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Union Calendar No. 428

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1629

[Report No. 106–747]

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 2, 2000

Referred to the Committee on Resources

JULY 17, 2000

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union

and ordered to be printed

AN ACT

To provide for the exchange of certain land in the State

of Oregon.

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 ‘‘Oregon Land Ex5 change Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) certain parcels of private land located in

2 northeast Oregon are intermingled with land owned

3 by the United States and administered—

4 (A) by the Secretary of the Interior as part

5 of the Central Oregon Resource Area in the

6 Prineville Bureau of Land Management District

7 and the Baker Resource Area in the Vale Bu8 reau of Land Management District; and

9 (B) by the Secretary of Agriculture as part

10 of the Malheur National Forest, the Wallowa11 Whitman National Forest, and the Umatilla

12 National Forest;

13 (2) the surface estate of the private land de14 scribed in paragraph (1) is intermingled with parcels

15 of land that are owned by the United States or con16 tain valuable fisheries and wildlife habitat desired by

17 the United States;

18 (3) the consolidation of land ownerships will fa19 cilitate sound and efficient management for both

20 public and private lands;

21 (4) the improvement of management efficiency

22 through the land tenure adjustment program of the

23 Department of the Interior, which disposes of small

24 isolated tracts having low public resource values
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1 within larger blocks of contiguous parcels of land,

2 would serve important public objectives, including—

3 (A) the enhancement of public access, aes4 thetics, and recreation opportunities within or

5 adjacent to designated wild and scenic river cor6 ridors;

7 (B) the protection and enhancement of

8 habitat for threatened, endangered, and sen9 sitive species within unified landscapes under

10 Federal management; and

11 (C) the consolidation of holdings of the

12 Bureau of Land Management and the Forest

13 Service—

14 (i) to facilitate more efficient adminis15 tration, including a reduction in adminis16 trative costs to the United States; and

17 (ii) to reduce right-of-way, special use,

18 and other permit processing and issuance

19 for roads and other facilities on Federal

20 land;

21 (5) time is of the essence in completing a land

22 exchange because further delays may force the iden23 tified landowners to construct roads in, log, develop,

24 or sell the private land and thereby diminish the
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1 public values for which the private land is to be ac2 quired; and

3 (6) it is in the public interest to complete the

4 land exchanges at the earliest practicable date so

5 that the land acquired by the United States can be

6 preserved for—

7 (A) protection of threatened and endan8 gered species habitat; and

9 (B) permanent public use and enjoyment.

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

11 As used in this Act—

12 (1) the term ‘‘Clearwater’’ means Clearwater

13 Land Exchange—Oregon, an Oregon partnership

14 that signed the document entitled ‘‘Assembled Land

15 Exchange Agreement between the Bureau of Land

16 Management and Clearwater Land Exchange—Or17 egon for the Northeast Oregon Assembled Lands

18 Exchange, OR 51858,’’ dated October 30, 1996, and

19 the document entitled ‘‘Agreement to initiate’’ with

20 the Forest Service, dated June 30, 1995, or its suc21 cessors or assigns;

22 (2) the term ‘‘identified landowners’’ means pri23 vate landowners identified by Clearwater and willing

24 to exchange private land for Federal land in accord25 ance with this Act;
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1 (3) the term ‘‘map’’ means the map entitled

2 ‘‘Northeast Oregon Assembled Land Exchange/Tri3 angle Land Exchange’’, dated November 5, 1999;

4 and

5 (4) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

6 of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as

7 appropriate.

8 SEC. 4. BLM—NORTHEAST OREGON ASSEMBLED LAND EX9 CHANGE.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon the request of Clearwater,

11 on behalf of the appropriate identified landowners, the

12 Secretary of the Interior shall exchange the Federal lands

13 described in subsection (b) for the private lands described

14 in subsection (c), as provided in section 6.

