II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1562

To authorize an exchange of land between the Secretary of Agriculture and

Secretary of the Interior and Big Sky Lumber Co.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 13, 1997

Mr. BAUCUS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To authorize an exchange of land between the Secretary

of Agriculture and Secretary of the Interior and Big

Sky Lumber Co.

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 ‘‘Gallatin Land Consoli5 dation Act of 1998’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) the land north of Yellowstone National Park

9 possesses outstanding natural characteristics and
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1 wildlife habitats that would make the land a highly

2 valuable addition to the National Forest System;

3 (2) it is in the interest of the United States for

4 the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into an Option

5 Agreement for the acquisition of land owned by Big

6 Sky Lumber Co.; and

7 (3) it is in the interest of the United States

8 to—

9 (A) establish a logical and effective owner10 ship pattern for the Gallatin National Forest,

11 substantially reducing long-term costs for tax12 payers; and

13 (B) consolidate the Gallatin National For14 est in a manner that will enable the public to

15 have access to and enjoy the many recreational

16 uses of the land.

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

18 In this Act:

19 (1) BSL.—The term ‘‘BSL’’ means Big Sky

20 Lumber Co., an Oregon joint venture, and its suc21 cessors and assigns, and any other entities having a

22 property interest in the BSL land.

23 (2) BSL LAND.—The term ‘‘BSL land’’ means

24 the up to approximately 55,000 acres of land owned

25 by BSL that is to be acquired by the Secretary of
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1 Agriculture, as depicted in Exhibit A to the Option

2 Agreement.

3 (3) EXCHANGE AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Ex4 change Agreement’’ means the agreement entered

5 into between BSL and the Secretary of Agriculture

6 under section 4(e).

7 (4) OPTION AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Option

8 Agreement’’ means the agreement dated llll

9 and entitled ‘‘Option Agreement for the Acquisition

10 of Big Sky Lumber Co. Lands Pursuant to the Gal11 latin Range Consolidation and Protection Act of

12 1993’’ and the exhibits and maps attached to the

13 agreement.

14 SEC. 4. GALLATIN LAND CONSOLIDATION COMPLETION.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—If BSL offers fee title to the BSL

16 land, including mineral interests, that is acceptable to the

17 United States—

18 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture shall accept a

19 warranty deed to the BSL land;

20 (2) the Secretary of Agriculture shall convey to

21 BSL, subject to valid existing rights and to such

22 other terms, conditions, reservations, and exceptions

23 as may be agreed on by the Secretary of Agriculture

24 and BSL, fee title to up to approximately 25,000

25 acres of National Forest System land and appur-
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1 tenances thereto as depicted in Exhibit B to the Op2 tion Agreement;

3 (3) the Secretary of Agriculture shall grant to

4 BSL timber harvest rights to up to approximately

5 50,000,000 board feet of timber in accordance with

6 subsection (c) and as described in Exhibit C to the

7 Option Agreement;

8 (4) subject to availability of funds, the Sec9 retary of Agriculture shall purchase land belonging

10 to BSL in the Taylor Fork area, as depicted in Ex11 hibit D, at a purchase price of not more than

12 $6,500,000; and

13 (5) the Secretary of the Interior shall convey to

14 BSL, by patent or otherwise, subject to valid exist15 ing rights and to such other terms, conditions, res16 ervations, and exceptions as may be agreed to by the

17 Secretary of the Interior and BSL, fee title to ap18 proximately 1,860 acres of Bureau of Land Manage19 ment land, as depicted in Exhibit B to the Option

20 Agreement.

21 (b) VALUATION.—The property and other assets ex22 changed by BSL and the United States under subsection

23 (a) shall be approximately equal in value, as determined

24 by the Secretary of Agriculture.

25 (c) TI MBER HARVEST RIGHTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture

2 shall prepare, grant to BSL, and administer the tim3 ber harvest rights identified in Exhibit C to the Op4 tion Agreement, over a period of 5 consecutive years

5 after the date of enactment of this Act.

