I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4901 

To maximize land management efficiencies, promote land conservation, 

generate education funding, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 19, 2014 

Mr. BISHOP of Utah (for himself and Mr. DEFAZIO) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To maximize land management efficiencies, promote land 

conservation, generate education funding, and for other 

purposes. 

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 ‘‘Advancing Conserva5 tion and Education Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) At statehood, Congress granted each of the 

9 western States lands to be held in trust by the 


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1 States and used for the support of public schools 

2 and other public institutions. 

3 (2) Since the statehood land grants, Congress 

4 and the executive branch have created multiple Fed5 eral conservation areas on Federal lands within the 

6 western States, including national parks, national 

7 monuments, national conservation areas, national 

8 grasslands, wilderness areas, wilderness study areas, 

9 and national wildlife refuges. 

10 (3) Because statehood land grant lands owned 

11 by the western States are typically scattered across 

12 the public land, creation of Federal conservation 

13 areas often include State land grant parcels with 

14 substantially different management mandates, mak15 ing land and resource management more difficult, 

16 expensive, and controversial for both Federal land 

17 managers and the western States. 

18 (4) Allowing the western States to relinquish 

19 State trust lands within Federal conservation areas 

20 and to select replacement lands from the unappro21 priated public land within the respective western 

22 States, would— 

23 (A) enhance management of Federal con24 servation areas by allowing unified management 

25 of such areas; and 


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1 (B) increase revenue from the statehood 

2 land grants for the support of public schools 

3 and other worthy public purposes. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) APPLICATION.—The term ‘‘application’’ 

7 means an application for State relinquishment and 

8 selection of lands made under this Act in accordance 

9 with section 5. 

10 (2) FEDERAL CONSERVATION AREA.—The term 

11 ‘‘Federal conservation area’’ means lands within the 

12 outer boundary of— 

13 (A) a unit of the National Park System; 

14 (B) a unit of the National Wilderness 

15 Preservation System; 

16 (C) a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge 

17 System; 

18 (D) a unit of the National Landscape Con19 servation System; or 

20 (E) National Forest System land that have 

21 been designated as a national monument, na22 tional volcanic monument, national recreation 

23 area, national scenic area, inventoried roadless 

24 area, unit of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Sys25 tem, or wilderness study area or Land Use DesVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:19 Jun 21, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4901.IH H4901

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1 ignation II (as described by section 201 of the 

2 Tongass Timber Reform Act of 1990 (Public 

3 Law 101–626)). 

4 (3) FLPMA.—The term ‘‘FLPMA’’ means the 

5 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 

6 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 

7 (4) PRIORITY CONSERVATION UNIT.—The term 

8 ‘‘priority conservation unit’’ means the lands within 

9 the outer boundary of any unit of the National Wil10 derness Preservation System or the National Park 

11 System. 

12 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of the Interior. 

14 (6) STATE LAND GRANT PARCEL.—The term 

15 ‘‘State land grant parcel’’ means— 

16 (A) any land granted to a western State by 

17 Congress through a statehood or territorial land 

18 grant for the support of public education or 

19 other public institutions, or subsequently ac20 quired by the western State for such purpose; 

21 or 

22 (B) lands granted to the State of Alaska 

23 under sections 6 (a), (b), and (k) of the Act of 

24 July 7, 1958 (commonly known as the ‘‘Alaska 

25 Statehood Act’’; Public Law 85–508, as amendVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:19 Jun 21, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4901.IH H4901

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1 ed by the Acts of September 14, 1960 and 

2 March 25, 1964). 

3 (7) UNAPPROPRIATED PUBLIC LAND.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘unappropri5 ated public land’’ has the meaning of the term 

6 ‘‘public land’’ as that term is defined by section 

7 102(e) of FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 1702(e)). 

8 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘unappropri9 ated public land’’ does not include Federal land 

10 that is— 

11 (i) within a Federal conservation area; 

12 (ii) within an area of critical environ13 mental concern established pursuant to 

14 section 202(c)(3) of FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 

15 1712(c)(3)); 

16 (iii) within an area identified as hav17 ing wilderness characteristics by the Bu18 reau of Land Management under an ap19 proved land use plan enacted under 

20 FLPMA; or 

21 (iv) within an area withdrawn or re22 served by an Act of Congress, the Presi23 dent, or Public Land Order for a par24 ticular public purpose or program, includVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:19 Jun 21, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4901.IH H4901

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1 ing for the conservation of natural re2 sources. 

