II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 425 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange certain National 

Forest System land in the State of Vermont. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 17, 2005 

Mr. LEAHY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange 

certain National Forest System land in the State of Vermont. 

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 ‘‘Green Mountain Na5 tional Forest Land Adjustment Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) BROMLEY.—The term ‘‘Bromley’’ means 

9 Bromley Mountain Ski Resort, Inc. 
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1 (2) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en2 titled ‘‘Proposed Bromley Land Sale or Exchange’’ 

3 and dated April 7, 2004. 

4 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

6 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

7 of Vermont. 

8 SEC. 3. SALE OR EXCHANGE OF GREEN MOUNTAIN NA9 TIONAL FOREST LAND. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, under any 

11 terms and conditions that the Secretary may prescribe, 

12 sell or exchange any right, title, and interest of the United 

13 States in and to the parcels of National Forest System 

14 land described in subsection (b). 

15 (b) DESCRIPTION OF LAND.—The parcels of Na16 tional Forest System land referred to in subsection (a) are 

17 the 5 parcels of land in Bennington County in the State, 

18 as generally depicted on the map. 

19 (c) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The map shall be on file and 

21 available for public inspection in— 

22 (A) the office of the Chief of the Forest 

23 Service; and 

24 (B) the office of the Supervisor of the 

25 Green Mountain National Forest. 
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1 (2) MODIFICATIONS.—The Secretary may mod2 ify the map and legal descriptions to— 

3 (A) correct technical errors; or 

4 (B) facilitate the conveyance under sub5 section (a). 

6 (d) CONSIDERATION.—Consideration for the sale or 

7 exchange of land described in subsection (b)— 

8 (1) shall be equal to an amount that is not less 

9 than the fair market value of the land sold or ex10 changed; and 

11 (2) may be in the form of cash, land, or a com12 bination of cash and land. 

13 (e) APPRAISALS.—Any appraisal carried out to facili14 tate the sale or exchange of land under subsection (a) shall 

15 conform with the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Fed16 eral Land Acquisitions. 

17 (f) METHODS OF SALE.— 

18 (1) CONVEYANCE TO BROMLEY.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Before soliciting offers 

20 under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall offer 

21 to convey to Bromley the land described in sub22 section (b). 

23 (B) CONTRACT DEADLINE.—If Bromley 

24 accepts the offer under subparagraph (A), the 

25 Secretary and Bromley shall have not more 
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1 than 180 days after the date on which any envi2 ronmental analyses with respect to the land are 

3 completed to enter into a contract for the sale 

4 or exchange of the land. 

5 (2) PUBLIC OR PRIVATE SALE.—If the Sec6 retary and Bromley do not enter into a contract for 

7 the sale or exchange of the land by the date speci8 fied in paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary may sell or 

9 exchange the land at public or private sale (includ10 ing auction), in accordance with such terms, condi11 tions, and procedures as the Secretary determines to 

12 be in the public interest. 

13 (3) REJECTION OF OFFERS.—The Secretary 

14 may reject any offer received under this subsection 

15 if the Secretary determines that the offer is not ade16 quate or is not in the public interest. 

17 (4) BROKERS.—In any sale or exchange of land 

18 under this section, the Secretary may— 

19 (A) use a real estate broker or other third 

20 party; and 

21 (B) pay the real estate broker or third 

22 party a commission in an amount comparable 

23 to the amounts of commission generally paid for 

24 real estate transactions in the area. 
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1 (g) CASH EQUALIZATION.—Notwithstanding section 

2 206(b) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 

3 of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)), the Secretary may accept 

4 a cash equalization payment in excess of 25 percent of 

5 the value of any Federal land exchanged under this Act. 

6 SEC. 4. DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall deposit the 

8 net proceeds from a sale or exchange under this Act in 

9 the fund established under Public Law 90–171 (16 U.S.C. 

10 484a) (commonly known as the ‘‘Sisk Act’’). 

11 (b) USE.—Amounts deposited under subsection (a) 

12 shall be available to the Secretary until expended, without 

13 further appropriation, for— 

14 (1) the location and relocation of the Appa15 lachian National Scenic Trail and the Long National 

16 Recreation Trail in the State; 

17 (2) the acquisition of land and interests in land 

18 by the Secretary for National Forest System pur19 poses within the boundary of the Green Mountain 

20 National Forest, including land for and adjacent to 

21 the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and the Long 

22 National Recreation Trail; 

23 (3) the acquisition of wetland or an interest in 

24 wetland within the boundary of the Green Mountain 
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1 National Forest to offset the loss of wetland from 

2 the parcels sold or exchanged; and 

3 (4) the payment of direct administrative costs 

4 incurred in carrying out this Act. 

5 (c) LIMITATION.—Amounts deposited under sub6 section (a) shall not— 

7 (1) be paid or distributed to the State or coun8 ties or towns in the State under any provision of 

9 law; or 

10 (2) be considered to be money received from 

11 units of the National Forest System for purposes 

12 of— 

13 (A) the Act of May 23, 1908 (16 U.S.C. 

14 500); or 

15 (B) the Act of March 4, 1913 (16 U.S.C. 

16 501). 

17 (d) PROHIBITION OF TRANSFER OR REPROGRAM18 MING.—Amounts deposited under subsection (a) shall not 

19 be subject to transfer or reprogramming for wildfire man20 agement or any other emergency purposes. 

21 SEC. 5. ACQUISITION OF LAND. 

22 The Secretary may acquire, using funds made avail23 able under section 4 or otherwise made available for acqui24 sition, land or an interest in land for National Forest Sys-
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1 tem purposes within the boundary of the Green Mountain 

2 National Forest. 

3 SEC. 6. EXEMPTION FROM CERTAIN LAWS. 

4 Subtitle I of title 40, United States Code, shall not 

5 apply to any sale or exchange of National Forest System 

6 land under this Act. 

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