6 (2) ENTIRE TIMBER SALE PROGRAM OF THE

7 GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST.—Timber harvest vol8 ume shall constitute the timber sale program for the

9 Gallatin National Forest for that 5-year period.

10 (3) SUBSTITUTION.—If exceptional cir11 cumstances, such as natural catastrophe, changes in

12 law or policy, or extraordinary environmental or fi13 nancial circumstances prevent the Secretary of Agri14 culture from conveying the timber harvest rights

15 identified in Exhibit C to the Option Agreement, the

16 Secretary of Agriculture shall replace the value of

17 the diminished harvest rights by—

18 (A) substituting equivalent timber harvest

19 rights volume from the same market area;

20 (B) conveying national forest lands con21 taining merchantable timber within the Gallatin

22 National Forest; or

23 (C) making a payment from funds made

24 available to the Secretary of Agriculture out of

25 the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
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1 (4) PROCEDURES.—

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The following proce3 dures shall apply to all national forest timber

4 harvest rights identified for exchange under

5 subsection (a):

6 (i) IDENTIFICATION OF TIMBER.—The

7 Secretary of Agriculture shall designate

8 Federal timber, as depicted in Exhibit C to

9 the Option Agreement, for exchange to

10 BSL.

11 (ii) HARVEST SCHEDULE.—The Sec12 retary of Agriculture and BSL shall mutu13 ally develop and agree upon schedules for

14 all national forest timber to be conveyed to

15 BSL in the exchange.

16 (iii) OPEN MARKET.—All timber har17 vest rights granted to BSL in the exchange

18 shall be offered for sale by BSL through

19 the competitive bid process.

20 (iv) SMALL BUSINESS.—All timber

21 harvest rights granted to BSL in the ex22 change shall be subject to compliance by

23 BSL with Forest Service small business

24 program procedures in effect as of the date

25 of enactment of this Act, including con-
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1 tractual provisions for payment schedules,

2 harvest schedules, and bonds.

3 (v) COMPLIANCE WITH OPTION AND

4 EXCHANGE AGREEMENTS.—All timber har5 vest rights granted to BSL in the exchange

6 and all timber harvested under the ex7 change shall comply with the terms of the

8 Option Agreement and the Exchange

9 Agreement.

10 (B) BINDING EFFECT.—The procedures

11 under subparagraph (A) shall be binding on

12 BSL and its assigns, contractors, and succes13 sors in interest.

14 (d) EXCHANGE AGREEMENT.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture

16 shall offer to enter into an Exchange Agreement

17 with BSL that—

18 (A) describes the non-Federal and Federal

19 land and interests in lands to be exchanged;

20 (B) identifies the terms, conditions, res21 ervations, exceptions, and rights-of-way convey22 ances; and

23 (C) describes the terms for the harvest

24 rights of timber granted under subsection

25 (a)(3).
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1 (2) CONSISTENCY.—The Exchange Agreement

2 shall be consistent with this Act and the Option

3 Agreement.

4 (3) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—On completion of the

6 Exchange Agreement, the Secretary of Agri7 culture shall submit the Exchange Agreement

8 to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re9 sources of the Senate, the Committee on Re10 sources of the House of Representatives, and

11 each member of the Montana congressional del12 egation; and

13 (B) DELAYED EFFECTIVENESS.—The Ex14 change Agreement shall not take effect until 30

15 days after the date on which the Exchange

16 Agreement is submitted in accordance with sub17 paragraph (A).

18 (e) RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—As part of the exchange under

19 subsection (a)—

20 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture, under the au21 thority of the Federal Land Policy and Management

22 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), shall convey

23 to BSL such easements in or other rights-of-way

24 over National Forest System land as may be agreed
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1 to by the Secretary of Agriculture and BSL in the