3 (8) WESTERN STATE.—The term ‘‘western 

4 State’’ means any of the States of Alaska, Arizona, 

5 California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, 

6 North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Wash7 ington, and Wyoming. 

8 SEC. 4. RELINQUISHMENT OF STATE LAND GRANT PAR9 CELS AND SELECTION OF REPLACEMENT 

10 LANDS. 

11 (a) AUTHORITY TO SELECT.—In accordance with 

12 this Act, upon approval by the Secretary of an application 

13 under section 5 a western State may relinquish to the 

14 United States State land grant parcels wholly or primarily 

15 within Federal conservation areas and select in exchange 

16 unappropriated public land within the western State. 

17 (b) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—Land conveyed under 

18 this Act shall be subject to valid existing rights and each 

19 party to which land is conveyed shall succeed to the rights 

20 and obligations of the conveying party with respect to any 

21 lease, right-of-way, permit, or other valid existing right to 

22 which the land is subject. 

23 (c) MANAGEMENT AFTER RELINQUISHMENT.—Any 

24 portion of a State land grant parcel acquired by the 


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1 United States under this Act that is located within a Fed2 eral conservation area shall— 

3 (1) be incorporated in, and be managed as part 

4 of, the Federal conservation area in which the land 

5 is located; and 

6 (2) if located within the National Forest Sys7 tem, be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture 

8 in accordance with— 

9 (A) the Act of March 1, 1911 (16 U.S.C. 

10 480 et seq.; commonly known as the ‘‘Weeks 

11 Law’’); or 

12 (B) any laws (including regulations) appli13 cable to the National Forest System and the 

14 Federal conservation area in which it is located. 

15 (d) LIMITATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para17 graph (2), until a western State has relinquished 

18 and conveyed to the United States substantially all 

19 of the State land grant parcels located in priority 

20 conservation units in that State, the State may not 

21 apply to relinquish State land grant parcels in other 

22 Federal conservation areas in that State. 

23 (2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary may waive the 

24 limitation in paragraph (1) upon a determination 

25 that— 


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1 (A) a western State has relinquished and 

2 conveyed to the United States at least 75 per3 cent, measured by land area, of the State land 

4 grant parcels that were located in priority con5 servation units in that State on the date of the 

6 enactment of this Act and not identified for 

7 conveyance pursuant to an exchange agreement 

8 or other statutory authority; and 

9 (B) the relinquishment and conveyance to 

10 the United States of substantially all State land 

11 grant parcels located in priority conservation 

12 units in that State is impractical or infeasible. 

13 SEC. 5. PROCESS. 

14 (a) PROCESS FOR APPLICATION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act and in 

17 accordance with this section, the Secretary shall cre18 ate a process by which the western States may re19 quest the relinquishment of State land grant parcels 

20 inside Federal conservation areas and select unap21 propriated public lands in exchange therefor. 

22 (2) TIMING.—The process established by the 

23 Secretary under this section shall ensure that the re24 linquishment of State land grant parcels and the 


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1 conveyance of unappropriated public land is concur2 rent. 

3 (b) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Prior to accepting or con4 veying any land under this Act, the Secretary shall provide 

5 public notice and an opportunity to comment on the pro6 posed conveyances between the western State and the 

7 United States. 

8 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro10 vided in this subsection, the Secretary shall acquire 

11 State land grant parcels and convey unappropriated 

12 public land under this Act in accordance with— 

13 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 

14 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.); and 

15 (B) other applicable laws. 

16 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OR ENVI17 RONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.—In preparing an 

18 environmental assessment or environmental impact 

19 statement pursuant to section 102(2) of the Na20 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

21 4332(2)) for the acquisition of State land grant par22 cels and the conveyance of unappropriated public 

23 land under this Act, the Secretary is not required to 

24 study, develop, and describe more than— 

25 (A) the proposed agency action; and 


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1 (B) the alternative of no action. 

2 (d) AGREEMENTS WITH STATES.—The Secretary is 

3 authorized to enter into cooperative agreements with any 

4 of the western States to facilitate processing of applica5 tions and conveyance of selected lands. 

