I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4700 

To provide special authority to the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain 

Forest Service administrative sites in the White River National Forest 

in Colorado, to reserve the proceeds from such conveyances to help 

resolve the facilities needs of that national forest, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2004 

Mr. MCINNIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Resources 

A BILL 

To provide special authority to the Secretary of Agriculture 

to convey certain Forest Service administrative sites in 

the White River National Forest in Colorado, to reserve 

the proceeds from such conveyances to help resolve the 

facilities needs of that national forest, 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 ‘‘White River National 

5 Forest Improvement Act of 2004’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATIVE SITES CONVEYANCE AUTHORITY, 

2 WHITE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST, COLO3 RADO. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) The White River National Forest in Colo6 rado (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Forest’’) is 

7 one of the most visited recreation forests in the 

8 United States, but the administrative facilities of the 

9 Forest have become outdated and prohibitively ex10 pensive to operate and maintain. 

11 (2) The recently completed facility master plan 

12 for the Forest, entitled ‘‘Facility Master Plan, White 

13 River National Forest’’ and dated March 2003, in14 cluding Appendix 3 of the plan, entitled ‘‘Baseline 

15 Analysis and Strategic Recommendations’’ (in this 

16 section referred to as the ‘‘Facility Master Plan and 

17 Appendix 3’’), provides an excellent model for solv18 ing the facilities needs of the Forest so as to better 

19 serve the public and otherwise fulfill the mission of 

20 the Forest. 

21 (b) SPECIAL CONVEYANCE AUTHORITY.— 

22 (1) AUTHORITY PROVIDED.—The Secretary of 

23 Agriculture is authorized to sell, lease, exchange or 

24 otherwise convey, under such terms and conditions 

25 as the Secretary may prescribe, any or all right, 

26 title, and interest of the United States in and to the 
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1 following parcels of real property, including improve2 ments thereon, within the Forest, as identified for 

3 disposal in the Facility Master Plan and Appendix 

4 3: 

5 (A) PARCEL A.—Shop/Barracks/Residen6 tial Compound, 10.9 acres, more or less. 

7 (B) PARCEL B.—Eagle D.O. and dwelling 

8 unit, 0.3 acres, more or less. 

9 (C) PARCEL C.—Eagle Shop/Pasture com10 pound, 8.0 acres, more or less. 

11 (D) PARCEL D.—Washington Street Resi12 dence, 0.2 acres, more or less. 

13 (E) PARCEL E.—Holy Cross D.O. (Dowd 

14 Junction), 10 acres, more or less. 

15 (F) PARCEL F.—Martin Property, 11.7 

16 acres, more or less. 

17 (G) PARCEL G.—Bone Yard/Storage Area, 

18 5 acres, more or less. 

19 (H) PARCEL H.—Housing Compound, 7 

20 acres, more or less. 

21 (I) PARCEL I.—Cross Creek Parcel, 10 

22 acres, more or less. 

23 (J) PARCEL J.—Dwelling 355 Fairway, 

24 0.2 acres, more or less. 
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1 (K) PARCEL K.—Dwelling 236 Fairway, 

2 0.2 acres, more or less. 

3 (L) PARCEL L.—Sopris D.O. (Site #300), 

4 1.2 acres, more or less. 

5 (M) PARCEL M.—Sopris Pasture (Site 

6 #380), 11 acres, more or less. 

7 (N) PARCEL N.—Old Tree Nursery (Site 

8 #360), 29 acres, more or less. 

9 (O) PARCEL O.—SO Shop (Site #610), 

10 0.66 acres, more or less. 

11 (P) PARCEL P.—Airport Site, 4.0 acres, 

12 more or less. 

13 (2) INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL PARCELS.—The 

14 Secretary may use the authority provided by this 

15 section to convey other real property in the Forest 

16 that is excess or extraneous to the needs of the For17 est Service and is used predominantly for adminis18 trative purposes. The Secretary may include the ap19 proximately 3.0 acre administrative parcel in Aspen, 

20 Colorado, but the Secretary may only convey that 

21 parcel by lease or other contractual arrangement so 

22 that the United States retains fee ownership of the 

23 parcel. 

24 (3) DESCRIPTIONS.—The Secretary may modify 

25 the description of a parcel of real property referred 
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1 to in paragraph (1) to correct errors or to recon2 figure the parcel to facilitate a conveyance. 

