II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1719

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior

to exchange land and other assets with Big Sky Lumber Co.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 6, 1998

Mr. BAUCUS (for himself and Mr. BURNS) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural

Resources

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary

of the Interior to exchange land and other assets with

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 make the land a valuable addi2 tion to the National Forest System;

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

4 establish a logical and effective ownership pattern

5 for the Gallatin National Forest, reducing long-term

6 costs for taxpayers and increasing and improving

7 public access to the forest; and

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

9 the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into an Option

10 Agreement for the acquisition of land owned by Big

11 Sky Lumber Co. to accomplish the purposes of this

12 Act.

13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

14 In this Act:

15 (1) BLM LAND.—The term ‘‘BLM land’’

16 means approximately 3,000 acres of Bureau of Land

17 Management land (including all appurtenances to

18 the land) that is proposed to be acquired by BSL,

19 as depicted in Exhibit B to the Option Agreement.

20 (2) BSL.—The term ‘‘BSL’’ means Big Sky

21 Lumber Co., an Oregon joint venture, and its suc22 cessors and assigns, and any other entities having a

23 property interest in the BSL land.

24 (3) BSL LAND.—The term ‘‘BSL land’’ means

25 approximately 55,000 acres of land (including all ap-
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1 purtenances to the land) owned by BSL that is pro2 posed to be acquired by the Secretary of Agriculture,

3 as depicted in Exhibit A to the Option Agreement.

4 (4) FOREST SYSTEM LAND.—The term ‘‘Forest

5 System land’’ means approximately 28,000 acres of

6 land (including all appurtenances to the land) owned

7 by the United States in the Gallatin National For8 est, Flathead National Forest, Deer Lodge National

9 Forest, Lolo National Forest, and Lewis and Clark

10 National Forest that is proposed to be acquired by

11 BSL, as depicted in Exhibit B to the Option Agree12 ment.

13 (5) OPTION AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Option

14 Agreement’’ means the document signed by BSL,

15 dated llllll and entitled ‘‘Option Agree16 ment for the Acquisition of Big Sky Lumber Co.

17 Lands Pursuant to the Gallatin Range Consolidation

18 and Protection Act of 1993’’, and the exhibits (in19 cluding an exchange agreement) and maps attached

20 to the agreement.

21 SEC. 4. GALLATIN LAND CONSOLIDATION COMPLETION.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi23 sion of law, if BSL offers title to the BSL land, including

24 mineral interests, that is acceptable to the United States

25 and meets the requirements of subsection (e)—
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1 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture shall accept a

2 warranty deed to the BSL land and a quit claim

3 deed to the mineral interests in the BSL land;

4 (2) the Secretary of Agriculture shall convey to

5 BSL, subject to valid existing rights and to such

6 other terms, conditions, reservations, and exceptions

7 as may be agreed on by the Secretary of Agriculture

8 and BSL fee title to the Forest System land ;

9 (3) the Secretary shall grant to BSL timber

10 harvest rights to approximately 20,000,000 board

11 feet of timber in accordance with subsection (c) and

12 as described in Exhibit C to the Option Agreement;

13 (4)(A) subject to the availability of funds, the

14 Secretary of Agriculture shall purchase the portion

15 of the BSL land in the Taylor Fork area depicted

16 on Exhibit D to the Option Agreement at a purchase

17 price of not more than $6,500,000; and

18 (B) to extent that funds are not available, the

19 Secretary of Agriculture shall acquire the remaining

20 Taylor Fork sections through an exchange of assets;

21 and

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

23 BSL, by patent or otherwise, subject to valid exist24 ing rights and to such other terms, conditions, res25 ervations, and exceptions as may be agreed to by the
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1 Secretary of the Interior and BSL, fee title to the

2 BLM land.

3 (b) VALUATION.—The property and other assets ex4 changed by BSL and the United States under subsection

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

6 by the Secretary of Agriculture.

7 (c) TIMBER HARVEST RIGHTS.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31

9 of the second full calendar year that begins after the

10 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall

11 prepare, grant to BSL, and commence administra12 tion of the timber harvest rights identified in Ex13 hibit C to the Option Agreement.