2 Exchange Agreement; and

3 (2) BSL shall convey to the United States such

4 easements in or rights-of-way over land owned by

5 BSL as may be agreed to by the Secretary of Agri6 culture and BSL in the Exchange Agreement.

7 (f) QUALITY OF TITLE.—

8 (1) DETERMINATION.—The Secretary of Agri9 culture shall review the title for the BSL land de10 scribed in subsection (a) and, within 60 days after

11 receipt of all applicable title documents from BSL,

12 determine whether—

13 (A) the applicable title standards for Fed14 eral land acquisition have been satisfied or the

15 quality of the title is otherwise acceptable to the

16 Secretary of Agriculture;

17 (B) all draft conveyances and closing docu18 ments have been received and approved;

19 (C) a current title commitment verifying

20 compliance with applicable title standards has

21 been issued to the Secretary of Agriculture; and

22 (D) except as provided in section 8(b) (i)-

23 (iii) of the Gallatin Range Consolidation and

24 Protection Act of 1993 (107 Stat. 992), the

25 title includes both the surface and subsurface
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1 estates without reservation or exception (except

2 by the United States or the State of Montana,

3 by patent) including—

4 (i) minerals, mineral rights, and min5 eral interests;

6 (ii) timber, timber rights, and timber

7 interests;

8 (iii) water, water rights, and ditch

9 conveyances; and

10 (iv) any other interest in the property.

11 (2) CONVEYANCE OF TITLE.—If the quality of

12 title does not meet Federal standards or is otherwise

13 determined to be unacceptable to the Secretary of

14 Agriculture, the Secretary of Agriculture shall advise

15 BSL regarding corrective actions necessary to make

16 an affirmative determination under subparagraph

17 (1).

18 (g) TIMING OF IMPLEMENTATION.—

19 (1) EXCHANGE AGREEMENT.—The Exchange

20 Agreement shall be completed and executed not later

21 than 60 days after the date of enactment of this

22 Act.

23 (2) LAND-FOR-LAND EXCHANGE.—The Sec24 retary of Agriculture shall accept the conveyance of

25 land described in subsection (a) not later than 60
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1 days after the Secretary of Agriculture has entered

2 into the Exchange Agreement and made an affirma3 tive determination of quality of title.

4 (3) LAND-FOR-TIMBER EXCHANGE.—The Sec5 retary of Agriculture shall make the timber harvest

6 rights described in subsection (a)(3) available over 5

7 consecutive years following the date of enactment of

8 this Act. Specific procedures for execution of the

9 harvest rights shall be specified in the Exchange

10 Agreement.

11 (4) PURCHASE.—The Secretary of Agriculture

12 shall complete the purchase of BSL land under sub13 section (a)(4) not later than 60 days after the date

14 on which appropriated funds are made available and

15 an affirmative determination of quality of title is

16 made with respect to the BSL land.

17 SEC. 5. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

18 (a) MINOR CORRECTIONS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Option Agreement and

20 the Exchange Agreement shall be subject to such

21 minor corrections as may be agreed to by the Sec22 retary of Agriculture and BSL.

23 (2) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary of Agri24 culture shall notify the Committee on Energy and

25 Natural Resources of the Senate, the Committee on
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1 Resources of the House of Representatives, and each

2 member of the Montana congressional delegation of

3 any changes made pursuant to this subsection.

4 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Option Agreement

5 and Exchange Agreement shall be filed with the county

6 clerks for Gallatin County, Park County, Madison County,

7 and Granite County, Montana, and shall be on file and

8 available for public inspection in the appropriate offices

9 of the Forest Service.

10 (c) STATUS OF LAND.—All land conveyed to the

11 United States under this Act shall be added to and admin12 istered as part of the Gallatin National Forest and

13 Deerlodge National Forest, as appropriate, in accordance

14 with the Act of March 1, 1911 (commonly known as the

15 ‘‘Weeks Act’’) (36 Stat. 961, chapter 186), and other laws

16 (including regulations) pertaining to the National Forest

17 System.

18 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of Agri19 culture shall ensure that sufficient funds are made avail20 able to the Gallatin National Forest to carry out this Act.

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