2025’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) BWLT.—The term ‘‘BWLT’’ means Big 

7 Winnie Land and Timber, LLC, a Minnesota Lim8 ited Liability Corporation. 

9 (2) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en10 titled ‘‘Heig Land Exchange’’ and dated December 

11 14, 2023. 

12 (3) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

13 means the approximately 17.5 acres of Federal land 

14 in Itasca County, Minnesota, generally depicted as 

15 the ‘‘Federal Parcel’’ on the Map. 

16 (4) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘non-Fed17 eral land’’ means the approximately 36.7 acres of 

18 non-Federal land in Itasca County, Minnesota, gen19 erally depicted as the ‘‘Non-Federal Parcel’’ on the 

20 Map. 

21 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

22 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 

23 Chief of the Forest Service. 

24 SEC. 3. EXCHANGE OF LAND. 

25 (a) EXCHANGE AUTHORIZED.—Subject to the provi26 sions of this Act, if BWLT offers to convey the non-Fed-
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1 eral land to the United States, the Secretary shall, not 

2 later than 1 year after the date on which such offer is 

3 made— 

4 (1) accept the offer; 

5 (2) convey to BWLT all right, title, and inter6 est of the United States in and to the Federal land, 

7 excepting and reserving an easement for road access 

8 to National Forest System land west of the Federal 

9 Parcel; and 

10 (3) accept from BWLT all right, title, and in11 terest of BWLT in and to the non-Federal land. 

12 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The exchange under sub13 section (a) shall be— 

14 (1) conditioned on title approval for the non15 Federal land by the Secretary in accordance with 

16 subsection (e); 

17 (2) conditioned on a cash equalization payment 

18 made by BWLT to the United States in accordance 

19 with subsection (c) if, under the appraisals con20 ducted in accordance with this Act, it is determined 

21 that the value of the Federal land exceeds the value 

22 of the non-Federal land; 

23 (3) conditioned on the satisfactory completion 

24 of a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment by 
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1 BWLT, provided to the Secretary, in advance of the 

2 acceptance of the non-Federal parcel; 

3 (4) subject to valid existing rights; and 

4 (5) subject to any other terms and conditions 

5 the Secretary determines appropriate. 

6 (c) EQUAL VALUE AND CASH EQUALIZATION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para8 graph (2), the exchange under subsection (a) shall 

9 be for equal value or the values shall be equalized 

10 by a cash payment. 

11 (2) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding any other 

12 provision of law, if the appraised value of the non13 Federal land to be conveyed to the United States ex14 ceeds the appraised value of the Federal land, a cash 

15 equalization payment by the United States to 

16 BWLT is hereby waived and the amount of such 

17 waived payment shall be considered a donation by 

18 BWLT to the United States for all purposes of law. 

19 (d) APPRAISALS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The value of the land to be 

21 exchanged under this Act shall be determined by ap22 praisals conducted by an independent and qualified 

23 appraiser mutually agreed to by the Secretary and 

24 BWLT. 
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1 (2) APPRAISAL STANDARDS.—The Secretary 

2 shall complete appraisals of the land to be ex3 changed under this Act in accordance with— 

4 (A) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for 

5 Federal Land Acquisitions; and 

6 (B) the Uniform Standards of Professional 

7 Appraisal Practice. 

8 (e) FORMAT.—Title to the non-Federal land to be 

9 conveyed to the United States under this Act shall be 

10 found sufficient by the Secretary pursuant to section 3111 

11 of title 40, United States Code. 

12 (f) MANAGEMENT OF ACQUIRED LAND.—The non13 Federal land acquired by the United States under sub14 section (a) shall be— 

15 (1) added to, and managed as part of, the 

16 Chippewa National Forest; and 

17 (2) managed in accordance with the laws, rules, 

18 and regulations pertaining to National Forest Sys19 tem lands. 

20 (g) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 

22 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

23 shall finalize the Map and legal descriptions of all 

24 land to be conveyed under this Act. 
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1 (2) CONTROLLING DOCUMENT.—In the case of 

2 a discrepancy between the Map and a legal descrip3 tion, the Map shall control. 

4 (3) CORRECTIONS.—The Secretary and BWLT, 

5 by mutual agreement, may correct any minor errors 

6 in the Map or in the legal descriptions, including 

7 with respect to the boundaries of the Federal land 

8 and the non-Federal land. 

9 (4) MAP ON FILE.—The Map and legal descrip10 tions shall be on file and available for public inspec11 tion in appropriate offices of the Forest Service. 

12 (h) CLOSING COSTS.—As a condition for the ex13 change under subsection (a), BWLT shall pay all closing 

14 costs associated with the exchange, including for— 

15 (1) title insurance and title search; 

16 (2) any applicable inspection fees, escrow fees, 

17 attorneys fees, and recording fees; and 

18 (3) any environmental analysis or resource sur19 vey required under Federal law, regulation, or pol20 icy, including a Phase I Environmental Site Assess21 ment of the non-Federal land. 

22 (i) SURVEY.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The exact acreages and legal 

24 descriptions of the Federal and non-Federal land to 
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1 be exchanged under subsection (a) shall be deter2 mined by surveys satisfactory to the Secretary. 

3 (2) COSTS OF SURVEY.—BWLT shall bear all 

4 costs associated with the surveys under paragraph 

5 (1). 

Passed the House of Representatives January 21, 

2025. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
119TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 197 

AN ACT 

To provide for a land exchange in the Chippewa 

poses. National Forest, Minnesota, and for other pur-