6 (e) APPROVAL OR REJECTION.—The Secretary— 

7 (1) shall issue a final determination on an ap8 plication not later than three years after a western 

9 State submits that application to the Secretary; 

10 (2) may approve an application in whole or in 

11 part, or as modified by the Secretary as necessary 

12 to balance the equities of the States and interest of 

13 the public; 

14 (3) shall not accept an application under this 

15 Act for selection of any parcel of unappropriated 

16 public land that in the judgment of the Secretary— 

17 (A) is not reasonably compact and consoli18 dated; or 

19 (B) will create significant management 

20 conflicts with respect to the management of ad21 jacent Federal land; 

22 (4) shall not accept any State land grant par23 cels that, in the judgment of the Secretary, are not 

24 suitable for inclusion in a Federal conservation area; 


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1 (5) shall, prior to approving an application, con2 sult with the head of any Federal agency with juris3 diction over Federal land— 

4 (A) within which a western State proposes 

5 to relinquish a State land grant parcel; or 

6 (B) that is adjacent to unappropriated 

7 public land proposed for conveyance to a west8 ern State; and 

9 (6) shall convey any Federal lands approved for 

10 selection not later than 90 days after entering into 

11 a final agreement between the Secretary and the 

12 western State on the lands to be conveyed, subject 

13 to such other terms and conditions as may be appro14 priate. 

15 (f) CONVEYANCE BY WESTERN STATE.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The conveyance of any State 

17 land grant parcel under this Act shall be by patent 

18 or deed acceptable to the Secretary. 

19 (2) CONCURRENCE.—The Secretary of Agri20 culture shall concur in any determination to accept 

21 the conveyance of a State land grant parcel within 

22 the boundaries of any unit of the National Forest 

23 System. 

24 (g) CONVEYANCE BY UNITED STATES.—The convey25 ance of unappropriated public land by the United States 


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1 shall include such terms and conditions as the Secretary 

2 may require. 

3 SEC. 6. MINERAL LANDS. 

4 (a) SELECTION AND CONVEYANCE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of 

6 this Act, a western State may select, and the Sec7 retary may convey, lands that are mineral in char8 acter under this Act. 

9 (2) EXCLUSION.—A western State may not se10 lect, and the Secretary may not convey— 

11 (A) land that includes only a portion of a 

12 mineral lease or permit; or 

13 (B) only the Federal mineral estate, unless 

14 the United States does not own the associated 

15 surface estate. 

16 (b) MINING CLAIMS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—To facilitate the conversion 

18 of Federal mining claims to State mining leases on 

19 land selected by a western State, a Federal mining 

20 claimant may file with the Secretary a voluntary re21 linquishment of a Federal mining claim conditioned 

22 on conveyance of the land to the western State. 

23 (2) NO RELINQUISHMENT.—If the land subject 

24 to a Federal mining claim for which a conditional re25 linquishment has been filed with the Secretary is not 


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1 conveyed to the western State under this Act, the 

2 conditional relinquishment of land under paragraph 

3 (1) shall be of no effect. 

4 SEC. 7. CONSTRUCTION WITH OTHER LAWS. 

5 (a) CONSIDERATION.—In the application of laws, reg6 ulations, and policies relating to selections made under 

7 this Act, the Secretary shall consider the equities of the 

8 western States and the interest of the public. 

9 (b) PRESUMPTION OF PLAN ADEQUACY.—Unless a 

10 land use plan enacted under section 202 of FLPMA (43 

11 U.S.C. 1712) specifically identifies significant public val12 ues that would be lost or substantially impaired due to 

13 the conveyance of unappropriated public land to a western 

14 State, any western State selection under this Act shall be 

15 deemed to be in compliance with such plan even if the 

16 selected land is not otherwise identified for disposal. 

17 SEC. 8. VALUATION. 

18 (a) EQUAL VALUE.—The overall value of the State 

19 land grant parcels and the unappropriated public land to 

20 be conveyed shall be equal, or if they are not equal, the 

21 values shall be equalized by the payment of money to the 

22 western State or to the Secretary as the circumstances re23 quire, so long as payment does not exceed 25 percent of 

24 the total value of the land or interests transferred out of 

25 Federal ownership. 


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1 (b) LOW VALUE PARCELS.—If a western State and 

2 the Secretary agree that the market value of a State land 

3 grant parcel or a parcel of unappropriated public land is 

4 less than $300 per acre, the Secretary may use a summary 

5 appraisal or statement of value made by a qualified ap6 praiser in accordance with Internal Revenue Service 

7 standards instead of an appraisal compliant with the Uni8 form Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisition. 

