105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1718

AMENDMENTS
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

October 10, 1998.

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 1718) entitled ‘‘An Act to amend the Weir Farm National Historic Site

Establishment Act of 1990 to authorize the acquisition of additional acreage for the historic site to permit the development of visitor and administrative facilities and to authorize

the appropriation of additional amounts for the acquisition of

real and personal property’’, do pass with the following

AMENDMENTS:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

1 SECTION 1. WEIR FARM NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, CON2 NECTICUT.

3 (a) ACQUISITION OF LAND FOR VISITOR AND ADMINIS4 TRATIVE FACILITIES.—Section 4 of the Weir Farm Na5 tional Historic Site Establishment Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C.

6 461 note; Public Law 101–485; 104 Stat. 1171) is amended

7 by adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(d) ACQUISITION OF LAND FOR VISITOR AND ADMIN9 ISTRATIVE FACILITIES; LIMITATIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) ACQUISITION.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To preserve and main2 tain the historic setting and character of the his3 toric site, the Secretary may acquire not more

4 than 15 additional acres for the development of

5 visitor and administrative facilities for the his6 toric site.

7 ‘‘(B) PROXIMITY.—The property acquired

8 under this subsection shall be contiguous to or in

9 close proximity to the property described in sub10 section (b).

11 ‘‘(C) MANAGEMENT.—The acquired property

12 shall be included within the boundary of the his13 toric site and shall be managed and maintained

14 as part of the historic site.

15 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary shall keep

16 development of the property acquired under para17 graph (1) to a minimum so that the character of the

18 acquired property will be similar to the natural and

19 undeveloped landscape of the property described in

20 subsection (b).

21 ‘‘(3) AGREEMENTS.—Prior to and as a pre22 requisite to any development of visitor and adminis23 trative facilities on the property acquired under para24 graph (1), the Secretary shall enter into 1 or more

25 agreements with the appropriate zoning authority of
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1 the town of Ridgefield, Connecticut, and the town of

2 Wilton, Connecticut, for the purposes of—

3 ‘‘(A) developing the parking, visitor, and

4 administrative facilities for the historic site; and

5 ‘‘(B) managing bus traffic to the historic

6 site and limiting parking for large tour buses to

7 an offsite location.’’.

8 (b) INCREASE IN MAXIMUM ACQUISITION AUTHOR9 ITY.—Section 7 of the Weir Farm National Historic Site

10 Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 461 note; Public Law 101–485; 104

11 Stat. 1173) is amended by striking ‘‘$1,500,000’’ and in12 serting ‘‘$4,000,000’’.

13 SEC. 2. ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT OF WILCOX

14 RANCH, UTAH, FOR WILDLIFE HABITAT.

15 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

16 (1) The lands within the Wilcox Ranch in east17 ern Utah are prime habitat for wild turkeys, eagles,

18 hawks, bears, cougars, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and

19 many other important species, and Range Creek with20 in the Wilcox Ranch could become a blue ribbon trout

21 stream.

22 (2) These lands also contain a great deal of un23 disturbed cultural and archeological resources, includ24 ing ancient pottery, arrowheads, and rock homes con25 structed centuries ago.
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1 (3) These lands, while comprising only approxi2 mately 3,800 acres, control access to over 75,000 acres

3 of Federal lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau

4 of Land Management.

5 (4) Acquisition of the Wilcox Ranch would bene6 fit the people of the United States by preserving and

7 enhancing important wildlife habitat, ensuring access

8 to lands of the Bureau of Land Management, and

9 protecting priceless archeological and cultural re10 sources.

11 (5) These lands, if acquired by the United States,

12 can be managed by the Utah Division of Wildlife Re13 sources at no additional expense to the Federal Gov14 ernment.

15 (b) ACQUISITION OF LANDS.—As soon as practicable,

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

17 of the Interior shall acquire, through purchase, the Wilcox

18 Ranch located in Emery County, in eastern Utah.

19 (c) FUNDS FOR PURCHASE.—The Secretary of the In20 terior is authorized to use not more than $5,000,000 from

21 the land and water conservation fund established under sec22 tion 2 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of

23 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–5) for the purchase of the Wilcox

24 Ranch under subsection (b).
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1 (d) MANAGEMENT OF LANDS.—Upon payment by the

2 State of Utah of one-half of the purchase price of the Wilcox

3 Ranch to the United States, or transfer by the State of Utah

4 of lands of the same such value to the United States, the

5 Secretary of the Interior shall transfer to the State of Utah

6 all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to

7 those Wilcox Ranch lands acquired under subsection (b) for

8 management by the State Division of Wildlife Resources for

9 wildlife habitat and public access.