15 (b) BLM LANDS TO BE CONVEYED.—The parcels of

16 Federal lands to be conveyed by the Secretary to the ap17 propriate identified landowners are as follows:

18 (1) the parcel comprising approximately 45,824

19 acres located in Grant County, Oregon, within the

20 Central Oregon Resource Area in the Prineville Dis21 trict of the Bureau of Land Management, as gen22 erally depicted on the map;

23 (2) the parcel comprising approximately 2,755

24 acres located in Wheeler County, Oregon, within the

25 Central Oregon Resource Area in the Prineville Dis-
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1 trict of the Bureau of Land Management, as gen2 erally depicted on the map;

3 (3) the parcel comprising approximately 726

4 acres located in Morrow Country, Oregon, within the

5 Baker Resource Area of the Vale District of Land

6 Management, as generally depicted on the map; and

7 (4) the parcel comprising approximately 1,015

8 acres located in Umatilla County, Oregon, within the

9 Baker Resource Area in the Vale District of the Bu10 reau of Land Management, as generally depicted on

11 the map.

12 (c) PRIVATE LANDS TO BE ACQUIRED.—The parcel

13 of private lands to be conveyed by the appropriate identi14 fied landowners to the Secretary are as follows:

15 (1) the parcel comprising approximately 31,646

16 acres located in Grant County, Oregon, within the

17 Central Oregon Resource Area in the Prineville Dis18 trict of the Bureau of Land Management, as gen19 erally depicted on the map;

20 (2) the parcel comprising approximately 1,960

21 acres located in Morrow County, Oregon, within the

22 Baker Resource Area in the Vale District of the Bu23 reau of Land Management, as generally depicted on

24 the map; and
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1 (3) the parcel comprising approximately 10,544

2 acres located in Umatilla County, Oregon, within the

3 Baker Resource Area in the Vale District of the Bu4 reau of Land Management, as generally depicted on

5 the map.

6 SEC. 5. FOREST SERVICE—TRIANGLE LAND EXCHANGE.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon the request of Clearwater,

8 on behalf of the appropriate identified landowners, the

9 Secretary of Agriculture shall exchange the Federal lands

10 described in subsection (b) for the private lands described

11 in subsection (c), as provided in section 6.

12 (b) FOREST SERVICE LANDS TO BE CONVEYED.—

13 The National Forest System lands to be conveyed by the

14 Secretary to the appropriate identified landowners com15 prise approximately 3,901 acres located in Grant and Har16 ney Counties, Oregon, within the Malheur National For17 est, as generally depicted on the map.

18 (c) PRIVATE LANDS TO BE ACQUIRED.—The parcels

19 of private lands to be conveyed by the appropriate identi20 fied landowners to the Secretary are as follows:

21 (1) the parcel comprising approximately 3,752

22 acres located in Grant and Harney Counties, Or23 egon, within the Malheur National Forest, as gen24 erally depicted on the map;
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1 (2) the parcel comprising approximately 1,702

2 acres located in Baker and Grant Counties, Oregon,

3 within the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, as

4 generally depicted on the map; and

5 (3) the parcel comprising approximately 246

6 acres located in Grant and Wallowa Counties, Or7 egon, within or adjacent to the Umatilla National

8 Forest, as generally depicted on the map.

9 SEC. 6. LAND EXCHANGE TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in

11 this Act, the land exchanges implemented by this Act shall

12 be conducted in accordance with section 206 of the Fed13 eral Land Policy and Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1716)

14 and other applicable laws.

15 (b) MULTIPLE TRANSACTIONS.—The Secretary of

16 the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture may carry

17 out a single or multiple transactions to complete the land

18 exchanges authorized in this Act.

19 (c) COMPLETION OF EXCHANGES.—Any land ex20 change under this Act shall be completed not later than

21 90 days after the Secretary and Clearwater reach an

22 agreement on the final appraised values of the lands to

23 be exchanged.

