106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2079

AN ACT

To provide for the conveyance of certain National

Forest System lands in the State of South Dakota.
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2079

AN ACT

To provide for the conveyance of certain National Forest

System lands in the State of South Dakota.

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 ‘‘Terry Peak Land

3 Transfer Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

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

6 (1) Certain National Forest System land lo7 cated in the Black Hills National Forest in Law8 rence County, South Dakota, is currently permitted

9 to the Terry Peak Ski Area by the Secretary of Ag10 riculture pursuant to section 3 of the National For11 est Ski Area Permit Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 497b).

12 (2) The National Forest System land comprises

13 only 10 percent of the land at the Ski Area, with the

14 remaining 90 percent located on private land owned

15 by the Ski Area operator.

16 (3) As the fractional Forest Service land hold17 ing at the Ski Area is also encumbered by ski lifts,

18 ski trails, a base lodge parking lot and other pri19 vately owned improvements, it serves little purpose

20 in continued public ownership, and can more logi21 cally be conveyed to the Ski Area to unify land man22 agement and eliminate permitting and other admin23 istrative costs to the United States.

24 (4) The Ski Area is interested in acquiring the

25 land from the United States, but the Secretary does

26 not have administrative authority to convey such
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1 land in a nonsimultaneous land exchange absent spe2 cific authorization from Congress.

3 (5) The Black Hills National Forest contains

4 several small inholdings of undeveloped private land

5 with multiple landowners which complicate National

6 Forest land management and which can be acquired

7 by the United States from willing sellers if acquisi8 tion funds are made available to the Secretary.

9 (6) The proceeds from the Terry Peak convey10 ance can provide a modest, but readily available and

11 flexible, funding source for the Secretary to acquire

12 certain inholdings in the Black Hills National Forest

13 from willing sellers, and given the small and scat14 tered nature of such inholdings, and number of po15 tential sellers involved, can do so more efficiently

16 and quickly than through administrative land ex17 changes.

18 (7) It is, therefore, in the public interest to con19 vey the National Forest System land at Terry Peak

20 to the Ski Area at fair market value and to utilize

21 the proceeds to acquire more desirable lands for ad22 dition to the Black Hills National Forest for perma23 nent public use and enjoyment.

24 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to re25 quire the conveyance of certain National Forest System
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1 lands at the Terry Peak Ski Area to the Ski Area and

2 to utilize the proceeds to acquire more desirable lands for

3 the United States for permanent public use and enjoy4 ment.

5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

6 As used in this Act:

7 (1) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

8 of Agriculture, unless otherwise specified.

9 (2) The term ‘‘selected land’’ means land com10 prising approximately 41.42 acres and generally de11 picted as government lots 6 and 11, section 2, town12 ship 4 north, range 2 east, Black Hills meridian, on

13 a map entitled ‘‘Terry Peak Land Conveyance’’,

14 dated March 1999.

15 (3) The terms ‘‘Terry Peak Ski Area’’ and ‘‘Ski

16 Area’’ mean the Black Hills Chairlift Company, a

17 South Dakota Corporation, or its successors, heirs

18 and assigns.

19 SEC. 4. LAND CONVEYANCE AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVI20 SIONS.

21 (a) CONVEYANCE REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Ag22 riculture shall convey the selected land to the Terry Peak

23 Ski Area at fair market value, as determined by the Sec24 retary.
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1 (b) APPRAISAL.—The value of the selected land shall

2 be determined by the Secretary utilizing nationally recog3 nized appraisal standards, including to the extent appro4 priate, the Uniform Appraisal Standards For Federal

5 Land Acquisitions (1992), the Uniform Standards of Pro6 fessional Appraisal Practice, and other applicable law. The

7 costs of the appraisal shall be paid for by the Ski Area.

8 (c) COMPLETION OF CONVEYANCE.—It is the sense

9 of the Congress that the conveyance to the Ski Area re10 quired by this Act be consummated no later than 6 months

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, unless the

12 Secretary and the Ski Area mutually agree to extend the

13 consummation date. Prior to conveying the selected land

14 to the Ski Area, the Secretary shall complete standard

15 pre-disposal analyses and clearances pertaining to threat16 ened and endangered species, cultural and historic re17 sources, wetlands and floodplains, and hazardous mate18 rials.

19 (d) USE OF PROCEEDS BY THE SECRETARY.—All

20 monies received by the Secretary pursuant to this Act

21 shall be considered monies received and deposited pursu22 ant to Public Law 90–171 (16 U.S.C. 484a; commonly

23 known as the Sisk Act) and shall be utilized by the Sec24 retary to acquire replacement land from willing sellers for

25 addition to the Black Hills National Forest in South Da-
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1 kota. Any lands so acquired shall be added to and adminis2 tered as part of the Black Hills National Forest and, if

3 any such land lies outside the exterior boundaries of the

4 Forest, the Secretary may modify the boundary of the

5 Forest to include such land. Nothing in this section shall

6 be construed to limit the authority of the Secretary to ad7 just the boundaries of the Forest pursuant to section 11

8 of the Act of March 1, 1911 (16 U.S.C. 521; commonly

9 known as the Weeks Act).

10 (e) CONVEYANCE SUBJECT TO VALID EXISTING

11 RIGHTS, EASEMENTS.—The conveyance to the Ski Area

12 required by this Act shall be subject to valid existing

13 rights and to existing easements, rights-of-way, utility

14 lines and any other right, title or interest of record on

15 the selected land as of the date of transfer of the selected

16 land to the Terry Peak Ski Area.

Passed the House of Representatives September 21,

1999.

Attest:

Clerk.