14 (2) GRANTS.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

16 grant timber harvest rights to BSL not earlier

17 than the date that is 45 days after the date on

18 which the Secretary issues a decision notice to

19 grant the timber harvest rights, or, if such a

20 decision notice is appealed, after the date of

21 final resolution of the appeal.

22 (B) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not

23 grant timber harvest rights that are the subject

24 of administrative appeal or litigation.
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1 (3) ADMINISTRATION.—After timber harvest

2 rights are granted to BSL, the decision notice for

3 those rights and the administration of those rights

4 in accordance with the decision notice shall not be

5 subject to administrative appeal or judicial review.

6 (4) SCHEDULES.—The Secretary and BSL

7 shall mutually develop and agree on schedules for

8 the harvest of timber the harvest rights to which are

9 granted to BSL in the exchange.

10 (5) TIMBER SALE PROGRAM.—The timber har11 vest rights granted under this Act—

12 (A) shall constitute the timber sale pro13 gram for the Gallatin National Forest for the

14 period beginning on the date of enactment of

15 this Act and ending on December 31 of the sec16 ond full calendar year that begins after that

17 date; and

18 (B) shall be funded by the Secretary annu19 ally at levels that are commensurate with the

20 preparation and administration involved in the

21 program.

22 (6) SUBSTITUTION.—If circumstances, such as

23 natural catastrophe, administrative appeals or litiga24 tion, regulatory or legal limitations, or environ25 mental or financial circumstances, prevent the Sec-
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1 retary from granting the timber harvest rights iden2 tified in Exhibit C to the Option Agreement, the

3 Secretary shall replace the value of the diminished

4 timber harvest rights by substituting equivalent tim5 ber harvest rights volume from the same market

6 area.

7 (7) OPEN MARKET.—All timber harvest rights

8 granted to BSL in the exchange under subsection

9 (a) shall be offered for sale by BSL through the

10 competitive bid process.

11 (8) SMALL BUSINESS.—All timber harvest

12 rights granted to BSL in the exchange shall be sub13 ject to compliance by BSL with Forest Service small

14 business program procedures in effect as of the date

15 of enactment of this Act, including contractual pro16 visions for payment schedules, harvest schedules,

17 and bonds and including the right of the highest bid18 der among qualified small businesses that submit

19 minimum bids to be awarded a timber contract.

20 (9) COMPLIANCE WITH OPTION AGREEMENT.—

21 The Secretary and BSL shall comply with the terms

22 and conditions of the Option Agreement, including

23 terms and conditions with respect to timber harvest

24 rights included in the exchange.
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1 (d) RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—As part of the exchange under

2 subsection (a)—

3 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture, under the au4 thority of the Federal Land Policy and Management

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

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

7 over Forest System land as may be agreed to by the

8 Secretary of Agriculture and BSL; and

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

10 easements in or other rights-of-way over land owned

11 by BSL as may be agreed to by the Secretary of Ag12 riculture and BSL.

13 (e) QUALITY OF TITLE.—

14 (1) DETERMINATION.—The Secretary of Agri15 culture shall review the title for the BSL land de16 scribed in subsection (a) and, within 45 days after

17 receipt of all applicable title documents from BSL,

18 determine whether—

19 (A) the applicable title standards for Fed20 eral land acquisition have been satisfied or the

21 quality of the title is otherwise acceptable to the

22 Secretary of Agriculture;

23 (B) all draft conveyances and closing docu24 ments have been received and approved;
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1 (C) a current title commitment verifying

2 compliance with applicable title standards has

3 been issued to the Secretary; and

4 (D) the title includes both the surface and

5 subsurface estates without reservation or excep6 tion (except by the United States or the State

7 of Montana, by patent or as otherwise agreed

8 to by the Secretary and BSL), including—

9 (i) minerals, mineral rights, and min10 eral interests (including severed oil and gas

11 surface rights), subject to and excepting

12 other outstanding or reserved oil and gas

13 rights;

14 (ii) timber, timber rights, and timber

15 interests, except those reserved subject to

16 section 251.14 of title 36, Code of Federal

17 Regulations, by BSL and agreed to by the

18 Secretary;

19 (iii) water, water rights, ditch, and

20 ditch rights; and

21 (iv) any other interest in the property.

