I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2324 
To provide for the conveyance of small parcels of National Forest System 
land and small parcels of public lands administered by the Bureau 
of Land Management to private landowners, State, county, and local 
governments, or Indian tribes whose lands share a boundary with the 
National Forest System land or public lands, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 14, 2015 
Mr. AMODEI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agri-
culture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide for the conveyance of small parcels of National 
Forest System land and small parcels of public lands 
administered by the Bureau of Land Management to 
private landowners, State, county, and local governments, 
or Indian tribes whose lands share a boundary with 
the National Forest System land or public lands, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Lands Tracts 
Conveyance Act’’. 
SEC. 2. SPECIAL CONVEYANCE AUTHORITY REGARDING 
SMALL PARCELS OF NATIONAL FOREST SYS-
TEM LAND AND PUBLIC LANDS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ADJACENT LANDHOLDER.—The term ‘‘ad-
jacent landholder’’ means any holder of non-Federal 
land (including a holder that is a State, county, or 
local government or any agency thereof, or an In-
dian tribe) that shares one or more boundaries with 
an eligible Federal lands parcel and who makes a re-
quest to purchase an eligible Federal lands parcel. 
(2) DIRECTOR CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Direc-
tor concerned’’ means the Director of the Bureau of 
Land Management for a State. 
(3) ELIGIBLE FEDERAL LANDS PARCEL.—The 
term ‘‘eligible Federal lands parcel’’ means a parcel 
of National Forest System land or the public lands 
that— 
(A) shares one or more boundaries with 
non-Federal land; 
(B) is located within the boundaries of an 
incorporated or unincorporated area with a pop-
ulation of at least 500 residents; 
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(C) is not subject to existing rights held by 
a non-Federal entity; 
(D) does not contain an exceptional re-
source; and 
(E) is not habitat for an endangered spe-
cies or a threatened species determined under 
section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533). 
(4) EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE.—The term ‘‘ex-
ceptional resource’’ means a resource of scientific, 
historic, cultural, or recreational value on a parcel of 
public lands that the Director concerned or Regional 
Forester concerned determines, on the record and 
after an opportunity for a hearing— 
(A) is documented by a Federal, State, or 
local governmental authority; and 
(B) requires extraordinary conservation 
and protection to maintain the resource for the 
benefit of the public. 
(5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 
has the meaning given that term in section 102 of 
the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 
1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a). 
(6) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND.— 
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(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘National 
Forest System land’’ means land within the Na-
tional Forest System, as defined in section 
11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable 
Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 
1609(a)), including the National Grasslands 
and land utilization projects designated as Na-
tional Grasslands administered pursuant to the 
Act of July 22, 1937 (7 U.S.C. 1010–1012). 
(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term does not in-
clude any land managed by the Forest Service 
that is included in a national monument, an 
area of critical environmental concern, a na-
tional conservation area, a national riparian 
conservation area, a national recreation area, a 
national scenic area, a research natural area, a 
national outstanding natural area, a national 
natural landmark, a wilderness area, a wilder-
ness study area, the national wild and scenic 
rivers system, the national system of trails, or 
land held in trust by the United States for the 
benefit of any Indian tribe. 
(7) PUBLIC LANDS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘public 
lands’’ has the meaning given that term in sec-
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tion 103(e) of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(e)). 
(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term does not in-
clude any land managed by the Bureau of Land 
Management that is included in a national 
monument, an area of critical environmental 
concern, a national conservation area, a na-
tional riparian conservation area, a national 
recreation area, a national scenic area, a re-
search natural area, a national outstanding nat-
ural area, a national natural landmark, a wil-
derness area, a wilderness study area, the na-
tional wild and scenic rivers system, the na-
tional system of trails, or land held in trust by 
the United States for the benefit of any Indian 
tribe. 
(8) REGIONAL
FORESTER
CONCERNED.—The 
term ‘‘Regional Forester concerned’’ means the Re-
gional Forester with jurisdiction over the National 
Forest System land of a specific Forest Service Re-
gion. 
(b) SELECTION OF PARCELS FOR CONVEYANCE.— 
(1) TWO SELECTION METHODS.—The Director 
concerned or the Regional Forester concerned shall 
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select an eligible Federal lands parcel for conveyance 
under this section— 
(A) in response to a request submitted by 
an adjacent landholder; or 
(B) upon the recommendation of the Dis-
trict Office of the Bureau of Land Management 
or unit of the National Forest System exer-
cising administration over the parcel. 
(2) ADJACENT LANDHOLDER REQUEST.— 
(A) PROCESS REQUIRED.—The Secretary 
of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior 
each shall create a process by which an adja-
cent landholder may request to purchase an eli-
gible Federal lands parcel. 
