H. R. 2079
One Hundred Sixth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine
An Act
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 Representatives 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 located in the
Black Hills National Forest in Lawrence County, South Dakota,
is currently permitted to the Terry Peak Ski Area by the
Secretary of Agriculture pursuant to section 3 of the National
Forest 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 holding at the
Ski Area is also encumbered by ski lifts, ski trails, a base
lodge parking lot and other privately owned improvements,
it serves little purpose in continued public ownership, and
can more logically be conveyed to the Ski Area to unify land
management and eliminate permitting and other administra-
tive 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 administra-
tive authority to convey such land in a nonsimultaneous land
exchange absent specific authorization from Congress.
(5) The Black Hills National Forest contains several small
inholdings of undeveloped private land with multiple land-
owners which complicate National Forest land management
and which can be acquired by the United States from willing
sellers if acquisition funds are made available to the Secretary.
(6) The proceeds from the Terry Peak conveyance can pro-
vide 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 scattered nature of such inholdings, and number of poten-
tial sellers involved, can do so more efficiently and quickly
than through administrative land exchanges.
(7) It is, therefore, in the public interest to convey the
National Forest System land at Terry Peak to the Ski Area
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at fair market value and to utilize the proceeds to acquire
more desirable lands for addition to the Black Hills National
Forest for permanent public use and enjoyment.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to require 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 enjoyment.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Agri-
culture, unless otherwise specified.
(2) The term ‘‘selected land’’ means land comprising
approximately 41.42 acres and generally depicted as Govern-
ment lots 6 and 11, section 2, township 4 north, range 2
east, Black Hills meridian, on a map entitled ‘‘Terry Peak
Land Conveyance’’, dated March 1999.
(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 PROVISIONS.
(a) CONVEYANCE REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall
convey the selected land to the Terry Peak Ski Area at fair market
value, as determined by the Secretary.
(b) APPRAISAL.—The value of the selected land shall be deter-
mined by the Secretary utilizing nationally recognized appraisal
standards, including to the extent appropriate, the Uniform
Appraisal Standards For Federal Land Acquisitions (1992), the
Uniform Standards of Professional 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 the Con-
gress that the conveyance to the Ski Area required by this Act
be consummated no later than 6 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, unless the Secretary and the Ski Area
mutually agree to extend the consummation date. Prior to conveying
the selected land to the Ski Area, the Secretary shall complete
standard pre-disposal analyses and clearances pertaining to threat-
ened and endangered species, cultural and historic resources, wet-
lands 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 pursuant to Public Law 90–171 (16 U.S.C.
484a; commonly known as the Sisk Act) and shall be utilized
by the Secretary to acquire replacement land from willing sellers
for addition to the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota.
Any lands so acquired shall be added to and administered 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 adjust 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, EASE-
MENTS.—The conveyance to the Ski Area required by this Act shall
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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.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.