I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3411 
To provide for an exchange of land between the United States Department 
of Agriculture and the Sabine River Authority of Texas. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 30, 2013 
Mr. GOHMERT (for himself, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. STOCKMAN, Mr. BRADY of 
Texas, and Mr. HALL) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on 
Natural Resources, 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 provide for an exchange of land between the United 
States Department of Agriculture and the Sabine River 
Authority of Texas. 
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 ‘‘Sabine National Forest 
Land Exchange Act of 2013’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ means 
the Sabine River Authority of Texas. 
(2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 
means— 
(A) the approximately 4,000 acres of Na-
tional Forest System land, excluding the sub-
surface mineral estate and including certain 
land in the wilderness area, located in Texas 
within Sabine National Forest and the Toledo 
Bend Project boundary, as generally depicted 
on a map titled ‘‘Sabine National Forest Toledo 
Bend Project Strip Lands’’; and 
(B) certain additional Federal land, ex-
cluding the subsurface mineral estate, occupied 
by Forest Service campgrounds, including all 
structures, buildings, fixtures, roads, and other 
improvements on the land, adjacent to the To-
ledo Bend Project, as mutually agreed by the 
Secretary and the Authority, and as generally 
depicted on the map titled ‘‘Sabine National 
Forest Campgrounds, Toledo Bend Project’’. 
(3) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘non-Fed-
eral land’’ means the parcel or parcels of private 
land, excluding the subsurface mineral estate, adja-
cent to Sabine National Forest— 
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(A) owned or to be acquired by the Au-
thority; and 
(B) mutually agreed upon by the Authority 
and the Secretary. 
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 
Chief of the Forest Service. 
(5) TOLEDO BEND PROJECT.—The term ‘‘To-
ledo Bend Project’’ means Federal Energy Regu-
latory Commission Project numbered 2305. 
(6) WILDERNESS AREA.—The term ‘‘wilderness 
area’’ means the Indian Mounds Wilderness Area, 
Sabine National Forest, as designated by section 
2(4) of the Texas Wilderness Act of 1984 (Public 
Law 98–574; 16 U.S.C. 1132 note). 
(7) WILDERNESS CANDIDATE LAND.—The term 
‘‘wilderness candidate land’’ means certain non-Fed-
eral land adjacent to the wilderness area that is in-
tended for inclusion as part of the wilderness area 
upon acquisition by the Secretary. 
SEC. 3. LAND EXCHANGE, SABINE NATIONAL FOREST. 
(a) LAND
EXCHANGE
AUTHORIZED
AND
DI-
RECTED.—In exchange for the non-Federal land and any 
cash equalization payment authorized in subsection (d), 
the Secretary shall convey to the Authority all right, title, 
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and interest of the United States in and to the Federal 
land. 
(b) EXISTING RIGHTS.—The conveyance of the Fed-
eral land under subsection (a) shall be subject to valid ex-
isting rights. 
(c) IMPLEMENTATION.— 
(1) APPRAISAL.— 
(A) DEADLINE.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall complete an appraisal of the 
surface estate of the Federal land and non-Fed-
eral land. 
(B) STANDARDS.—The appraisal under 
this paragraph shall be performed in accordance 
with— 
(i) the Uniform Appraisal Standards 
for Federal Land Acquisitions; 
(ii) the Uniform Standards of Profes-
sional Appraisal Practice; and 
(iii) appraisal instructions issued by 
the Secretary. 
(C) 
EFFECT
OF
RESTRICTIVE
COV-
ENANT.—In determining the value of the Fed-
eral land, the Secretary shall account for the 
limitations on the use of the Federal land after 
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conveyance imposed by the restrictive covenant 
required by subsection (e)(3). 
(2) SURVEY.—The exact acreage and legal de-
scription of the Federal land and non-Federal land, 
including a separate accounting of the wilderness 
candidate land, to be conveyed under subsection (a) 
shall be determined by surveys or other means iden-
tifying and describing such land mutually agreed to 
by the Secretary and the Authority. 
