I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 633 

To authorize States to select and acquire certain National Forest System 

lands to be managed and operated by the State for timber production 

and for other purposes under the laws of the State, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2021 

Mr. YOUNG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize States to select and acquire certain National 

Forest System lands to be managed and operated by 

the State for timber production and for other purposes 

under the laws of the State, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘State National Forest Management Act of 2021’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. State selection of eligible portions of the National Forest System for acquisition and management. 

Sec. 4. Transition provisions during the exchange-transition period. 

Sec. 5. Transition provisions outside the transition period. 

Sec. 6. Miscellaneous duties of the parties and other provisions relating to the 

transfer. 

Sec. 7. Conditions on changes to land management plans regarding management of young-growth stands. 

3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) The term ‘‘Commissioner’’ means the head 

6 of the Department of Natural Resources of a State 

7 or comparable State agency. 

8 (2) The term ‘‘eligible portions of the National 

9 Forest System’’ means all right, title, and interest of 

10 the United States in and to the surface and sub11 surface lands and real property (including structures 

12 and facilities owned by the Forest Service) included 

13 as part of the National Forest System in a State. 

14 The term does not include Conservation System 

15 Units (as that term is defined in the Alaska Na16 tional Interest Lands Conservation Act) and areas 

17 or national memorials protected by an Act of Con18 gress. 

19 (3) The term ‘‘Federal obligation’’— 


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1 (A) means any obligation or duty of the 

2 Forest Service arising out of any lease, permit, 

3 license, contract, and other legal instruments 

4 issued by or with the Forest Service relating to 

5 eligible portions of the National Forest System; 

6 and 

7 (B) does not include any obligation with 

8 respect to a Federal law, regulation, or policy. 

9 (4) The term ‘‘forest operations’’ means the de10 velopment of forest operating plans for eligible por11 tions of the National Forest System acquired by a 

12 State, including the conduct of inventories of timber 

13 resources and the engineering of necessary access 

14 needed necessary for timber management and re15 lated management activities. 

16 (5) The term ‘‘patent date’’ means the last day 

17 of the selection-transition period. 

18 (6) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

19 of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the For20 est Service. 

21 (7) The term ‘‘selection date’’ means the date 

22 on which a State elects to acquire eligible portions 

23 of the National Forest System and notifies the Sec24 retary of such election under section 3(a). 


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1 (8) The term ‘‘selection-transition period’’ 

2 means the period beginning on the selection date 

3 and ending no more than one year thereafter, on the 

4 patent date. 

5 (9) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

6 States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

7 (10) The term ‘‘State forest practices law’’ 

8 means a forest practices law applicable to State or 

9 privately owned forest land in a State, including es10 tablished silvicultural best management practices or 

11 other regulations for forest management practices 

12 related to clean water, soil quality, wildlife or forest 

13 health. 

14 (11) The term ‘‘State obligation’’ means any 

15 obligation or duty of the State arising out of any 

16 lease, permit, license, contract and other legal in17 struments issued by or with the State relating to the 

18 selected lands under this Act. 

19 SEC. 3. STATE SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE PORTIONS OF THE 

20 NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM FOR ACQUISI21 TION AND MANAGEMENT. 

22 (a) SELECTION AUTHORIZED; CONVEYANCE RE23 QUIRED.—During the 10-year period beginning on the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act, if a State elects pursu25 ant to subsection (b) to select and acquire eligible portions 


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1 of the National Forest System in that State under the 

2 terms and conditions of this Act and notifies the Secretary 

3 of such selection, then the Secretary shall convey the eligi4 ble portions of the National Forest System so selected to 

5 the State in accordance with subsection (d). All convey6 ances shall be subject to valid existing rights. 

7 (b) FORM OF ELECTION.—The election by a State 

8 to select and acquire eligible portions of the National For9 est System in that State pursuant to subsection (a) shall 

10 be executed in the form of a bill enacted into law by the 

11 legislature of that State. Such a law shall provide, at a 

12 minimum, the following: 

13 (1) That the State elects to acquire eligible por14 tions of the National Forest System in that State— 

15 (A) pursuant to purchase for fair-market 

16 value; 

17 (B) in exchange for State lands of equal 

18 value; 

19 (C) in satisfaction of land selection rights 

20 pursuant to the law by which the State was ad21 mitted to the Union; or 

22 (D) any combination of the preceding 

23 paragraphs. 