(B) GUIDELINES.—To the maximum ex-
tent practicable, the process shall be consistent 
with other public purchase request processes 
used by the Forest Service and the Bureau of 
Land Management to convey Federal land 
under their respective statutory and regulatory 
authority. 
(C) PUBLIC ACCESSIBILITY.—The process 
shall be open to the public and available on the 
internet. 
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(D) DEADLINE.—The process shall be 
available to the public within 90 days of the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
(3) REVIEW OF ADJACENT LANDHOLDER RE-
QUEST.—When an adjacent landholder submits a re-
quest under paragraph (1)(A) for conveyance of a 
parcel of National Forest System land or public 
lands, the Director concerned or the Regional For-
ester concerned shall review the parcel and deter-
mine, within 30 days after receipt of the request, 
whether the parcel satisfies the definition of eligible 
Federal lands parcel for conveyance. 
(4) REJECTION
OF
ADJACENT
LANDHOLDER 
REQUEST.—If the Director concerned or the Re-
gional Forester concerned determines under para-
graph (2) that all or a portion of the parcel of Na-
tional Forest System land or public lands covered by 
an adjacent landholder request under paragraph 
(1)(A) fails to satisfy the definition of eligible Fed-
eral lands parcel, the Director concerned or the Re-
gional Forester concerned shall give the landowner— 
(A) a written explanation of the reasons 
for the rejection, which specifies— 
(i) which of the elements of the defini-
tion of eligible Federal lands parcel the 
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parcel fails to satisfy and how and why the 
parcel fails to satisfy that element; 
(ii) how the continued administration 
of the parcel by the Bureau of Land Man-
agement or the Forest Service would im-
pact the parcel and surrounding economy; 
and 
(iii) why the Federal Government 
needs to maintain ownership of the parcel 
and would be the best land ownership 
steward of the parcel; and 
(B) an opportunity to appeal the rejection 
under subsection (e). 
(c) PARCEL AND ACREAGE LIMITATIONS.— 
(1) ACREAGE.—An eligible Federal lands parcel 
conveyed under this section may not exceed 160 
acres unless a request for additional acreage is ap-
proved by the Director concerned or the Regional 
Forester concerned. 
(2) NUMBER OF PARCELS.—An adjacent land-
holder may only acquire one eligible Federal lands 
parcel under this section per year, except that, if the 
parcel is less than 160 acres in size, the adjacent 
landholder may acquire additional eligible Federal 
lands parcels during that year so long as the total 
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acreage acquired does not exceed 160 acres unless a 
request for additional acreage is approved by the Di-
rector concerned or the Regional Forester concerned. 
(d) CONVEYANCE PROCESS.— 
(1) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Director concerned 
or the Regional Forester concerned shall provide 
public notice of the availability of an eligible Federal 
lands parcel, even in cases in which the parcel 
shares a boundary with only a single parcel of non- 
Federal land or with multiple parcels owned by the 
same adjacent landholder. The notice shall state that 
the parcel satisfies the definition of eligible Federal 
lands parcel for conveyance. 
(2) SINGLE ADJACENT LANDHOLDER.—If the 
eligible Federal lands parcel shares a boundary with 
only a single parcel of non-Federal land or with mul-
tiple parcels owned by the same adjacent landholder, 
the Director concerned or the Regional Forester con-
cerned shall carry out a negotiated sale of the eligi-
ble Federal lands parcel with the adjacent land-
holder. 
(3) MULTIPLE
ADJACENT
LANDHOLDERS.—If 
multiple parcels of non-Federal land, owned by dif-
ferent adjacent landholders, share a boundary with 
an eligible public lands parcel, the sale of the eligible 
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public lands parcel under this section shall be con-
ducted using competitive bidding procedures estab-
lished under section 203(f) of the Federal Land Pol-
icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 
1713(f)). 
(4) REJECTION OF OFFERS.—The Director con-
cerned or the Regional Forester concerned may re-
ject any offer made under this subsection that does 
not offer the minimum consideration required by 
subsection (f). The adjacent landholder shall be 
given an opportunity to appeal the rejection under 
subsection (e). 
(5) COMPLIANCE WITH LOCAL PLANNING AND 
ZONING.—As a condition of the conveyance of an eli-
gible public lands parcel under this section, the Di-
rector concerned or the Regional Forester concerned 
shall require the purchaser of the parcel to agree to 
comply with all local land use ordinances and any 
master zoning plan applicable to the parcel or the 
adjacent non-Federal land of the purchaser. 
(6) FORM OF CONVEYANCE.—When an eligible 
Federal lands parcel is to be sold under this section, 
the Director concerned or the Regional Forester con-
cerned shall convey, by quitclaim deed, all right, 
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