3 (c) CONSIDERATION.— 

4 (1) ACCEPTANCE AND FORMS.—As consider5 ation for the conveyance of real property under this 

6 section, the Secretary of Agriculture may accept 

7 cash, land, improvements, operational and mainte8 nance services related to the administrative facilities 

9 of the Forest, or a combination thereof. 

10 (2) USE.—Subject to subsection (e), the Sec11 retary shall utilize the parcels of real property re12 ferred to in subsection (b)(1) and the consideration 

13 received under this subsection in connection with im14 plementing the financial arrangements, including 

15 public/private partnership transactions and full solu16 tion transactional packages, described in the Facility 

17 Master Plan and Appendix 3. The Secretary may 

18 modify the details of the Facility Master Plan and 

19 Appendix 3 consistent with the goal of solving the 

20 facilities needs of the Forest so as to better serve 

21 the public and otherwise fulfill the mission of the 

22 Forest. 

23 (3) VALUATION.—Any appraisal of real prop24 erty considered necessary or desirable by the Sec25 retary to carry out a conveyance under this section 
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1 shall conform to the Uniform Appraisal Standards 

2 for Federal Land Acquisitions. 

3 (4) CASH EQUALIZATION.—Notwithstanding 

4 any other provision of law, the Secretary may accept 

5 a cash equalization payment in excess of 25 percent 

6 of the value of any real property conveyed under this 

7 section by exchange. 

8 (d) METHODS AND MANNER OF CONVEYANCE.— 

9 (1) SOLICITATIONS OF OFFERS.—The Secretary 

10 of Agriculture may— 

11 (A) solicit offers for the sale, lease, ex12 change, or other conveyance of parcels of real 

13 property under this section on such terms and 

14 conditions as the Secretary may prescribe; and 

15 (B) reject any offer that the Secretary de16 termines is not adequate or not in the public in17 terest. 

18 (2) USE OF COMPETITIVE METHODS.—The Sec19 retary shall convey a parcel of real property under 

20 this section utilizing competitive processes, including 

21 competitive solicitation by auction, bid, or otherwise, 

22 except insofar as the Secretary determines that 

23 other procedures are required to facilitate the con24 veyance of the parcel. 
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1 (3) USE OF BROKERS.—The Secretary may uti2 lize brokers or other third parties in the conveyance 

3 of real property under this section and, from the 

4 proceeds of the conveyance, may pay reasonable 

5 commissions or fees for services rendered. 

6 (e) TREATMENT OF RECEIPTS.— 

7 (1) DEPOSIT IN SISK ACT FUND.—The Sec8 retary of Agriculture shall deposit the net receipts of 

9 a conveyance under this section in the fund estab10 lished by Public Law 90–171 (commonly known as 

11 the ‘‘Sisk Act’’; 16 U.S.C. 484a). 

12 (2) RELATION TO OTHER FOREST RECEIPTS.— 

13 The receipts from a conveyance under this section 

14 shall not be paid or distributed to the State of Colo15 rado or any county in the State under any provision 

16 of law or otherwise be considered as moneys received 

17 from the National Forest System for purposes of the 

18 Act of May 23, 1908, or the Act of March 1, 1911 

19 (16 U.S.C. 500), or the Act of March 4, 1913 (16 

20 U.S.C. 501). 

21 (3) USE OF RECEIPTS.—Amounts deposited 

22 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be available to the 

23 Secretary for expenditure, without further appro24 priation, for the acquisition, construction, operation, 

25 and maintenance of administrative improvements in 
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1 the Forest, including provisions for employee hous2 ing, in connection with implementing the financial 

3 arrangements, including public/private partnership 

4 transactions and full solution transactional pack5 ages, described in the Facility Master Plan and Ap6 pendix 3, subject to such modifications of the Facil7 ity Master Plan and Appendix 3 as the Secretary 

8 may make under subsection (c). 

9 (f) MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.— 

10 (1) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing 

11 rights, the parcels of real property referred to in 

12 subsection (b)(1) are withdrawn from location, 

13 entry, and patent under the mining laws of the 

14 United States. 

15 (2) INAPPLICABLE AUTHORITIES.—Subchapters 

16 II and III of chapter 5 of title 40, United States 

17 Code, and the Agriculture Property Management 

18 Regulations shall not apply to any action taken pur19 suant to this section. 

20 (g) AUTHORIZATION FOR APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec22 essary to carry out this section. 

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