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1 (2) Identifies the eligible portions of the Na2 tional Forest System to be acquired and the method 

3 by which the State will acquire the land. 

4 (3) Acceptance by the State that acquisition of 

5 the identified eligible portions of the National Forest 

6 System is subject to valid existing rights. 

7 (4) Acceptance by the State of the procedures 

8 specified in this Act and the transition provisions of 

9 this Act. 

10 (5) In the case of the State of Alaska, accept11 ance by the State of the rights and obligations of the 

12 United States under the Alaska Native Claims Set13 tlement Act with respect to acquired lands, rights in 

14 such lands, and use of lands acquired by that State 

15 shall not be infringed by that State. 

16 (6) Specification that up to 50 percent of the 

17 annual harvest of timber from eligible portions of 

18 the National Forest System to be acquired shall be 

19 offered in at least 10-year contracts, and timber 

20 sales shall, to the maximum extent practicable, pro21 vide sufficient volume to meet the needs of all wood 

22 processing operations existing in that State as of the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act, and forest oper24 ations shall be performed in compliance with the 

25 State forest practices law. 


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1 (7) Acceptance by the State that eligible por2 tions of the National Forest System open to mineral 

3 entry under the general mining laws of the United 

4 States shall remain open to mineral entry under 

5 State law unless subsequently changed by a State 

6 mineral closing order. 

7 (c) MULTIPLE STATE LAWS; ACREAGE LIMITA8 TION.—During the selection period specified in subsection 

9 (a), a State may enact more than one law to select and 

10 acquire eligible portions of the National Forest System in 

11 that State, except that the total quantity of National For12 est System land acquired by the State under this Act may 

13 not exceed 2,000,000 acres. 

14 (d) PROCEDURE.—Beginning on the selection date 

15 for a State’s acquisition of eligible portions of the National 

16 Forest System in that State, the Secretary shall prepare 

17 patents conveying the National Forest System lands se18 lected by the State and shall convey such patents to the 

19 State on the patent date. The duty of the Secretary to 

20 prepare and convey such patents under this Act shall be 

21 purely ministerial and conveyance of the patent on the 

22 patent date shall not be withheld or conditioned by any 

23 other provision of law except as provided herein. The 

24 United States Supreme Court shall have exclusive jurisdic25 tion to issue such writs and compel such actions as may 


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1 be necessary to accomplish the conveyance made under 

2 this Act. 

3 (e) OTHER PROPERTY.—Beginning on the selection 

4 date for a State’s acquisition of eligible portions of the 

5 National Forest System in that State, in addition to other 

6 conveyances made under this Act, the Secretary shall con7 vey the right and title to and interest of the United States 

8 in all other types of property (including real and personal 

9 property) used for purposes of operating, administering, 

10 and managing the acquired National Forest System land 

11 in that State. Such property shall be transferred on the 

12 patent date and include only that property which is owned 

13 by the United States and used by the Forest Service pri14 marily on the eligible portions of the National Forest Sys15 tem selected by the State. 

16 (f) OTHER USES.—Beginning on the selection date 

17 and concurrent with the selection and conveyance of the 

18 National Forest System lands and property under this 

19 Act, the Secretary shall transfer all existing special use 

20 permits related to the acquired National Forest System 

21 lands and property to the State. 


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1 SEC. 4. TRANSITION PROVISIONS DURING THE EXCHANGE2 TRANSITION PERIOD. 