(3) COSTS.—The costs of conducting the land 
exchange under subsection (a) shall be shared equal-
ly by the Authority and the Secretary. 
(d) CASH EQUALIZATION.— 
(1) EQUAL VALUE EXCHANGE.—The land ex-
change under subsection (a) shall be conducted on 
an equal value basis. 
(2) LIMITS WAIVED.—The values of the lands 
to be exchanged under subsection (a) may be equal-
ized through the use of a cash equalization payment 
in an amount in excess of the statutory limit speci-
fied in section 206 of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716). 
(3) DISPOSITION
AND
USE
OF
FUNDS.—Any 
cash equalization payment received by the Secretary 
under this subsection shall be deposited into the 
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fund established by Public Law 90–171 (commonly 
known as the Sisk Act; 16 U.S.C. 484a). The pay-
ment shall be available to the Secretary for expendi-
ture, without further appropriation and until ex-
pended, for the acquisition of land or interests in 
land for addition to the National Forest System. 
(e) TITLE.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Title to the non-Federal 
land conveyed to the Secretary under this section 
shall be acceptable to the Secretary and shall con-
form to the title approval standards of the Attorney 
General of the United States applicable to land ac-
quisitions by the Federal Government. 
(2) RESERVATION OF MINERAL ESTATE.—The 
Secretary shall ensure that the deed of conveyance 
to convey the Federal land to the Authority reserves 
for the United States any subsurface mineral estate 
owned by the United States in the Federal land, in-
cluding oil, gas, rock, sand, and gravel. 
(3) RESTRICTIVE COVENANT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—In the deed of convey-
ance that conveys the Federal land to the Au-
thority, the Secretary shall include a covenant, 
running with the land, providing that the Fed-
eral land conveyed shall— 
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(i) be used in a manner consistent 
with the management of adjacent National 
Forest System land or wilderness area 
land; 
(ii) remain unsubdivided; and 
(iii) not be used for commercial, resi-
dential, or industrial development. 
(B) PROHIBITION.—The restrictive cov-
enant described in subparagraph (A) shall not 
create any property interest of the United 
States. 
(f) CONTINUED
CAMPGROUND
OPERATION.—The 
Authority may continue to operate and maintain the For-
est Service campgrounds described in section 2(2)(B) and 
conveyed under subsection (a) consistent with the author-
ization granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Com-
mission. 
(g) TIME FOR COMPLETION.—It is the intent of Con-
gress that the land exchange under subsection (a) be com-
pleted not later than one year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
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SEC. 4. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT, INDIAN MOUNDS WIL-
DERNESS AREA, SABINE NATIONAL FOREST. 
(a) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—Upon completion of 
the land exchange under section 3(a), the Secretary shall 
modify the boundaries of the wilderness area— 
(1) to exclude all wilderness area land that, be-
fore the exchange, was located within the Toledo 
Bend Project, and such land shall be removed from 
wilderness designation and shall cease to be part of 
the wilderness area and the National Wilderness 
Preservation System under the Wilderness Act (16 
U.S.C. 1131 et seq.); and 
(2) to include as part of the wilderness area all 
wilderness candidate land acquired by the Secretary 
under such section, and such land shall be des-
ignated as wilderness and as a component of the Na-
tional Wilderness Preservation System. 
(b) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.— 
(1) REQUIRED.—As soon as practicable after 
completion of the land exchange under section 3(a), 
the Secretary shall file with the Committee on Nat-
ural Resources of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 
the Senate a map and legal description of the 
changes made to the boundaries of the wilderness 
area as a result of the land exchange. 
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(2) FORCE AND EFFECT.—The map and legal 
description filed under paragraph (1) shall have the 
same force and effect as if included in this Act, ex-
cept that the Secretary may correct clerical and ty-
pographical errors in the map and description. 
(3) PUBLIC INSPECTION.—The map and legal 
description also shall be on file and available for 
public inspection in the appropriate offices of the 
Forest Service. 
Æ 
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