I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1657 

To provide for a land exchange in the Chippewa National Forest, Minnesota, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2023 

Mr. STAUBER (for himself, Mr. FINSTAD, Mrs. FISCHBACH, Mr. HUFFMAN, 

and Mr. NEGUSE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for a land exchange in the Chippewa National 

Forest, Minnesota, 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 ‘‘Lake Winnibigoshish 

5 Land Exchange Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) BWLT.—The term ‘‘BWLT’’ means Big 

9 Winnie Land and Timber, LLC, a Minnesota Lim10 ited Liability Corporation. 


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1 (2) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en2 titled ‘‘Proposed Land Exchange - Big Winnie Land 

3 and Timber LLC and Chippewa National Forest’’ 

4 and dated January 4, 2023. 

5 (3) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

6 means the approximately 13.8 acres of Federal land 

7 in Itasca County, Minnesota, generally depicted as 

8 the ‘‘Federal Parcel for Exchange’’ on the Map. 

9 (4) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘non-Fed10 eral land’’ means the approximately 38 acres of non11 Federal land in Itasca County, Minnesota, generally 

12 depicted as the ‘‘Private Parcel for Exchange’’ on 

13 the Map. 

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

15 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 

16 Chief of the Forest Service. 

17 SEC. 3. EXCHANGE OF LAND. 

18 (a) EXCHANGE AUTHORIZED.—Subject to the provi19 sions of this Act, if BWLT offers to convey the non-Fed20 eral land to the United States, the Secretary shall, not 

21 later than 180 days after receiving the offer— 

22 (1) accept the offer; 

23 (2) convey to BWLT all right, title, and inter24 est of the United States in and to the Federal land; 

25 and 


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1 (3) accept from BWLT all right, title, and in2 terest of BWLT in and to the non-Federal land. 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The exchange under sub4 section (a) shall be— 

5 (1) subject to valid existing rights; and 

6 (2) conditioned on a cash equalization payment 

7 made by BWLT to the United States in accordance 

8 with subsection (c) if, under the appraisals con9 ducted in accordance with this Act, it is determined 

10 that the value of the Federal land exceeds the value 

11 of the non-Federal land. 

12 (c) EQUAL VALUE AND CASH EQUALIZATION.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para14 graph (2), the exchange under subsection (a) shall 

15 be for equal value or the values shall be equalized 

16 by a cash payment. 

17 (2) EXCEPTION.—If the appraised value of the 

18 non-Federal land conveyed to the Secretary exceeds 

19 the appraised value of the Federal land, a cash 

20 equalization payment by the United States to 

21 BWLT is hereby waived and the amount of such 

22 waived payment shall be considered a donation by 

23 BWLT to the United States for all purposes of law. 

24 (d) APPRAISALS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The value of the land to be 

2 exchanged under this Act shall be determined by ap3 praisals conducted by one or more independent and 

4 qualified appraisers mutually agreed to by the Sec5 retary and BWLT. 

6 (2) APPRAISAL STANDARDS.—The Secretary 

7 shall complete an appraisal of the land to be ex8 changed under this Act in accordance with— 

9 (A) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for 

10 Federal Land Acquisitions; and 

11 (B) the Uniform Standards of Professional 

12 Appraisal Practice. 

13 (e) FORMAT.—Title to the non-Federal land to be 

14 conveyed to the Secretary under this Act shall be in a for15 mat acceptable to the Secretary. 

16 (f) MANAGEMENT OF ACQUIRED LAND.—The land 

17 acquired by the Secretary under subsection (a) shall be— 

18 (1) added to, and managed as part of, the 

19 Chippewa National Forest; and 

20 (2) managed in accordance with the laws, rules, 

21 and regulations pertaining to National Forest Sys22 tem lands. 

23 (g) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 

25 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 


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1 shall finalize a Map and legal descriptions of all land 

2 to be conveyed under this Act. 

3 (2) CONTROLLING DOCUMENT.—In the case of 

4 a discrepancy between the Map and a legal descrip5 tion, the Map shall control. 

6 (3) CORRECTIONS.—The Secretary and BWLT, 

7 by mutual agreement, may correct any minor errors 

8 in the Map or in the legal descriptions, including 

9 with respect to the boundaries of the Federal land 

10 parcel and the non-Federal land parcel. 

11 (4) MAP ON FILE.—The Map and legal descrip12 tions shall be on file and available for public inspec13 tion in appropriate offices of the Forest Service. 

Æ 


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