3 (a) EXISTING OBLIGATIONS OF THE UNITED

4 STATES.—The United States shall remain obligated for all 

5 Federal obligations incurred prior to the patent date. 

6 (b) EMPLOYEES.—During the selection-transition pe7 riod, to the extent practicable, the State shall interview 

8 each person employed by the Forest Service on the date 

9 of the enactment of this Act whose employment is made 

10 redundant by this Act for purposes of reemployment by 

11 the State in a comparable job within the new State admin12 istrative system for the National Forest System lands ac13 quired by the State under this Act. Employees who do not 

14 secure employment with the State shall have the option 

15 of placement in an equivalent position available within the 

16 Federal Government. 

17 (c) MANAGEMENT PENDING CONVEYANCE.—During 

18 the selection-transition period and until the patent date, 

19 except as provided otherwise under this Act, eligible por20 tions of the National Forest System not yet patented to 

21 the State under this Act shall be administered and man22 aged under applicable Federal law and land management 

23 plans. 

24 (d) TRANSFER OF CERTAIN RECEIPTS.—Receipts 

25 from all rentals or sales occurring on eligible portions of 

26 the National Forest System selected by a State during the 


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1 selection-transition period shall be kept in escrow and 

2 transferred to the State on the patent date. 

3 SEC. 5. TRANSITION PROVISIONS OUTSIDE THE TRANSI4 TION PERIOD. 

5 (a) MANAGEMENT OF SELECTED LANDS.—Begin6 ning on the patent date, eligible portions of the National 

7 Forest System conveyed to a State under this Act shall 

8 be administered and managed primarily for timber pro9 duction pursuant to the State forest practices law, except 

10 as otherwise provided in this Act for the period provided 

11 by this Act. 

12 (b) LAND DESIGNATIONS.—Land use designations in 

13 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act for eligible 

14 portions of the National Forest System conveyed to a 

15 State under this Act under the applicable land manage16 ment plan shall continue in effect until the patent date. 

17 (c) SUBSISTENCE USE AFTER THE SELECTION

18 DATE.—In the case of eligible portions of the National 

19 Forest System in the State of Alaska, the Secretary of 

20 the Interior shall retain continuing authority to manage 

21 subsistence uses of fish and wildlife on National Forest 

22 System lands conveyed under this Act until the patent 

23 date. 

24 (d) ACCESS.— 


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1 (1) EASEMENTS.—The Secretary, in accordance 

2 with the applicable forest transportation plan for a 

3 unit of the National Forest System and any trans4 portation plan of the State, shall provide access in 

5 the form of easements across lands owned by the 

6 United States to and from eligible portions of the 

7 National Forest System conveyed to the State. The 

8 duty of the Secretary to deliver patents for such 

9 easements shall be purely ministerial and shall not 

10 be withheld or conditioned by any other provision of 

11 law. The Secretary shall enter into agreements with 

12 the Commissioner for the purpose of sharing the 

13 costs of common use roads. 

14 (2) STATE DUTY.—Following the patent date, a 

15 State shall issue easements to the United States for 

16 reasonable access across acquired eligible portions of 

17 the National Forest System in the manner provided 

18 in paragraph (1). 

19 (e) MINING CLAIMS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Federal mining claims lo21 cated pursuant to the General Mining Law of 1872 

22 (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.) on eligible portions of the Na23 tional Forest System before the selection date shall 

24 remain subject to the laws, rules, regulations, and 

25 policies of the United States, but such laws, rules, 


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1 regulations, and policies shall be administered by the 

2 State. The right and ability of a claimholder to pat3 ent such a mining claim and enjoy reasonable access 

4 to the claim shall not be infringed. An application to 

5 patent a Federal mining claim located on eligible 

6 portions of the National Forest System may be 

7 made by the claimholder with the State and shall 

8 constitute an election by the claim holder to be sub9 ject to Federal mining claim patent procedures ad10 ministered by the State. 

11 (2) ESCROW AND SUBSEQUENT TRANSFER.— 

12 During the selection-transition period, the Federal 

13 Government shall escrow all fees and revenues, if 

14 any, due on Federal mining claims on eligible por15 tions of the National Forest System and on the pat16 ent date transfer those receipts to the State on the 

17 patent date to the account established by the State 

18 for purposes of the law specified in section 3(b)(7). 

19 (3) STATE DUTY.—Any mining claims filed on 

20 eligible portions of the National Forest System in a 

21 State after the selection date shall be subject only to 

22 the laws of the State. 