24 (d) APPRAISALS.—(1) The values of the lands to be

25 exchanged under this Act shall be determined by apprais-
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1 als using nationally recognized appraisal standards, in2 cluding as appropriate—

3 (A) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Fed4 eral Land Acquisitions (1992); and

5 (B) the Uniform Standards of Professional Ap6 praisal Practice.

7 (2) To ensure the equitable and uniform appraisal of

8 the lands to be exchanged under this Act, all appraisals

9 shall determine the best use of the lands in accordance

10 with the law of the State of Oregon, including use for the

11 protection of wild and scenic river characteristics as pro12 vided in the Oregon Administrative Code.

13 (3)(A) all appraisals of lands to be exchanged under

14 this Act shall be completed, reviewed and submitted to the

15 Secretary not later than 90 days after the date Clearwater

16 requests the exchange.

17 (B) Not less than 45 days before an exchange of

18 lands under this Act is completed, a comprehensive sum19 mary of each appraisal for the specific lands to be ex20 changed shall be available for public inspection in the ap21 propriate Oregon offices of the Secretary, for a 15-day pe22 riod.

23 (4) After the Secretary approves the final appraised

24 values of any parcel of the lands to be conveyed under

25 this Act, the value of such parcel shall not be reappraised
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1 or updated before the completion of the applicable land

2 exchange, except for any adjustments in value that may

3 be required under subsection (e)(2).

4 (e) EQUAL VALUE LAND EXCHANGE.—(1)(A) The

5 value of the lands to be exchanged under this Act shall

6 be equal, or if the values are not equal, they shall be equal7 ized in accordance with section 206(b) of the Federal

8 Land Policy and Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1716(b))

9 or this subsection.

10 (B) The Secretary shall retain any cash equalization

11 payments received under subparagraph (A) to use, without

12 further appropriation, to purchase land from willing sell13 ers in the State of Oregon for addition to lands under the

14 administration of the Bureau of Land Management or the

15 Forest Service, as appropriate.

16 (2) If the value of the private lands exceeds the value

17 of the Federal lands by 25 percent or more, Clearwater,

18 after consultation with the affected identified landowners

19 and the Secretary, shall withdraw a portion of the private

20 lands necessary to equalize the values of the lands to be

21 exchanged.

22 (3) If any of the private lands to be acquired do not

23 include the rights to the subsurface estate, the Secretary

24 may reserve the subsurface estate in the Federal lands to

25 be exchanged.
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1 (f) LAND TITLES.—(1) Title to the private lands to

2 be conveyed to the Secretary shall be in a form acceptable

3 to the Secretary.

4 (2) The Secretary shall convey all right, title, and in5 terest of the United States in the Federal lands to the

6 appropriate identified landowners, except to the extent the

7 Secretary reserves the subsurface estate under subsection

8 (c)(2).

9 (g) MANAGEMENT OF LANDS.—(1) Lands acquired

10 by Secretary of the Interior under this Act shall be admin11 istered in accordance with sections 205(c) of the Federal

12 Land Policy and Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1715(c)),

13 and lands acquired by the Secretary of Agriculture shall

14 be administered in accordance with sections 205(d) of

15 such Act (43 U.S.C. 1715(d)).

16 (2) Lands acquired by the Secretary of the Interior

17 pursuant to section 4 which are within the North Fork

18 of the John Day subwatershed shall be administered in

19 accordance with section 205(c) of the Federal Land Policy

20 and Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1715(c)), but shall be

21 managed primarily for the protection of native fish and

22 wildlife habitat, and for public recreation. The Secretary

23 may permit other authorized uses within the subwatershed

24 if the Secretary determines, through the appropriate land
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1 use planning process, that such uses are consistent with,

2 and do not diminish these management purposes.

3 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as

5 may be necessary to carry out this Act.

Passed the Senate April 13, 2000.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.

Union Calendar No. 428

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1629

[Report No. 106–747]

AN ACT

To provide for the exchange of certain land in the

State of Oregon.

JULY 17, 2000

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union and ordered to be printed