I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2079
To provide for the conveyance of certain National Forest System lands in
the State of South Dakota.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 8, 1999
Mr. THUNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Resources
A BILL
To provide for the conveyance of certain National Forest
System lands in the State of South Dakota.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Terry Peak Land
Transfer Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) Certain National Forest System land lo-
cated in the Black Hills National Forest in Law-
rence County, South Dakota, is currently permitted
to the Terry Peak Ski Area by the Secretary of Ag-
riculture pursuant to section 3 of the National For-
est Ski Area Permit Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 497b).
(2) The National Forest System land comprises
only 10 percent of the land at the Ski Area, with the
remaining 90 percent located on private land owned
by the Ski Area operator.
(3) As the fractional Forest Service land hold-
ing at the Ski Area is also encumbered by ski lifts,
ski trails, a base lodge parking lot and other pri-
vately owned improvements, it serves little purpose
in continued public ownership, and can more logi-
cally be conveyed to the Ski Area to unify land man-
agement and eliminate permitting and other admin-
istrative costs to the United States.
(4) The Ski Area is interested in acquiring the
land from the United States, but the Secretary does
not have administrative authority to convey such
land in a nonsimultaneous land exchange absent spe-
cific authorization from Congress.
(5) The Black Hills National Forest contains
several small inholdings of undeveloped private land
with multiple landowners which complicate National
Forest land management and which can be acquired
by the United States from willing sellers if acquisi-
tion funds are made available to the Secretary.
(6) The proceeds from the Terry Peak convey-
ance can provide a modest, but readily available and
flexible, funding source for the Secretary to acquire
certain inholdings in the Black Hills National Forest
from willing sellers, and given the small and scat-
tered nature of such inholdings, and number of po-
tential sellers involved, can do so more efficiently
and quickly than through administrative land ex-
changes.
(7) It is, therefore, in the public interest to con-
vey the National Forest System land at Terry Peak
to the Ski Area at fair market value and to utilize
the proceeds to acquire more desirable lands for ad-
dition to the Black Hills National Forest for perma-
nent public use and enjoyment.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to re-
quire the conveyance of certain National Forest System
lands at the Terry Peak Ski Area to the Ski Area and
to utilize the proceeds to acquire more desirable lands for
the United States for permanent public use and enjoy-
ment.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of Agriculture, unless otherwise specified.
(2) The term ‘‘selected land’’ means land com-
prising approximately 41.42 acres and generally de-
picted as government lots 6 and 11, section 2, town-
ship 4 north, range 2 east, Black Hills meridian, on
a map entitled ‘‘Terry Peak Land Conveyance’’,
dated March 1999; and
(3) the terms ‘‘Terry Peak Ski Area’’ and ‘‘Ski
Area’’ mean the Black Hills Chairlift Company, a
South Dakota Corporation, or its successors, heirs
and assigns.
SEC. 4. LAND CONVEYANCE AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVI-
SIONS.
(a) CONVEYANCE REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Ag-
riculture shall convey the selected land to the Terry Peak
Ski Area at fair market value, as determined by the Sec-
retary.
(b) APPRAISAL.—The value of the selected land shall
be determined by the Secretary utilizing nationally recog-
nized appraisal standards, including to the extent appro-
priate, the Uniform Appraisal Standards For Federal
Land Acquisitions (1992), the Uniform Standards of Pro-
fessional Appraisal Practice, and other applicable law. The
costs of the appraisal shall be paid for by the Ski Area.
(c) COMPLETION OF CONVEYANCE.—It is the sense
of Congress that the conveyance to the Ski Area required
by this Act be consummated no later than 6 months after
the date of enactment of this Act, unless the Secretary
and the Ski Area mutually agree to extend the consumma-
tion date. Prior to conveying the selected land to the Ski
Area, the Secretary shall complete standard pre-disposal
analyses and clearances pertaining to threatened and en-
dangered species, cultural and historic resources, wetlands
and floodplains, and hazardous materials.
(d) USE OF PROCEEDS BY THE SECRETARY.—All
monies received by the Secretary pursuant to this Act
shall be considered monies received and deposited pursu-
ant to Public Law 90–171 (16 U.S.C. 484a; commonly
known as the Sisk Act) and shall be utilized by the Sec-
retary to acquire replacement land from willing sellers for
addition to the Black Hills National Forest in South Da-
kota. Any lands so acquired shall be added to and adminis-
tered as part of the Black Hills National Forest and, if
any such land lies outside the exterior boundaries of the
Forest, the Secretary may modify the boundary of the
Forest to include such land. Nothing in this section shall
be construed to limit the authority of the Secretary to ad-
just the boundaries of the Forest pursuant to section 11
of the Act of March 1, 1911 (16 U.S.C. 521; commonly
known as the Weeks Act).
(e) CONVEYANCE SUBJECT
TO VALID EXISTING
RIGHTS, EASEMENTS.—The conveyance to the Ski Area
required by this Act shall be subject to valid existing
rights and to existing easements, rights-of-way, utility
lines and any other right, title or interest of record on
the selected land as of the date of transfer of the selected
land to the Terry Peak Ski Area.
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