10 SEC. 3. LAND CONVEYANCE, YAVAPAI COUNTY, ARIZONA.

11 (a) CONVEYANCE REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any

12 other provision of law, the Secretary of the Interior shall

13 convey, without consideration and for educational related

14 purposes, to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Flor15 ida, a nonprofit corporation authorized to do business in

16 the State of Arizona, all right, title, and interest of the

17 United States, if any, to a parcel of real property consisting

18 of approximately 16 acres in Yavapai County, Arizona,

19 which is more fully described as the parcel lying east of

20 the east right-of-way boundary of the Willow Creek Road

21 in the southwest one-quarter of the southwest one-quarter

(SW1⁄4SW1 22 ⁄4) of section 2, township 14 north, range 2 west,

23 Gila and Salt River meridian.

24 (b) TERMS OF CONVEYANCE.—Subject to the limitation

25 that the land to be conveyed is to be used only for edu-
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1 cational related purposes, the conveyance under subsection

2 (a) is to be made without any other conditions, limitations,

3 reservations, restrictions, or terms by the United States. If

4 the Secretary of the Interior determines that the conveyed

5 lands are not being used for educational related purposes,

6 at the option of the United States, the lands shall revert

7 to the United States.

8 SEC. 4. LAND EXCHANGE, EL PORTAL ADMINISTRATIVE

9 SITE, CALIFORNIA.

10 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF EXCHANGE.—If the non-Fed11 eral lands described in subsection (b) are conveyed to the

12 United States in accordance with this section, the Secretary

13 of the Interior shall convey to the party conveying the non14 Federal lands all right, title, and interest of the United

15 States in and to a parcel of land consisting of approxi16 mately 8 acres administered by the Department of Interior

17 as part of the El Portal Administrative Site in the State

18 of California, as generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘El

19 Portal Administrative Site Land Exchange’’, dated June

20 1998.

21 (b) RECEIPT OF NON-FEDERAL LANDS.—The parcel of

22 non-Federal lands referred to in subsection (a) consists of

23 approximately 8 acres, known as the Yosemite View parcel,

24 which is located adjacent to the El Portal Administrative

25 Site, as generally depicted on the map referred to in sub-
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1 section (a). Title to the non-Federal lands must be accept2 able to the Secretary of the Interior, and the conveyance

3 shall be subject to such valid existing rights of record as

4 may be acceptable to the Secretary. The parcel shall con5 form with the title approval standards applicable to Federal

6 land acquisitions.

7 (c) EQUALIZATION OF VALUES.—If the value of the

8 Federal land and non-Federal lands to be exchanged under

9 this section are not equal in value, the difference in value

10 shall be equalized through a cash payment or the provision

11 of goods or services as agreed upon by the Secretary and

12 the party conveying the non-Federal lands.

13 (d) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.—Except as oth14 erwise provided in this section, the Secretary of the Interior

15 shall process the land exchange authorized by this section

16 in the manner provided in part 2200 of title 43, Code of

17 Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of the enact18 ment of this subtitle.

19 (e) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—Upon completion of the

20 land exchange, the Secretary shall adjust the boundaries of

21 the El Portal Administrative Site as necessary to reflect

22 the exchange. Lands acquired by the Secretary under this

23 section shall be administered as part of the El Portal Ad24 ministrative Site.
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1 (f) MAP.—The map referred to in subsection (a) shall

2 be on file and available for inspection in appropriate offices

3 of the Department of the Interior.

4 (g) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Sec5 retary of the Interior may require such additional terms

6 and conditions in connection with the land exchange under

7 this section as the Secretary considers appropriate to pro8 tect the interests of the United States.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘An Act to amend the

Weir Farm National Historic Site Establishment Act of

1990 to authorize the acquisition of additional acreage

for the historic site to permit the development of visitor

and administrative facilities and to authorize the appropriation of additional amounts for the acquisition of real

and personal property, and for other purposes.’’.

Attest:

Clerk.