S. 1718

One Hundred Fifth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight

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.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. WEIR FARM NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, CONNECTICUT.

(a) ACQUISITION OF LAND FOR VISITOR AND ADMINISTRATIVE

FACILITIES.—Section 4 of the Weir Farm National Historic Site

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

485; 104 Stat. 1171) is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(d) ACQUISITION OF LAND FOR VISITOR AND ADMINISTRATIVE

FACILITIES; LIMITATIONS.— ‘‘(1) ACQUISITION.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To preserve and maintain the historic setting and character of the historic site, the Secretary

may acquire not more than 15 additional acres for the

development of visitor and administrative facilities for the

historic site.

‘‘(B) PROXIMITY.—The property acquired under this

subsection shall be contiguous to or in close proximity

to the property described in subsection (b).

‘‘(C) MANAGEMENT.—The acquired property shall be

included within the boundary of the historic site and shall

be managed and maintained as part of the historic site.

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

of the property acquired under paragraph (1) to a minimum

so that the character of the acquired property will be similar

to the natural and undeveloped landscape of the property

described in subsection (b).

‘‘(3) AGREEMENTS.—Prior to and as a prerequisite to any

development of visitor and administrative facilities on the property acquired under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall enter

into one or more agreements with the appropriate zoning

authority of the town of Ridgefield, Connecticut, and the town

of Wilton, Connecticut, for the purposes of—

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

facilities for the historic site; and

‘‘(B) managing bus traffic to the historic site and limiting parking for large tour buses to an offsite location.’’.

(b) INCREASE IN MAXIMUM ACQUISITION AUTHORITY.—Section

7 of the Weir Farm National Historic Site Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C.
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461 note; Public Law 101–485; 104 Stat. 1173) is amended by

striking ‘‘$1,500,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$4,000,000’’.

SEC. 2. ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT OF WILCOX RANCH, UTAH,

FOR WILDLIFE HABITAT.

(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

(1) The lands within the Wilcox Ranch in eastern Utah

are prime habitat for wild turkeys, eagles, hawks, bears, cougars, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and many other important species, and Range Creek within the Wilcox Ranch could become

a blue ribbon trout stream.

(2) These lands also contain a great deal of undisturbed

cultural and archeological resources, including ancient pottery,

arrowheads, and rock homes constructed centuries ago.

(3) These lands, while comprising only approximately 3,800

acres, control access to over 75,000 acres of Federal lands

under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.

(4) Acquisition of the Wilcox Ranch would benefit the people

of the United States by preserving and enhancing important

wildlife habitat, ensuring access to lands of the Bureau of

Land Management, and protecting priceless archeological and

cultural resources.

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

be managed by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources at

no additional expense to the Federal Government.

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

date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior

shall acquire, through purchase, the Wilcox Ranch located in Emery

County, in eastern Utah.

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

water conservation fund established under section 2 of the Land

and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–5) for

the purchase of the Wilcox Ranch under subsection (b).

(d) MANAGEMENT OF LANDS.—Upon payment by the State of

Utah of one-half of the purchase price of the Wilcox Ranch to

the United States, or transfer by the State of Utah of lands of

the same such value to the United States, the Secretary of the

Interior shall transfer to the State of Utah all right, title, and

interest of the United States in and to those Wilcox Ranch lands

acquired under subsection (b) for management by the State Division

of Wildlife Resources for wildlife habitat and public access.

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

(a) CONVEYANCE REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Interior shall convey, without

consideration and for educational related purposes, to Embry-Riddle

Aeronautical University, Florida, a nonprofit corporation authorized

to do business in the State of Arizona, all right, title, and interest

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

of approximately 16 acres in Yavapai County, Arizona, which is

more fully described as the parcel lying east of the east rightof-way boundary of the Willow Creek Road in the southwest onequarter of the southwest one-quarter (SW1⁄4SW1⁄4) of section 2,

township 14 north, range 2 west, Gila and Salt River meridian.

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

the land to be conveyed is to be used only for educational related

purposes, the conveyance under subsection (a) is to be made without
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any other conditions, limitations, reservations, restrictions, or terms

by the United States. If the Secretary of the Interior determines

that the conveyed lands are not being used for educational related

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

to the United States.

SEC. 4. LAND EXCHANGE, EL PORTAL ADMINISTRATIVE SITE,

CALIFORNIA.

(a) AUTHORIZATION OF EXCHANGE.—If the non-Federal lands

described in subsection (b) are conveyed to the United States in

accordance with this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall

convey to the party conveying the non-Federal lands all right,

title, and interest of the United States in and to a parcel of land

consisting of approximately 8 acres administered by the Department

of Interior as part of the El Portal Administrative Site in the

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

Portal Administrative Site Land Exchange’’, dated June 1998.

(b) RECEIPT OF NON-FEDERAL LANDS.—The parcel of non-Federal lands referred to in subsection (a) consists of approximately

8 acres, known as the Yosemite View parcel, which is located

adjacent to the El Portal Administrative Site, as generally depicted

on the map referred to in subsection (a). Title to the non-Federal

lands must be acceptable to the Secretary of the Interior, and

the conveyance shall be subject to such valid existing rights of

record as may be acceptable to the Secretary. The parcel shall

conform with the title approval standards applicable to Federal

land acquisitions.

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

and non-Federal lands to be exchanged under this section are

not equal in value, the difference in value shall be equalized through

a cash payment or the provision of goods or services as agreed

upon by the Secretary and the party conveying the non-Federal

lands.

(d) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.—Except as otherwise provided in this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall process

the land exchange authorized by this section in the manner provided

in part 2200 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect

on the date of the enactment of this subtitle.

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

exchange, the Secretary shall adjust the boundaries of the El Portal

Administrative Site as necessary to reflect the exchange. Lands

acquired by the Secretary under this section shall be administered

as part of the El Portal Administrative Site.

(f) MAP.—The map referred to in subsection (a) shall be on

file and available for inspection in appropriate offices of the Department of the Interior.
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(g) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Secretary of the

Interior may require such additional terms and conditions in connection with the land exchange under this section as the Secretary

considers appropriate to protect the interests of the United States.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.