Lake Winnibigoshish Land Exchange Act of 2022

Bill: 117-hr-8583
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Stauber, Pete [R-MN-8]
Introduced: 2022-07-28
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Forests, forestry, trees

Geography and mapping

Land transfers

Minnesota
Latest action: action_date: 2022-07-28
text: Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-07-28
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Lake Winnibigoshish Land Exchange Act of 2022</strong></p> <p>This bill requires the exchange of certain federal lands in the Chippewa National Forest in Minnesota. </p> <p>The bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA), if Big Winnie Land and Timber, LLC, (BWLT) offers to convey identified nonfederal land to the United States, to (1) accept the offer and convey to BWLT all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the federal land; and (2) accept from BWLT all right, title, and interest of BWLT in and to the nonfederal land. </p> <p>The exchange shall be for equal value or the values shall be equalized by a cash payment, subject to an exception. </p> <p>The land acquired by USDA shall be added to and managed as part of Chippewa National Forest. </p>

tv_txt: I 117th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8583 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 28, 2022 Mr. Stauber (for himself and Mr. Huffman ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to exchange certain public lands in Chippewa National Forest, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Lake Winnibigoshish Land Exchange Act of 2022 . 2. Definitions In this Act: (1) BWLT The term BWLT means Big Winnie Land and Timber, LLC, a Minnesota Limited Liability Corporation. (2) Federal land The term Federal land means the approximately 7.6 acres of Federal land generally depicted as the Federal Parcel for Exchange on the Map. (3) Map The term Map means sheets 2 and 3 of the map entitled Proposed Land Exchange - Bowen Lodge Inc. and Chippewa National Forest and dated March 30, 2022. (4) Non-Federal land The term non-Federal land means the approximately 37.5 acres generally depicted as the non-Federal Parcel for Exchange on the Map. (5) Secretary The term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture. 3. Exchange of land (a) Exchange authorized Subject to the provisions of this Act, not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, if BWLT offers to convey the non-Federal land to the United States, the Secretary shall— (1) accept the offer and convey to BWLT all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the Federal land; and (2) accept from BWLT all right, title, and interest of BWLT in and to the non-Federal land. (b) Requirements The exchange under subsection (a) shall be— (1) subject to valid existing rights; and (2) if, under the appraisals conducted in accordance with this Act, it is determined that the value of the Federal land exceeds the value of the non-Federal land, conditioned on a cash equalization payment made by BWLT to the United States in accordance with subsection (c). (c) Equal value and cash equalization (1) In general Except as provided in paragraph (2), the exchange under subsection (a) shall be for equal value or the values shall be equalized by a cash payment. (2) Exception If the appraised value of the non-Federal land conveyed to the Secretary exceeds the appraised value of the Federal land, a cash equalization payment by the United States to BWLT is waived and the amount of such waived payment shall be considered a donation by BWLT to the United States for all purposes of law. (d) Appraisals (1) In general The value of the land to be exchanged under this Act shall be determined by appraisals conducted by one or more independent and qualified appraisers mutually agreed to by the Secretary and BWLT. (2) Appraisal standards The Secretary shall complete an appraisal of the land to be exchanged under this Act in accordance with— (A) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions; and (B) the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. (e) Format Title to the non-Federal land to be conveyed to the Secretary under this Act shall be in a format acceptable to the Secretary. (f) Management of acquired land The land acquired by the Secretary under subsection (a) shall be— (1) added to, and managed as part of, the Chippewa National Forest; and (2) managed in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to National Forest System lands. (g) Map and legal descriptions (1) In general As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall finalize a Map and legal descriptions of all land to be conveyed under this Act. (2) Controlling document In the case of a discrepancy between the Map and a legal description, the Map shall control. (3) Corrections The Secretary and BWLT, by mutual agreement, may correct any minor errors in the Map or in the legal descriptions. (4) Map on file The Map and legal descriptions shall be on file and available for public inspection in appropriate offices of the Forest Service.