22 (2) CONVEYANCE OF TITLE.—

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the quality of title

24 does not meet Federal standards or is otherwise

25 determined to be unacceptable to the Secretary
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1 of Agriculture, the Secretary shall advise BSL

2 regarding corrective actions necessary to make

3 an affirmative determination under paragraph

4 (1).

5 (B) TITLE TO SUBSURFACE ESTATE.—

6 Title to the subsurface estate shall be conveyed

7 by BSL to the Secretary of Agriculture in the

8 same form and content as that estate is re9 ceived by BSL from Burlington Resources Oil

10 & Gas Company Inc. and Glacier Park Com11 pany.

12 (f) TIMING OF IMPLEMENTATION.—

13 (1) LAND-FOR-LAND EXCHANGE.—The Sec14 retary of Agriculture shall accept the conveyance of

15 land described in subsection (a) not later than 45

16 days after the Secretary of Agriculture has made an

17 affirmative determination of quality of title.

18 (2) LAND-FOR-TIMBER EXCHANGE.—The Sec19 retary shall make the timber harvest rights de20 scribed in subsection (a)(3) available not later than

21 December 31 of the second full calendar year that

22 begins after the date of enactment of this Act.

23 (3) PURCHASE.—The Secretary of Agriculture

24 shall complete the purchase of BSL land under sub25 section (a)(4) not later than 30 days after the date
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1 on which appropriated funds are made available and

2 an affirmative determination of quality of title is

3 made with respect to the BSL land.

4 SEC. 5. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

5 (a) MINOR CORRECTIONS.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Option Agreement shall

7 be subject to such minor corrections as may be

8 agreed to by the Secretary of Agriculture and BSL.

9 (2) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall notify

10 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of

11 the Senate, the Committee on Resources of the

12 House of Representatives, and each member of the

13 Montana congressional delegation of any changes

14 made pursuant to this subsection.

15 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Option Agree16 ment—

17 (1) shall be on file and available for public in18 spection in the office of the Supervisor of the Gal19 latin National Forest; and

20 (2) shall be filed with the county clerk of each

21 of Gallatin County, Park County, Madison County,

22 Granite County, Broadwater County, Meagher Coun23 ty, Flathead County, and Missoula County, Mon24 tana.
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1 (c) STATUS OF LAND.—All land conveyed to the

2 United States under this Act shall be added to and admin3 istered as part of the Gallatin National Forest and

4 Deerlodge National Forest, as appropriate, in accordance

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

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

7 (including regulations) pertaining to the National Forest

8 System.

9 (d) MANAGEMENT.—

10 (1) PUBLIC PROCESS.—Not later than 30 days

11 after the date of completion of the land-for-land ex12 change under section 4(f)(1), the Secretary shall ini13 tiate a public process to amend the Gallatin Na14 tional Forest Plan and the Deerlodge National For15 est Plan to integrate the acquired BSL land into the

16 plans.

17 (2) PROCESS TIME.—The amendment process

18 under paragraph (1) shall be completed not later

19 than 360 days after the date on which the amend20 ment process is initiated.

21 (3) LIMITATION.—An amended management

22 plan shall not permit surface occupancy on the BSL

23 land for access to reserved or outstanding oil and

24 gas rights or for exploration or development of oil

25 and gas.
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1 (4) INTERIM MANAGEMENT.—Pending comple2 tion of the forest plan amendment process under

3 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—

4 (A) manage the acquired BSL land under

5 the same standards, guidelines, and manage6 ment directions as adjacent land managed by

7 the Forest Service; and

8 (B) maintain all existing public access to

9 the acquired BSL land.

10 (e) RESTORATION.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—After acquiring the BSL

12 land, the Secretary shall implement a restoration

13 program including reforestation and watershed en14 hancements to bring the BSL land and surrounding

15 national forest land into compliance with Forest

16 Service standards and guidelines.

17 (2) STATE AND LOCAL CONSERVATION

18 CORPS.—In implementing the restoration program,

19 the Secretary shall, when practicable, use partner20 ships with State and local conservation corps, includ21 ing the Montana Conservation Corps, under the

22 Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1721 et

23 seq.).
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1 (f) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of Agriculture

2 shall ensure that sufficient funds are made available to

3 the Gallatin National Forest to carry out this Act.

4 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

6 as are necessary to carry out this Act.

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