23 (f) TRANSFER OF OTHER RECEIPTS.—Beginning 

24 with the fiscal year of a State after the patent date, 

25 escrowed fees and fees from all existing and future issued 


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1 special use permits and all other land management re2 ceipts on eligible portions of the National Forest System 

3 conveyed to the State under this Act, net of reasonable 

4 cost of administration, shall be transferred to the State. 

5 (g) EXISTING OBLIGATIONS AFTER PATENT

6 DATE.—On the patent date, a State shall assume all Fed7 eral obligations and duties and receive all rights of the 

8 Forest Service, except that the State shall assume no obli9 gation for any claim for damages or specific performance 

10 relating to a contract or permit, if such claim arose before 

11 the patent date, unless the State receives the benefit from 

12 such an obligation. 

13 SEC. 6. MISCELLANEOUS DUTIES OF THE PARTIES AND 

14 OTHER PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE 

15 TRANSFER. 

16 (a) HAZARDOUS MATERIALS.—As promptly as prac17 ticable after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

18 Secretary shall make available to a State for review and 

19 inspection, all pertinent records relating to hazardous ma20 terials, if any, on eligible portions of the National Forest 

21 System available for selection under this Act. The respon22 sibility for costs of remedial action related to such mate23 rials shall be borne by those entities responsible under ex24 isting law. If no party responsible for the hazardous mate25 rials can be determined, remediation responsibility and all 


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1 costs shall remain with the Secretary and remediation as 

2 agreed to by the Commissioner shall be initiated as soon 

3 as practical after the patent date. 

4 (b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Selection of land pursuant 

5 to this Act shall not be subject to judicial review in any 

6 court of the United States, except— 

7 (1) to the extent a right of judicial review is 

8 conferred specifically by the United States Constitu9 tion; 

10 (2) otherwise conferred by this Act; or 

11 (3) when sought by the State on matters per12 taining to rights conferred by this Act. 

13 (c) RULEMAKING.—No formal rules under section 

14 553 of title 5, United States Code, are required to imple15 ment this Act. 

16 (d) SURVEY.—The patent for and use of eligible por17 tions of the National Forest System conveyed to a State 

18 pursuant to this Act shall not be subject to completion 

19 of a field survey and may be issued based on a protraction 

20 survey. However, the Secretary shall complete a field sur21 vey following patent. 

22 (e) ENCUMBRANCES.—For purposes of an orderly 

23 transfer of eligible portions of the National Forest System 

24 to State ownership and transition to State management, 

25 the Secretary shall provide a list of encumbrances and 


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1 uses of record and otherwise known on the selected lands 

2 to the Commissioner during the selection-transition pe3 riod. The lands selected under this Act shall be subject 

4 to all existing encumbrances. 

5 SEC. 7. CONDITIONS ON CHANGES TO LAND MANAGEMENT 

6 PLANS REGARDING MANAGEMENT OF 

7 YOUNG-GROWTH STANDS. 

8 (a) CHANGES CONDITIONED ON COMPREHENSIVE IN9 VENTORY OF THE YOUNG-GROWTH STANDS.—Before any 

10 change to an applicable land management plan takes ef11 fect that will alter management of young-growth stands 

12 covered by the land management plan, the Secretary 

13 shall— 

14 (1) conduct a comprehensive inventory of the 

15 young-growth stands; 

16 (2) provide public notice of the availability of 

17 the comprehensive inventory; and 

18 (3) after such public notice, provide a period of 

19 not less than 90 days for public comment on the 

20 comprehensive inventory. 

21 (b) INVENTORY REQUIREMENTS.—At a minimum, 

22 the comprehensive inventory required by subsection (a) 

23 shall— 


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1 (1) include stand-level field work with respect to 

2 all 462,000 acres of young-growth timber located 

3 within the Tongass National Forest; and 

4 (2) assess all age classes of timber inventoried 

5 for the purpose of refining inventory and growth 

6 data to properly forecast yields from stands and fu7 ture economic manufacturing feasibility with respect 

8 to the timber inventoried. 

Æ 


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