9 (c) LEDGER ACCOUNTS.—The Secretary and any 

10 western State may agree to use a ledger account to make 

11 equal the value of lands relinquished by the western State 

12 and conveyed by the United States to the western State 

13 under this Act. 

14 (d) COSTS.—The Secretary or the western State may, 

15 in accordance with section 206(f)(2)(B) of FLPMA (43 

16 U.S.C. 1716(f)(2)(B))— 

17 (1) assume costs or other responsibilities or re18 quirements for conveying land under this Act that 

19 ordinarily are borne by the other party; and 

20 (2) make adjustments to the relative values in21 volved in the conveyance of land under this Act to 

22 compensate the Secretary or the western State for 

23 assuming such costs or other responsibilities or re24 quirements. 


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1 (e) ADJUSTMENT.—If value is attributed to any par2 cel of Federal land that has been selected by a western 

3 State because of the presence of minerals under a lease 

4 pursuant to the Mineral Lands Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

5 191 et seq.) that is in a producing or producible status, 

6 and the lease is to be conveyed under this Act, the value 

7 of such parcel shall be reduced by the percentage which 

8 represents the likely Federal revenue sharing obligation 

9 under the Mineral Lands Leasing Act, but such adjust10 ment shall not be considered as reflecting a property right 

11 of the western State. 

12 SEC. 9. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

13 (a) HAZARDOUS MATERIALS.—The Secretary and 

14 the western States shall make available for review and in15 spection any record relating to hazardous materials on 

16 land to be conveyed under this Act. 

17 (b) APPURTENANT WATER RIGHTS.—Any convey18 ance of a State land grant parcel or unappropriated public 

19 land under this Act may include the conveyance of water 

20 rights appurtenant to the land conveyed. 

21 (c) GRAZING PERMITS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—If land conveyed under this 

23 Act is subject to a lease, permit, or contract for the 

24 grazing of domestic livestock in effect on the date of 

25 the conveyance, the Secretary (or the Secretary of 


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1 Agriculture for lands located within the National 

2 Forest System) and the western State shall allow 

3 the grazing to continue for the remainder of the 

4 term of the lease, permit, or contract, subject to the 

5 related terms and conditions of user agreements, in6 cluding permitted stocking rates, grazing fee levels, 

7 access rights, and ownership and use of range im8 provements. 

9 (2) RENEWAL.—On expiration of any grazing 

10 lease, permit, or contract described in paragraph 

11 (1), the party that has jurisdiction over the land on 

12 the date of expiration may elect to renew the lease, 

13 permit, or contract if permitted under applicable 

14 law. 

15 (3) CANCELLATION.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act 

17 shall prevent the Secretary (or the Secretary of 

18 Agriculture for lands located within the Na19 tional Forest System) or the western State 

20 from canceling or modifying a grazing permit, 

21 lease, or contract if the land subject to the per22 mit, lease, or contract is sold, conveyed, trans23 ferred, or leased for nongrazing purposes. 

24 (B) LIMITATION.—Except to the extent 

25 reasonably necessary to accommodate surface 


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1 operations in support of mineral development, 

2 the Secretary (or the Secretary of Agriculture 

3 for lands located within the National Forest 

4 System) or the western State shall not cancel or 

5 modify a grazing permit, lease, or contract for 

6 land conveyed pursuant to this Act because the 

7 land subject to the permit, lease, or contract 

8 has been leased for mineral development. 

9 (4) BASE PROPERTIES.—If land conveyed by 

10 the western State under this Act is used by a graz11 ing permittee or lessee to meet the base property re12 quirements for a Federal grazing permit or lease, 

13 the land shall continue to qualify as a base property 

14 for the remaining term of the lease or permit and 

15 the term of any renewal or extension of the lease or 

16 permit. 

17 SEC. 10. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 

18 The provisions of this Act shall cease to be effective 

19 with regard to any State land grant parcel located within 

20 a Federal conservation area for which an application has 

21 not been filed by the date that is 10 years after the date 

22 of the enactment of this Act unless that application is for 

23 a State land grant parcel that is located within a Federal 

24 conservation area established after the date of enactment 

25 of this Act, in which case the provisions of this Act will 


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1 remain effective for 10 years after the date on which the 

2 Federal conservation area is established. 

3 SEC. 11. SAVINGS PROVISIONS. 

4 Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to repeal or limit, 

5 expressly or by implication, any existing authority for the 

6 selection or exchange of lands. 

Æ 


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